Fast Facts

(Ruvalcaba & Eaton, 2020)

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.

Citations

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/vio0000233

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(Davis, Carrotte, Hellard, & Lim, 2018)

A 2018 study found that an estimated 1 in 3 young Australians reported being repeatedly exposed to violent depictions of sex in porn within the last year of their lives.

Citations

Davis, A. C., Carrotte, E. R., Hellard, M. E., & Lim, M. S. C. (2018). What behaviors do young heterosexual Australians see in pornography? A cross-sectional study. 55(3), 310-319. doi:10.1080/00224499.2017.1417350

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

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(Wright, Tokunaga, & Kraus, 2016)

Studies show that frequent porn consumers are more likely to carry out sexual violence in real life.

Citations

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.12201

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

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(Tollini & Diamond-Welch, 2021)

While most porn consumers are generally unconcerned about the potential mistreatment of porn performers, about 70% of porn consumers who do learn about mistreatment in the porn industry take some form of action to combat it, including changing their porn habits.

Citations

Tollini, C., & Diamond-Welch, B. (2021). American adult pornography consumers’ beliefs and behaviors related to pornography studios mistreating their performers. Sexuality & Culture, doi:10.1007/s12119-021-09872-3

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(Wright, Paul, & Herbenick, 2021)

According to a nationally representative survey of U.S. teens, 84.4% of 14 to 18-year-old males and 57% of 14 to 18-year-old females have viewed pornography.

Citations

Wright, P. J., Paul, B., & Herbenick, D. (2021). Preliminary insights from a U.S. probability sample on adolescents’ pornography exposure, media psychology, and sexual aggression. J.Health Commun., 26(1), 39-46. doi:10.1080/10810730.2021.1887980

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(Fedina, Williamson, & Perdue, 2019)

44.6% of underage sex trafficking victims experienced childhood sexual abuse before entry into the commercial sex industry.

Citations

Fedina, L., Williamson, C., & Perdue, T. (2019). Risk Factors for Domestic Child Sex Trafficking in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(13), 2653–2673. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516662306

How Porn Can Fuel Sex Trafficking

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(Bridges, Wosnitzer, Scharrer, Sun, & Liberman, 2010)

Nearly half of porn scenes (48.7%) contained verbal aggression, according to a study of popular porn videos.

Citations

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/10.1177/1077801210382866

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

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(Fritz, Malic, Paul, & Zhou, 2020; Bridges, Wosnitzer, Scharrer, Sun, & Liberman, 2010)

According to studies analyzing the content of popular porn videos, at least 1 in 3 and as many as 9 in 10 porn videos depict sexual violence or aggression.

Citations

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/s10508-020-01773-0
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/10.1177/1077801210382866

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

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(Harvey, 2020)

While many LGBTQ+ youth turn to porn to learn more about their own sexuality, porn often fetishizes, misrepresents, and exploits LGBTQ+ people in damaging ways.

Citations

Harvey, P. (2020). Let’s talk about porn: The perceived effect of online mainstream pornography on LGBTQ youth. In D. N. Farris, D. R. Compton & A. P. Herrera (Eds.), Gender, sexuality and race in the digital age (pp. 31-52). Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29855-5_3 Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29855-5_3

How Porn Can Fuel Sex Trafficking

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(Rothman, Kaczmarsky, Burke, Jansen, & Baughman, 2015)

Qualitative research reveals that young women often feel pressured to play out the “scripts” their male partners had learned from porn —they feel badgered into having sex in uncomfortable positions, faking sexual responses, and consenting to unpleasant or painful acts.

Citations

Rothman, E. F., Kaczmarsky, C., Burke, N., Jansen, E., & Baughman, A. (2015). 'Without Porn … I Wouldn't Know Half the Things I Know Now': A Qualitative Study of Pornography Use Among a Sample of Urban, Low-Income, Black and Hispanic Youth. Journal of sex research, 52(7), 736–746. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.960908

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(BBFC, 2020)

One study shows that approximately 45% of teens who consumed porn did so in part to learn about sex.

Citations

British Board of Film Classification. (2020). Young people, pornography & age-verification. BBFC. Retrieved from https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification/research

How Porn Can Distort Consumers’ Understanding Of Healthy Sex

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(International Labour Organization, 2017)

Of the approximately 24.9 million trafficking victims globally, an estimated 4.8 million—about 19%—are trafficked for sex, and more than 1 in 5 sex trafficking victims—an estimated 21%—are children, according to the International Labour Office.

Citations

International Labour Organization. (2017). Global estimates of modern slavery: Forced labour and forced marriage. Geneva: Retrieved from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_575479.pdf

How Porn Can Fuel Sex Trafficking

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