UK sounds alarm over child exposure to violent porn

LONDON: A UK government-sponsored report on Tuesday sounded the alarm over children viewing violent pornography, warning that as a result they may expect sex to include acts such as strangulation.

The report from Children´s Commissioner Rachel de Souza found 10 percent of children had seen pornography by the age of nine and 79 percent had seen violent pornography “depicting coercive, degrading or pain-inducing sex acts” by the age of 18.

The survey was carried out late last year among 1,014 people aged from 16 to 21 living in England. Forty-seven percent said girls “expect” sex to include physical aggression such as airway restriction and slapping, and 42 percent said girls “enjoy” this. Respondents were more likely to think girls enjoy such acts than boys do.

Among the respondents aged over 18, 47 percent said they had experienced a violent sexual act. “A lot of online pornography can be unrealistic and some of it is rape content, so young people may think this is okay and realistic,” an 18-year-old girl was quoted as saying.

The report stresses that the content children can view now bears no comparison to what their parents´ generation could access only in top-shelf magazines. It argues that among young people, “pornography plays a key role in normalising and condoning sexual violence against women”.