The Facts
Click a topic/title for the associated statistics.
One porn site boasted 54 billion visits in 2021, an average of 148 million per day.
That’s equivalent to the populations of Canada, Australia, Poland, and the Netherlands combined, every day.
Compulsive porn users are at higher risk of stress and depression. 1 Cooper et al., “Sexuality on the Internet”; Martin P. Kafka, “The Paraphilia-Related Disorders: Nonparaphilic Hypersexuality and Sexual Compulsivity/Addiction,” in Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, 3rd ed., eds. Sandra R. Leiblum and Raymond C. Rosen (New York: Guilford Press, 2000), 471–503)
Over 88% of porn scenes contain physical aggression
… and only 10% contain no physical or verbal aggression. Of the instances of physical aggression, 70% of the perpetrators were male, and 87% were aimed at women. 95% of the time, the targets showed pleasure or responded neutrally to the aggression, with only 5% resulting in a negative response. The word teen is the most frequent word to appear in porn titles, featuring in 7.7% of all videos, and 8.5% of those which depict sexual violence.2https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1077801210382866
Both men and women who were shown pornography reduced their support for women’s rights. 3 Zillmann and Bryant, “Effects of Massive Exposure to Pornography” in Pornography and Sexual Aggression, Eds. Neil M. Malamuth and Edward Donerstein (New York: Academic Press, 1984)
Research shows remarkable neurological similarities between substance addiction and compulsive pornography consumption. 4
Love, T., Laier, C., Brand, M., Hatch, L., & Hajela, R. (2015). Neuroscience of Internet Pornography Addiction: A Review and Update. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 5(3), 388–433. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs5030388
Snagowski, J., Wegmann, E., Pekal, J., Laier, C., & Brand, M. (2015). Implicit associations in cybersex addiction: Adaption of an Implicit Association Test with pornographic pictures. Addictive behaviors, 49, 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.05.009
10% of children has seen porn at the age of 9- this rose to 27% by 13 5 Children’s Commissioner for England report 2023
41% of 11–17-year-olds agreed that watching porn made them less respectful of the opposite sex. 6 BBFC research into children and pornography, 2019 https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-us/news/children-see-pornography-as-young-as-seven-new-report-finds
Exposure to porn correlates with earlier sexual activity, increased risk of unplanned pregnancy, and increased risk of sexually transmitted disease. 7 A. Bleakley, M. Hennessy, M. Fishbein, and A. Jordan, “It Works Both Ways: The Relationship Between Sexual Content in the Media and Adolescent Sexual Behavior,” Media Psychology 11, no. 4 (2008): 443–461 and R. L. Collins, M. N. Elliott, S. H. Berry, et al., “Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior,” Pediatrics 114, no. 3 (2004) and A. Chandra, S. C. Martino, R. L. Collins, et al., “Does Watching Sex on Tele-vision Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings from a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth,” Pediatrics 122, no. 5 (2008): 1047–1054.4 and G. M. Wingood, R. J. DiClemente, K. Harrington, S. Davies, E. W. Hook III, and M. K. Oh, “Exposure to X-Rated Movies and Adolescents’ Sexual and Contra-ceptive-related attitudes and Behavior,” Pediatrics 107, no. 5 (2001): 1116–1119
Exposure to pornography in middle school led to higher sexual harassment in high schools 8 JD Brown and K. L. L’Engle, “X-Rated: Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors Associ-ated with US Early Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media, Communica-tion Research 36, no. 1 (2009): 129–151
Just 25% of parents thought their child had seen pornography, but 63% of children reported having seen it. 9 BBFC research into children and pornography, 2019 https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-us/news/children-see-pornography-as-young-as-seven-new-report-finds
People in committed relationships who find their partner is using pornography can show signs of PTSD. 10 Barbara A. Steffens and Robyn L. Rennie, “The Traumatic Nature of Disclosure for Wives of Sexual Addicts,” Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity 13, nos. 2 and 3 (2006): 247–67)
33% of women whose partners use pornography reported moderate to high levels of distress caused by their partner’s porn use. 75% said it had a negative impact on their self-esteem. 11 Ana J. Bridges, R. M. Bergner, and M. Hesson-McInnis, “Romantic Partners’ Use of Pornography: Its Significance for Women,” Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 29, no. 1 (2003): 1–14)
70% of internet users kept the time they spent on online sexual activities secret from their partners. 12 Alvin Cooper et al., “Toward an Increased Understanding of User Demographics in Online Sexual Activities,” Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 28, no. 2 (March 2002): 105–29)
75% of women aged 18-24 think there is a correlation between porn use and emotional immaturity or unavailability, and 60% of men the same age think there is a correlation with “lack of interest in pursuing or maintaining a romantic relationship or social isolation. 13 Nikita Coulombe, co-author of Man (Dis)Connected, (London: Rider Books, 2015)
Just 25% of parents thought their child had seen pornography, but 63% of children reported having seen it. 14 BBFC research into children and pornography, 2019 https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-us/news/children-see-pornography-as-young-as-seven-new-report-finds
“While my overt task at hand was to make sure that the girls got naked, my true responsibility as the director was to make sure the girls got punished. Scenes that stuck out, and hence made more money, were those in which the female ‘targets’ were verbally degraded and sometimes physically humiliated.” 15 Sam Benjamin, Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer
Pornography is the 3rd-most common form of sex trafficking, according to cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. 16 https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Polaris-2019-US-National-Human-Trafficking-Hotline-Data-Report.pdf
“Teen” is one of the most consistently popular porn themes 17 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-35828-014
Common themes in mainstream, hardcore pornography today include teens and children, incest, racism, slavery, rape, and extreme violence – which is almost always against the female performers. 18 Gail Dines, Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked our Sexuality. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2010); Chyng Sun, Ana J. Bridges, Jennifer A. Johnson, and Matthew B. Ezzell, “Pornography and the Male Sexual Script: An Analysis of Consumption and Sexual Relations,” Archives of Sexual Behaviour (2014) 1-12, doi: 10.1007/s10508-014-0391-2; Ana J. Bridges, Robert Wosnitzer, Erica Scharrer, Chyng Sun, and Rachel Liberman, “Aggression and Sexual Behaviour in Best-selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update,” Violence Against Women 16, (2010): 1065- 1085.
- 1Cooper et al., “Sexuality on the Internet”; Martin P. Kafka, “The Paraphilia-Related Disorders: Nonparaphilic Hypersexuality and Sexual Compulsivity/Addiction,” in Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, 3rd ed., eds. Sandra R. Leiblum and Raymond C. Rosen (New York: Guilford Press, 2000), 471–503)
- 2
- 3Zillmann and Bryant, “Effects of Massive Exposure to Pornography” in Pornography and Sexual Aggression, Eds. Neil M. Malamuth and Edward Donerstein (New York: Academic Press, 1984)
- 4
Love, T., Laier, C., Brand, M., Hatch, L., & Hajela, R. (2015). Neuroscience of Internet Pornography Addiction: A Review and Update. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 5(3), 388–433. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs5030388
Snagowski, J., Wegmann, E., Pekal, J., Laier, C., & Brand, M. (2015). Implicit associations in cybersex addiction: Adaption of an Implicit Association Test with pornographic pictures. Addictive behaviors, 49, 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.05.009 - 5Children’s Commissioner for England report 2023
- 6BBFC research into children and pornography, 2019 https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-us/news/children-see-pornography-as-young-as-seven-new-report-finds
- 7A. Bleakley, M. Hennessy, M. Fishbein, and A. Jordan, “It Works Both Ways: The Relationship Between Sexual Content in the Media and Adolescent Sexual Behavior,” Media Psychology 11, no. 4 (2008): 443–461 and R. L. Collins, M. N. Elliott, S. H. Berry, et al., “Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior,” Pediatrics 114, no. 3 (2004) and A. Chandra, S. C. Martino, R. L. Collins, et al., “Does Watching Sex on Tele-vision Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings from a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth,” Pediatrics 122, no. 5 (2008): 1047–1054.4 and G. M. Wingood, R. J. DiClemente, K. Harrington, S. Davies, E. W. Hook III, and M. K. Oh, “Exposure to X-Rated Movies and Adolescents’ Sexual and Contra-ceptive-related attitudes and Behavior,” Pediatrics 107, no. 5 (2001): 1116–1119
- 8JD Brown and K. L. L’Engle, “X-Rated: Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors Associ-ated with US Early Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media, Communica-tion Research 36, no. 1 (2009): 129–151
- 9BBFC research into children and pornography, 2019 https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-us/news/children-see-pornography-as-young-as-seven-new-report-finds
- 10Barbara A. Steffens and Robyn L. Rennie, “The Traumatic Nature of Disclosure for Wives of Sexual Addicts,” Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity 13, nos. 2 and 3 (2006): 247–67)
- 11Ana J. Bridges, R. M. Bergner, and M. Hesson-McInnis, “Romantic Partners’ Use of Pornography: Its Significance for Women,” Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 29, no. 1 (2003): 1–14)
- 12Alvin Cooper et al., “Toward an Increased Understanding of User Demographics in Online Sexual Activities,” Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 28, no. 2 (March 2002): 105–29)
- 13Nikita Coulombe, co-author of Man (Dis)Connected, (London: Rider Books, 2015)
- 14BBFC research into children and pornography, 2019 https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-us/news/children-see-pornography-as-young-as-seven-new-report-finds
- 15Sam Benjamin, Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer
- 16https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Polaris-2019-US-National-Human-Trafficking-Hotline-Data-Report.pdf
- 17https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-35828-014
- 18Gail Dines, Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked our Sexuality. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2010); Chyng Sun, Ana J. Bridges, Jennifer A. Johnson, and Matthew B. Ezzell, “Pornography and the Male Sexual Script: An Analysis of Consumption and Sexual Relations,” Archives of Sexual Behaviour (2014) 1-12, doi: 10.1007/s10508-014-0391-2; Ana J. Bridges, Robert Wosnitzer, Erica Scharrer, Chyng Sun, and Rachel Liberman, “Aggression and Sexual Behaviour in Best-selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update,” Violence Against Women 16, (2010): 1065- 1085.
You can click on a footnote number to see the citation.
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