Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
1 out of every 8 porn titles shown to first-time users on porn home pages describe acts of sexual violence, according to a 2021 study.
Research indicates that porn can fuel sexist attitudes in porn consumers.
Research shows remarkable neurological similarities between substance addiction and compulsive pornography consumption.
Research consistently shows that porn consumers are twice as likely to later experience a divorce or breakup —even after controlling for marital happiness, sexual satisfaction, and other relevant factors.
Studies show that frequent porn consumers are more likely to carry out sexual violence in real life.
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.
Research has found that porn featuring Asian people often promotes racism by focusing on degrading stereotypes, including presenting Asian women as submissive objects.
Research suggests that frequent porn consumers are more likely to victim-blame survivors of sexual violence.
According to a UK survey of over 22,000 adult women, 16% reported having been forced or coerced to perform sex acts the other person had seen in porn.
65% of underage victims recruited online in 2020 active criminal sex trafficking cases were recruited through Facebook, while 14% were recruited through Instagram, and 8% were recruited through Snapchat.
Sex trafficking is a commercial sex act that is brought about by force, fraud, or coercion, or where someone under 18 is involved.
Qualitative research with current and former porn performers suggests that sexual exploitation and trafficking are common experiences in the porn industry.
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.
Over half of 11 to 16-year-old boys (53%) and over a third of 11 to 16-year-old girls (39%) reported believing that pornography was a realistic depiction of sex, according to a 2016 report.
According to a 2018 study of "child porn" victims, survivors reported that the images of their abuse caused different problems than the sexual abuse itself, including distress over being recognized from the images.
Research shows that women are almost always the targets of violence or aggression in porn —about 97% of the time.
Research shows that porn consumers are more likely to forward intimate images without consent. Researchers suggest this may be because regular porn consumers tend to develop sexually objectifying attitudes towards others.
Research shows that while feeling guilt can motivate healthy change, feeling shame actually fuels problematic porn habits.
The majority of young people are exposed to porn by the time they’re 13, according to research involving young people in the UK.
While not all porn features physical violence, even non-violent porn has been shown to be associated with negative effects like increased sexual aggression
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