Is pornography not just a bit of harmless fun?
Pornography creates the culture and conditions where violence against women can thrive. Pornography results in a broader cultural harm by dehumanising women, reducing them to body parts seen to enjoy pain, humiliation and subordination. The links between pornography, prostitution, trafficking of women, paedophilia, desensitisation and sexual exploitation are clear. We know that women involved in prostitution are frequently used to make pornography and research into the methods of human traffickers indicate that pornography is used to “teach women how to act”. What was once regarded as extreme in the porn industry has now become mainstream, which is leading to distorted images about gender among young people and will ultimately have an impact on their ability to form healthy, respectful relationships. By normalising uncommon sex acts, pornography legitimates sexual violence, gender inequality and rape myths.
