Meet Hallah.
She’s an amazing woman with a serious story that shows the real harms of pornography. After being exposed to porn when she was only 8, she grew up with unhealthy ideas of what sex and love really look like.
Because of seeing porn, Hallah was led to believe the only thing she had to offer was her body. She thought she was only valuable as long as she looked attractive and acted in a desirable way. When she became a victim of rape on her 13th birthday, Hallah turned to pornography to fill the void of a caring and meaningful relationship. For years afterwards, she endured abuse and rape. All she wanted was to be truly loved and truly accepted, exactly as she was, but she never believed she would be.
Years later, she knows she has so much more to offer than her body, and that real love is always worth fighting for. Now, she’s holding out for a real life connection, and a love built on trust and vulnerability. This is a girl who knows she’s got a lot to offer, and she isn’t settling.
Not only is she beautiful on the outside, she’s beautiful on the inside. We love Hallah’s strength and her fierce heart for the cause!
Hallah’s story reminds us of the link between sexual assault and porn use. Science and research have shown that it is difficult for even non-violent porn viewers to be uninfluenced by what they watch. Study after study has found that even watching “regular,” non-violent porn is correlated with the viewer being more likely to use verbal coercion, drugs, and alcohol to push women into sex. These studies also show that those who consistently watch non-violent porn are more likely to support statements that promote abuse and sexual aggression towards both women and girls because porn portrays an unequal power difference between partners where men are dominant and women are submissive.
Her story of abuse is just one of so many heartbreaking situations that we hear about. The effects of porn are so real because porn really does kills love.