Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
If a porn performer is tricked, manipulated, or coerced during the production of porn, that is legally defined as sex trafficking.
Research shows that porn consumption is a significant predictor of sexual entitlement.
One review of 20 studies on the topic found that pornography consumption negatively impacts adolescents’ self-esteem and mental health.
Qualitative research with current and former porn performers suggests that sexual exploitation and trafficking are common experiences in the porn industry.
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.
Sex trafficking is a commercial sex act that is brought about by force, fraud, or coercion, or where someone under 18 is involved.
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.
Desensitization, or a numbed pleasure response, has been shown to happen in cases of pornography consumption.
In one survey of underage sex trafficking victims, 63% said they had been advertised or sold online.
A 2021 study analyzed videos from popular porn sites and found that porn featuring Black people tends to perpetuate harmful racist stereotypes, disproportionately emphasize violence and aggression, and often depicts Black people as “worse than objects.”
Researchers have found that approximately 95% of the targets of violence or aggression in porn appeared either neutral to the abuse, or were depicted as responding with pleasure.
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