Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
Research suggests that porn can influence women to be more submissive in sexual encounters.
Longitudinal, qualitative research has found that young people's narratives surrounding anal sex often encourage coercion, pain, and other risky behaviors, and that they often attribute these narratives to pornography, as it can normalize sexual behaviors and attitudes.
Nearly 1 in 5 sexually active 16- to 17-year-olds said they had either asked or been asked to incorporate acts from porn into their sexual experiences, according to a 2020 report from the UK.
Research suggests that frequent porn consumers are more likely to victim-blame survivors of sexual violence.
Research indicates that only 18.3% of women in popular porn videos (compared to 78% of men) were depicted as reaching climax.
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.
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.”
Research suggests that pornography can make young people more sexually illiterate —in other words, it’s actively spreading harmful misinformation about sex.
Research has found that porn featuring Asian people often promotes racism by focusing on degrading stereotypes, including presenting Asian women as submissive objects.
Research shows that mainstream porn featuring people of color often promotes racism by focusing on degrading stereotypes.
Research suggests that frequent porn consumers are less likely to intervene during a sexual assault.
Research indicates that young people often feel pressured to imitate porn when having sex.
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