It’s July, which means our month-long, annual Stop The Demand awareness campaign has officially kicked off!
But what is Stop The Demand?
As you may know already, Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative organization that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.
Throughout the month of July, our educational resources will primarily focus on raising awareness on the connection between the porn industry and various forms of sexual exploitation, objectification, sexual violence, and child exploitation. This will include sharable stories from trafficking survivors, educational articles, and informational resources.
Join us as we raise awareness to stop the demand for pornography and sexual exploitation through education and awareness, rather than restriction. We invite you to educate yourself and others on how the porn industry fuels the demand for exploitation, sex trafficking, objectification, sexualized racism, nonconsensual content, sexual violence and abuse, and child sexual abuse.
Together, we can #StopTheDemand.
So, how is porn connected to sexual exploitation?
As long as there’s a demand for porn—especially porn that is extreme, abusive, or degrading—the porn industry will continue to meet that demand.
Decades of studies from respected academic institutions have demonstrated significant impacts of porn consumption for individuals, relationships, and society. These impacts also include how the porn industry normalizes and fuels the demand for exploitation in various forms.
Stop the demand for sex trafficking
Pornography is the 3rd-most common form of sex trafficking, according to cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.Polaris. (2020). 2019 data report: The U.S. national human trafficking hotline. Retrieved from https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Polaris-2019-US-National-Human-Trafficking-Hotline-Data-Report.pdfCopy
Sex trafficking shares a variety of symbiotic connections to pornography. Even in the production of mainstream porn, sex trafficking can still occur—and it happens more often than most people think. Even in mainstream porn with popular performers, sex trafficking can still occur—and it happens more regularly than most people think.Lange, A. (2018). This woman says authorities doubted her sexual assault claim because she does porn. Buzzfeed News. Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/arianelange/nikki-benz-porn-defamation-lawsuit-metoo#.ldPVz1Yg0YCopy
Stop the demand for objectification
Research shows that people who consume porn frequently are more likely to objectify and dehumanize others.Skorska, M.N., Hodson, G., & Hoffarth, M.R. (2018). Experimental effects of degrading versus erotic pornography exposure in men on reactions toward women (objectification, sexism, discrimination). The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 27, 261 - 276.Copy Zhou, Y., Liu, T., Yan, Y., & Paul, B. (2021). Pornography use, two forms of dehumanization, and sexual aggression: Attitudes vs. behaviors. J.Sex Marital Ther., , 1-20. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2021.1923598Copy
If we want a culture of true respect and equality, then we need to make sure we think about, talk about, and treat others as whole people—not as objects. Research indicates that consuming porn can normalize sexual objectification and dehumanization, which can have profound consequences in the ways porn consumers view and treat others.Skorska, M.N., Hodson, G., & Hoffarth, M.R. (2018). Experimental effects of degrading versus erotic pornography exposure in men on reactions toward women (objectification, sexism, discrimination). The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 27, 261 - 276.Copy Zhou, Y., Liu, T., Yan, Y., & Paul, B. (2021). Pornography use, two forms of dehumanization, and sexual aggression: Attitudes vs. behaviors. J.Sex Marital Ther., , 1-20. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2021.1923598Copy 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, 66(1), 183-205. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12201Copy
Stop the demand for sexualized racism
The porn industry didn’t invent racism, but it certainly profits from it. Ideas that originated in Black slavery continue to live on and be graphically depicted in porn.
A 2021 study analyzed videos from popular porn sites and found that porn featuring Black people perpetuate harmful racist stereotypes, disproportionately emphasize violence and aggression, and often depict Black people as “worse than objects.”Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2021). Worse than objects: The depiction of Black women and men and their sexual relationship in pornography. Gender Issues, 38(1), 100-120. doi:10.1007/s12147-020-09255-2Copy
Stop the demand for nonconsensual content
In the porn industry, there is virtually no way to guarantee that any piece of pornographic content is truly consensual, ethical, or even legal. Most major porn sites do not verify the age or consent of all participants involved in the content uploaded to their platforms, making it incredibly easy to upload image-based abuse (sometimes referred to as “revenge porn”).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.htmlCopy
1 in 12 U.S. adults report that they have been victims of image-based abuse —sometimes called “revenge porn—and 1 in 20 report that they have been perpetrators of image-based abuse.Ruvalcaba, Y., & Eaton, A. A. (2020). Nonconsensual pornography among U.S. adults: A sexual scripts framework on victimization, perpetration, and health correlates for women and men. Psychology of Violence, 10(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000233Copy
Stop the demand for sexual violence and abuse
1 out of every 8 porn titles shown to first-time users on porn home pages describe acts of sexual violence, according to a 2021 study.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/azab035Copy
A significant portion of the porn consumed by millions of people every day reinforces the message that sexual violence is a normal part of what “good sex” is supposed to be. According to research analyzing the content of porn videos, it’s estimated that as few as 1 in 3 and as many as 9 in 10 videos show acts of physical aggression or violence.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, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges, A. J., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Sun, C., & Liberman, R. (2010). Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: a content analysis update. Violence against women, 16(10), 1065–1085. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210382866Copy
Stop the demand for child sexual abuse
Some self-generated child sexual abuse material represents a child who was groomed or coerced, while many teens today “share nudes” supposedly willingly.
Of the domestic minor trafficking victims who had been forced into porn, the average age they began being filmed was 12.8 years old.Bouché, V. (2018). Survivor insights: The role of technology in domestic minor sex trafficking. Thorn. Retrieved from https://www.thorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Thorn_Survivor_Insights_090519.pdfCopy
Help us #StopTheDemand
Since our founding in 2009, Fight the New Drug’s mission has been to decrease the demand for sexual exploitation through education and awareness.
Help support our efforts to create and share educational resources that bring awareness to the negative impacts of pornography.
Click here to learn more and get involved.
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