Not My Mainstream

Updated: 24 October 2023

Authors: The Other Half team

#NotMyMainstream

1 in 8 porn video titles describe acts of sexual violence[i].

1 in 3 mainstream porn videos show violence or aggression, with women as the target 97% of the time[ii].

Strangulation is the second most common cause of stroke in women under 40. 2 million UK women have been strangled in - til then- consensual sex[iii].

Frequent porn viewers are more likely to commit sexual violence and express an intent to rape[iv].

A survey of American young people found that 13% of sexually active 14-17 year old girls had been strangled during sex[v].

It’s now easy to find content on the major porn sites of women being hung, strangled, suffocated, garrotted – and with “choking” content often featuring on the front page.  Thanks to existing law on extreme porn, this life-threatening violence in pornography could be criminal – but it is currently unlikely anyone will be prosecuted.[vi]

57% of UK men under 40 who admit to violent assault of women in sex, say porn influenced them to do this[vii].

Porn use predicts a higher likelihood of “choking sexual partners through the belief that sexual choking is pleasurable, the belief that sexual choking is safe, and the disbelief that sexual choking requires consent from the person being choked.”[viii]

The British Board for Film Classification says over 50% of UK 11 year olds have been exposed to pornography[ix].

Porn often uses racist stereotypes such as depicting black people as violent and aggressive and Asian women as submissive and without agency[x].

The more pornography consumed, the more likely people are to suffer from mental health issues like depression, anxiety, stress and social problems[xi].

Pornography consumption is connected to lower self-esteem - both for consumers and their romantic partners[xii] [xiii].

Pornography consumers and their romantic partners are likely to have worse body image, resulting from internalising unrealistic body standards shown in pornography[xiv] [xv].

Pornography use is associated with less fulfilling romantic relationships[xvi], increased conflict between couples[xvii], poorer romantic attachments[xviii] and double the chance of relationship breakdown or divorce[xix] [xx].

An isolating relationship with pornography can lead to consumers to interact less with friends, reduce their participation in hobbies and reduce the connection they experience with people in their lives[xxi].

A study has found a clear association between pornography use and loneliness, in that feeling lonely could prompt pornography use which in turn makes the consumer feel more lonely[xxii].

The pornography industry has made money from non-consensual and abusive content and victims’ pleas for such content to be removed have fallen on deaf ears[xxiii].

Pornography sites have hosted verified accounts that share child sexual abuse material, content of trafficking victims and non-consensual content[xxiv][xxv].

A 15 year old child who had been missing for a year was shown in several videos on a legal and popular pornography platform by a verified account[xxvi][xxvii].

“Hidden cam” content is very common on pornography platforms, often showing victims who had no knowledge of the fact they were being filmed[xxviii][xxix].

A survey of victims of non-consensual pornography found that 51% suffered suicidal thoughts and 93% suffered severe emotional distress[xxx].

References:

 [i] Vera-Gray, F., McGlynn, C., Kureshi, I., & Butterby, K. (2021). Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography. The British Journal of Criminology.

[ii] Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A Descriptive Analysis of the Types, Targets, and Relative Frequency of Aggression in Mainstream Pornography. Archives of sexual behavior.

[iii] Bichard, H, Acquired Brain Injury, Violence and Anti-Social Behavior: disentangling cause and effect, Bangor University, 2020. We Can’t Consent to This, “I thought it was Normal” briefing, 2021

[iv] Foubert, J. D., Brosi, M. W., & Bannon, R. S. (2011). Pornography viewing among fraternity men: Effects on bystander intervention, rape myth acceptance and behavioral intent to commit sexual assault; Wright, P. J., Tokunaga, R. S., & Kraus, A. (2016). A meta-analysis of pornography consumption and actual acts of sexual aggression in general population studies. Journal of Communication.; Rostad, W. L., Gittins-Stone, D., Huntington, C., Rizzo, C. J., Pearlman, D., & Orchowski, L. (2019). The association between exposure to violent pornography and teen dating violence in grade 10 high school students. Archives of Sexual Behavior.; Goodson, A., Franklin, C. A., & Bouffard, L. A. (2021). Male peer support and sexual assault: The relation between high-profile, high school sports participation and sexually predatory behaviour.; Mikorski, R., & Szymanski, D. M. (2017). Masculine norms, peer group, pornography, Facebook, and men’s sexual objectification of women. Psychology of Men & Masculinity

[v] Fight the New Drug, Does Mainstream Porn fuel and normalise Sexual Violence in Teen Relationships?, 2022.

[vi] We Can’t Consent to This, “I thought this was normal”: Briefing on The normalisation of violence against women in sex, 2021

[vii] Savanta Comres/BBC March 2020

[viii] Paul J. Wright, Debby Herbenick & Robert S. Tokunaga, Pornography Consumption and Sexual Choking: An Evaluation of Theoretical Mechanisms, 2021

[ix]  BBFC, Parental fact sheet on online pornography and age verification, 2022.

[x] Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y., Worse than objects: The depiction of black women and men and their sexual relationship in pornography. Gender Issues, 2021;Zhou, Y., & Paul, B., Lotus blossom or dragon lady: A content analysis of “Asian women” online pornography. Sexuality & Culture, 2016.

[xi] Camilleri, C., Perry, J. T., & Sammut, S., Compulsive Internet Pornography Use and Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Sample of University Students in the United States, 2012.

[xii] Stewart, D. N., & Szymanski, D. M., Young adult women’s reports of their male romantic partner’s pornography use as a correlate of their self-esteem, relationship quality, and sexual satisfaction. Sex Roles, 2012.

[xiii] Koletić G., Longitudinal associations between the use of sexually explicit material and adolescents' attitudes and behaviors: A narrative review of studies. Journal of adolescence, 2017. 

[xiv] Tylka, T. L., No harm in looking, right? Men’s pornography consumption, body image, and well-being. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 2015.

[xv] Tylka, T. L., & Kroon Van Diest, A. M., You Looking at Her “Hot” Body May Not be “Cool” for Me: Integrating Male Partners’ Pornography Use into Objectification Theory for Women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2015.

[xvi] Wright, P. J., Tokunaga, R. S., Kraus, A., & Klann, E., Pornography consumption and satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Human Communication Research, 2017.

[xvii] Carroll, J. S., Busby, D. M., Willoughby, B. J., & Brown, C. C., The porn gap: Differences in men's and women's pornography patterns in couple relationships,2017.

[xviii] Kor, A., Zilcha-Mano, S., Fogel, Y. A., Mikulincer, M., Reid, R. C., & Potenza, M. N., Psychometric development of the Problematic Pornography Use Scale. Addictive behaviours, 2014.

[xix] Perry, S. L., Pornography use and marital separation: Evidence from two-wave panel data. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2018.

[xx] Perry, S. L., & Davis, J. T.,Are pornography users more likely to experience a romantic breakup? Evidence from longitudinal data. Sexuality & Culture, 2017.

[xxi] Volkow, N. D., Koob, G. F., & Mclellan, A. T., Neurobiological Advances From The Brain Disease Model Of Addiction. New England Journal Of Medicine, 2016.

[xxii] Butler, M. H., Pereyra, S. A., Draper, T. W., Leonhardt, N. D., & Skinner, K. B., Pornography Use and Loneliness: A Bidirectional Recursive Model and Pilot Investigation, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 2018.

[xxiii] Kristof, N. (2021). Why do we let corporations profit from rape videos? New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/opinion/sunday/companies-online-rape-videos.html; Kristof, N. (2020). The children of Pornhub. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/pornhub-rape-trafficking.html

[xxiv] Pornhub sued by 40 Girls Do Porn sex trafficking victim. (2020). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55333403

[xxv] ParlVu. (2021). Meeting no. 20 ETHI— Standing committee on access to information, privacy and ethics. Retrieved from https://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20210219/-1/34789?Language=English&Stream=Video

[xxvi] Cheong, I. M. (2020). Pornhub verified child sex trafficking. Human Events. Retrieved from https://humanevents.com/2020/03/01/pornhub-verified-child-sex-trafficking/

[xxvii] McDonald, S. (2019). Florida man arrested after 58 porn videos, photos link him to missing underage teen girl. Newsweek. Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/florida-man-arrested-after-58-porn-videos-photos-link-him-missing-underage-teen-girl-1467413

[xxviii] ​​Vera-Gray, F., McGlynn, C., Kureshi, I., & Butterby, K. (2021). Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography. The British Journal of Criminology, doi:10.1093/bjc/azab035

[xxix] Thompson, C. (2019). Clandestine college locker room videos taken of visiting women athletes, uploaded to world's largest porn site. Deadspin. Retrieved from https://deadspin.com/clandestine-college-locker-room-videos-taken-of-visitin-1839273496

[xxx] End Revenge Porn (2014). Revenge porn statistics. Civil Cyber Rights Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.cybercivilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/RPStatistics.pdf