Majority of young people believe porn increases men’s interest in rough sex, study finds

More than four in five 18- to 25-year-olds believe pornography is increasing young men’s interest in seeking rough or violent sex, new research from Women’s Aid has found.

The organisation, which works to prevent intimate partner violence and abuse, on Friday released a new report on the harm of pornography on society, children and young people in particular.

The research, conducted online by RedC polling company, with a nationally representative sample of 934 people, found that 71 per cent of Irish people believe pornography is harming society.

[ Teenagers talk porn: ‘Whoever’s got a smart phone watches it. It’s free. It’s everywhere’ ]

More than one in two people, or 57 per cent, believe that pornography increases inequality between men and women.

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The majority of Irish people believe that pornography is too accessible to children, and that it is contributing to gender inequality and to coercion and sexual violence against women and girls, the report states.

Despite a majority consensus in the study, there is a “very notable and statistically significant” difference between male and female attitudes and levels of concern about pornography.

Some 75 per cent of people agree that pornography makes children and young people vulnerable to requests to share intimate images and videos, while 81 per cent of 18 to 25-year-olds believe that pornography is increasing young men’s interest in seeking rough or violent sex.

A further 81 per cent of all respondents want age-appropriate sexuality and relationships education in all schools which includes a focus on the negative consequences of exposure to pornography.

Sarah Benson, chief executive of Women’s Aid, said the gendered difference in opinion on porn is consistent across almost every area of concern.

“The survey also found that there is a majority belief that pornography undermines men’s respect for women, but not that it reduces women’s respect for men,” she said.

[ Consent, online pornography and gender stereotyping part of new proposals in sex education syllabus ]

“This is most likely explained because pornography consistently and disproportionately portrays women in extreme degrading, humiliating and dehumanised ways – and because the most negative impacts of pornography in Ireland are experienced directly by women and girls. They are bearing the brunt of the harm.”

Ms Benson said some of the women who access Women Aid’s frontline services have said porn regularly plays a role in the verbal, sexual and physical abuse they experience.

“The levels of physical aggression during sexual assaults are shocking, with women disclosing that they have been strangled to the point of unconsciousness during sex and have been called the most horrific names,” she added.

“Women have disclosed that their abusers have forced them to watch and re-enact pornography. This includes disclosures where women have been raped and coerced into sexual acts, including with other men. Women have also disclosed that their partners have criticised and compared them with women featured in pornography.”