Fast Facts

(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

(Bouffard, 2010)

Research shows that porn consumption is a significant predictor of sexual entitlement.

Citations

Bouffard, L. A. (2010). Exploring the utility of entitlement in understanding sexual aggression. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(5), 870-879. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.06.002

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

(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

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

Findings of a qualitative study indicated that teens often reported trying to copy porn in their own sexual encounters, and that the pressure to imitate porn was often an aspect of unhealthy relationships.

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

(Wright, Tokunaga, & Kraus, 2016)

While not all porn features physical violence, even non-violent porn has been shown to be associated with negative effects like increased sexual aggression

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

(Fritz, Malic, Paul, & Zhou, 2020)

Research shows that women are almost always the targets of violence or aggression in porn —about 97% of the time.

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

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

(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

(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

(Feehs & Wheeler, 2021)

According to a report of prosecuted sex trafficking cases in the U.S., the majority of coercive tactics used by traffickers (59%) were non-physical, compared to 41% of tactics involving physical coercion.

Citations

Feehs, K., & Wheeler, A. C. (2021). 2020 federal human trafficking report. Human Trafficking Institute. Retrieved from https://www.traffickinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2020-Federal-Human-Trafficking-Report-Low-Res.pdf

How Porn Can Fuel Sex Trafficking

(Sun, Wright, & Steffen, 2017)

Research suggests that porn can influence women to be more submissive in sexual encounters.

Citations

Sun, C. F., Wright, P., & Steffen, N. (2017). German Heterosexual Women’s Pornography Consumption and Sexual Behavior. Sexualization, Media, & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374623817698113

(Foubert, Brosi, & Bannon, 2011)

Research suggests that frequent porn consumers are more likely to express an intent to rape.

Citations

Foubert, J. D., Brosi, M. W., & Bannon, R. S. (2011). Pornography viewing among fraternity men: Effects on bystander intervention, rape myth acceptance and behavioral intent to commit sexual assault.18(4), 212-231. doi:10.1080/10720162.2011.625552

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

(Vera-Gray, McGlynn, Kureshi, & Butterby, 2021)

Research indicates that “hidden cam” videos are a common theme on porn sites, making it difficult to determine which videos are consensual and which are not.

Citations

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/azab035

(Wright & Tokunaga, 2016; Seabrook, Ward, & Giaccardi, 2019)

Studies show that people who consume porn frequently are more likely to support sexual violence.

Citations

Wright, P. J., & Tokunaga, R. S. (2016). Men's Objectifying Media Consumption, Objectification of Women, and Attitudes Supportive of Violence Against Women. Archives of sexual behavior, 45(4), 955–964. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0644-8
Seabrook, R. C., Ward, L. M., & Giaccardi, S. (2019). Less than human? Media use, objectification of women, and men’s acceptance of sexual aggression. Psychology of Violence, 9(5), 536–545. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000198

How Porn Can Promote Sexual Violence

Stay Connected

Are you with us? Join the movement!

By submitting above you agree to the Fight the New Drug Privacy Policy.

Stay Connected