STUDY: Children damaged by ‘diet of pornography.’ Study based on analysis of 276 pieces of research

Here’s an article on the results of an important UK study on the harms of pornography to children and teens. These study results are useful to share with people who mistakenly think that porn is harmless, and to encourage parents to make sure their kids don’t have access to porn and that they get educated about the adverse effects of it!

[Daily Telegraph] — For the first time, the Children’s Commissioner for England has found a clear link between exposure to extreme images at a young age and a rise in “risky behaviours”. It emerged that children who regularly viewed pornography were more likely to have underage sex, develop “casual and hedonistic” attitudes, experiment with drink and drugs and indulge in sexting, when explicit pictures are taken and sent to others using camera phones.

Boys were much more likely to be exposed to pornography than girls, it was found, resulting in “beliefs that women are sex objects”. The study, based on a large-scale review of international evidence, also found some evidence of a relationship between explicit images and a rise in sexual aggression and harassment of the opposite sex. Dr Maggie Atkinson, the Children’s Commissioner, warned that “violent and sadistic imagery” was readily available among “very young children” because of easy access to the internet on home and tablet computers and mobile phones.

It was claimed that many children from the age of 10 accidentally accessed “violent and sadistic imagery” while undertaking legitimate research. “For years we have applied age restrictions to films at the cinema, but now we are permitting access to far more troubling imagery via the internet,” Dr Atkinson said. “We do not fully understand the implications of this. It is a risky experiment to allow a generation of young people to be raised on a diet of pornography.” The report called for compulsory sex and relationship education in primary and secondary schools, including modules on the dangers of pornography.

It follows claims by the National Association of Head Teachers and Ofsted, the education watchdog, that too many sex education lessons are of poor quality. Speaking at the publication of the report in London, Sue Berelowitz, the Deputy Children’s Commissioner, called on parents to avoid taking a “zero-tolerance” attitude towards pornography, saying that hard-line rules prevented children raising legitimate questions when they do access sexual images. She added: “Education is the only universal lever we have to ensure all children are safeguarded against the possible impact of pornography.”

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT THE LINK BELOW: (And please don’t forget to like, comment and share to spread the word and support the cause. Thanks! :-))

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_children-damaged-by-diet-of-pornography_1851751-all

Here’s the announcement by the UK Children’s Commissioner about the study, which contains a link to a full summary of the study:

http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/press_release/content_505

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Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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J.L.’S STORY: “I Believed the Lies of Pornography and It Influenced Me to Be Abusive In My Relationships”

Check out J.L.’s story! A child sex abuse survivor whose pornography use negatively affected her relationships. Also, please don’t forget to SHARE AND COMMENT! We will pass on a link to this post to J.L. so she can read your feedback. 🙂 Thanks!

I BELIEVED THE LIES OF PORNOGRAPHY AND IT INFLUENCED ME TO BE ABUSIVE IN MY RELATIONSHIPS

J.L. (female, 19, U.S., Found AntiPornography.org through YouTube)

I’m not the usual statistic known to watch pornography. I am a homosexual nineteen year old female who also enjoys engaging in consensual sensual activities. But I can strongly agree that today you’ve made a big difference in my life as to why pornography is totally unethical.

I do see myself becoming more physically and psychologically abrasive to the ones I care about after viewing pornography; I would impulsively hit, slap, or poke my partner to the point of annoyance, or I would make insults to her on weight issues. I would ask myself, “Does she really enjoy that?” while watching the grimaces and clenched eyes, (most commonly seen in heterosexual pornography), when I believe that sexual gratification is more expressive vocally as well.

Thank you so much for the clarification regarding the definitions of eroticism and pornography. You’ve really opened my eyes. I do not take pleasure in anyone’s humiliation, therefore I will stop endorsing and viewing pornography.

On a very personal note, only once as a preschooler was I sexually abused by a stranger; after the occurrence I gained a very different perspective on sex at a young age; but differently I did not see sex as appropriate until someone becomes of consenting age. I did also believe at one point that pornography was “normal” since I assumed the girls who partook in making the films enjoyed it. Ideally people do things they love for money.

Psychologically, I was very repressive about being objectified as something sexual; I’m not in total denial of myself of anything sexual, I am passionate and have natural urges as a human. However it took me many years before I finally allowed my emotions to gather and understand that I was violated as any of the girls who partake in pornography or prostitution, the only difference is that I wasn’t given monetary compensation.

People who obtain gratification from pornography, prostitution, or engaging in a sexual act without permission should considered getting their heads checked.

Thanks again for personally approaching me for my comment, and a thousand more for creating your website and making a big difference!

http://www.antipornography.org/harm_stories.html#141683

READ MORE HARM STORIES:

http://www.antipornography.org/harm_stories.html

Please don’t forget to like, comment on and share this story to help spread the word about the harms of porn and to support the cause. Thanks! 🙂

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YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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Child porn summit ended up a damp squib: Internet giants still refuse to install automatic filters

Here’s a review of the recent UK summit on child pornography attended by Google and Facebook, etc. Was it a success? That depends on who you ask. Some positive steps were taken, but as the critics have pointed out, so much more could have been done and needs to be done! What do you think?

[Daily Mail] — Britain’s internet giants have agreed to put extra money into the fight against sickening child abuse images – but are refusing to install automatic filters that would force users to ‘opt in’ to online pornography.

At a Westminster summit, the top four internet service providers pledged an additional £1million over four years to the Internet Watch Foundation, a charity which works to remove indecent images from the web.

Firms including BT, TalkTalk, Facebook and Google signed a ‘zero tolerance’ agreement on child abuse images at the summit, hailed by Culture Secretary Maria Miller as a triumph.

But critics said the agreement was toothless, and the summit had taken no real action on protecting children from stumbling across pornographic images.

Attendees at the summit – which despite apparently being a Number 10 priority was held while David Cameron was at the G8 summit – agreed to meet again in the autumn to discuss progress.

Web firms have come under scrutiny in recent months following the convictions of Mark Bridger and Stuart Hazell for the murders of five-year-old April Jones and 12-year- old Tia Sharp. Both men had visited child abuse sites before the attacks. Last night the parents of both children called for more action to tackle child porn.

The Daily Mail has campaigned for opt-in filters which would force computer users to indicate they wish to have access to pornography.

April’s mother, Coral Jones, said: ‘I just want it stopped and I think the Government should put more pressure and get it done now.’

Tia’s father, Steven Carter, said: ‘You’re fuelling the beast and it needs to be stopped – it should have been stopped a long time ago when these people were setting up companies.’

The companies which attended the summit in the Houses of Parliament were Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, BT, BSkyB, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Vodafone, O2, EE and Three.

The internet service providers (ISPs) signed up to a new approach, which will involve working more closely with the police to seek out and block images of child abuse.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT THE LINK BELOW: (And please don’t forget to like, comment and share to spread the word and support the cause. Thanks! :-))

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2344142/Child-porn-summit-ended-damp-squib-Internet-giants-refuse-install-automatic-filters-force-users-opt-in.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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FACEBOOK: AntiPornography.org – Nonreligious, Pro Free Speech, Pro Healthy Sex & Love ~~ http://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation ~~
YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION: Close the ‘Rape Pornography’ Loophole

PLEASE SIGN THIS ANTI-PORN PETITION NOW: Close the Rape Pornography Loophole, by @RapeCrisisSth and @EVAWhd. The petition applies to the UK only, but everyone can sign it and should sign it, because if it is implemented there, then hopefully other countries will follow! 🙂

PETITION:

What is ‘rape pornography’?

In 2011, after being alerted to the existence of websites devoted to ‘rape pornography’ Rape Crisis South London conducted research into the freely available content on ‘rape porn’ websites. We found many of the videos’ themes to be endorsing and promoting various criminal acts including kidnapping, additional physical violence and child sexual abuse.

These images are explicitly defining themselves as being rape, non-consensual or forced sex. Our research found video descriptions like ‘young schoolgirls abducted and cruelly raped. Hear her screams.’; ‘little schoolgirl raped by teacher’ and ‘little girls cruelly raped at home’; ‘tiny girl sleep rape’ and ‘girl raped at gunpoint’. The websites hosting the content included words like brutal rape, real rape, savage rape, only rape, in their web address.

There is no grey area here. The viewers of these sites are encouraged to believe these images are real, that they are watching ‘real rape’. The loophole in legislation means that alongside images of rape, simulations of incest and child sexual abuse are freely, legally accessible in England and Wales as long as all participants in the image can be identified through digital imaging as being 18 or over, regardless of young appearance or contextual factors.

What’s the loophole?

Since 1959, it has been illegal to publish pornographic “portrayals of rape” in the UK, but pornographic rape material is legally available online as it is uploaded abroad and outside UK jurisdiction. The 2008 Extreme Pornography legislation aimed to simply close this loophole but when finalised, it did not extend to rape depictions.

By adding the straightforward criteria of “rape or other non-consensual penetrative sexual activity” to the legislation (as done in Scotland), anyone in possession of such images would be committing an offence and the Internet Watch Foundation could act to restrict or block access to sites.

What do we want?

We are calling for urgent action on the legislation on Extreme Pornography in England and Wales. We have been working with Law Professors at Durham University who have drafted an amendment to the law. We want your support in closing this loophole through raising awareness of its existence and showing public outrage that such material is inexcusably beyond the law on extreme pornography. Help us tell Westminister we want this loophole closed immediately.

READ THE LETTER TO UK PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON AT THE LINK BELOW, AND THEN PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION! THANKS! Also please like and share this post and the petition to get others to also sign! Thanks! 🙂

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/close-the-rape-pornography-loophole

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Please support the cause by following us here at this blog, liking us at Facebook, subscribing to our YouTube channels, and following our Twitter accounts. Thanks! ~~
FACEBOOK: AntiPornography.org – Nonreligious, Pro Free Speech, Pro Healthy Sex & Love ~~ http://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation ~~
YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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Connecting the dots between sex trafficking and pornography

Here’s a good article on why it’s vital to address DEMAND caused by PORNOGRAPHY when fighting sex trafficking. So remember, if someone is against sex trafficking, they must also take a stand against pornography!

[WorldMag.com] — Sex trafficking is the issue de jour on college campus. Students attend documentaries, hold charity walks, and put on bake sales to raise money for safe houses and victim restoration. Special speakers spread awareness about girls trapped in the sex industry against their will.

While most anti-trafficking work focuses on helping victims, few students talk about what propels women into the trade: The continued demand by men to buy women and the role internet pornography plays in that demand.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT THE LINK BELOW: (And please don’t forget to like, comment and share to spread the word and support the cause. Thanks! :-))

http://www.worldmag.com/2013/06/connecting_the_dots_between_sex_trafficking_and_pornography

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Please support the cause by following us here at this blog, liking us at Facebook, subscribing to our YouTube channels, and following our Twitter accounts. Thanks! ~~
FACEBOOK: AntiPornography.org – Nonreligious, Pro Free Speech, Pro Healthy Sex & Love ~~ http://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation ~~
YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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GABRIEL’S STORY: Porn Scars and Leaves Haunting Marks Inside of You

Please check out GABRIEL’S STORY, which describes how unwanted porn exposure as a child traumatized him and harmed his familial and other relationships. Please don’t forget to SHARE AND COMMENT! We will pass on a link to this post to Gabriel so he can read your feedback. 🙂 Thanks!

PORN SCARS AND LEAVES HAUNTING MARKS INSIDE OF YOU

~ By Gabriel (male, 21, Sydney, Australia, found AntiPornography.org through YouTube)

Porn harms in a big way. This is my story.

I was 13 when I first saw a pornographic movie. The sex was rough and unloving. The guy grabbed the female by the throat and cussed at her as they did their thing. As I watched my insides twisted and churned with emotions I couldn’t even process. I was too young and didn’t fully understand what I was seeing on the screen, so comprehending that and my emotions at the same time was impossible. As I watched I felt like I left my body and went back in again. I was shocked, emotionally sledgehammered, but paradoxically incredibly turned on by seeing a completely naked female for the first time.

The whole experience burned on my mind like a permanent mental branding. I internalised my confusion. I packed it away to process and look at another time but I couldn’t shake those scenes from my mind for days after. The movie fascinated me sexually and from them on I saw a lot of porn.

My real problem was that my dad has never had a job and was always at home. He was really into porn and just used to sit around the house watching porn videos on the TV in our living room during the day while my mom was at work, so my siblings and I didn’t have a choice about viewing it because we couldn’t help but see it. This was especially true during school vacation times as us kids were home every day.

Later on, as I started my own sexual relationships as a late teen, I found I couldn’t connect with my partner emotionally during or after lovemaking. It was like I was an empty shell. I just switched off from them although I wanted nothing more than to feel love. From foreplay onwards, I always felt the same feelings coming back up inside me as I felt the first time I’d ever seen pornography as a 13 year old. It happened to me the first time I was ever physically intimate with a female and it shook me to the core. During lovemaking I felt the same shock, the same weird emotions, the same kind of out-of-body feelings.

Those emotions from when I was 13 had been around the whole time and came out forcefully to tell me they were still around. They screamed in my face from deep inside: “Don’t you forget about us!” Instead of enjoying intimacy with my partners and growing in sexual confidence with them, I grew more and more unconfident, more nervous and more self conscious.

At my worst point, last year, I became impotent for a time as lovemaking just got so stressful for me and emotionally difficult to deal with. I think my body’s refusal to get an erection was my own subconscious refusal to make love. I didn’t enjoy lovemaking. I just felt numb. I wanted more than anything in this world to feel LOVE when I made love, instead of stress and nervousness.

Right now I’m blessed with a really caring and understanding partner but I feel so guilty about the way I am. I’m currently in therapy and gradually I’m starting to change. My confidence is growing. My guilt is lifting. The negative emotions are not so strong. I love my girlfriend so so much for sticking with me over a difficult time. She always says to me: “I love you, you’ll get better, I’m with you for good so get used to it.” 🙂 Yeah, of course I love her too. 🙂

It makes me sick when I think of all the people who don’t know that their partner or ex-partner has put their private home-made videos up onto porn sites for thousands of strangers to see. That is so wrong and abusive. It’s violating. I hate porn and I wish I’d never seen any porn at all because of how it gave me such a warped idea of my own body image, what sex is, and what lovemaking really is. I’d be glad for the whole industry to collapse and disappear as there is no doubt, no doubt at all that porn harms. It scars and leaves haunting marks inside you that cruelly play with your heart and mind. Porn harms.

I just hope that even if one parent who is like my father comes across your site and reads my story then they will have some respect for themselves, their partner and their family and stop the harm they are doing.

Thank you for your wonderful AntiPornographyBlog YouTube channel and your awesome website. Good luck with your fight and BLESS YOU. 🙂

LINK TO STORY:

http://www.antipornography.org/harm_stories.html#147244

READ MORE HARM STORIES:

http://www.antipornography.org/harm_stories.html

Link to AntiPornographyBlog YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/AntiPornographyBlog

Please don’t forget to like, comment on and share this story to spread the word about the harms of porn and to support the cause. Thanks! 🙂

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Please support the cause by following us here at this blog, liking us at Facebook, subscribing to our YouTube channels, and following our Twitter accounts. Thanks! ~~
FACEBOOK PAGE: AntiPornography.org – Nonreligious, Pro Free Speech, Pro Healthy Sex & Love ~~ http://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation ~~
YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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PRO-PORN STUDIES JOURNAL UPDATE: “Editors of sex studies journal attacked for promoting porn” (The Guardian UK)

Here’s an update on the battle over an upcoming “Porn Studies” academic journal with a pro-porn editorial board. It’s really important to not let academia get taken over by pornographers and their supporters, so we encourage you to read this article and to please take this issue very seriously and share it with others!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/jun/16/journal-editors-attacked-promoting-porn

Note: The petition mentioned in the above article, that aims to get the pro-porn stories journal to be more fair and balanced, or to be honest about its bias, is at this link below. NOTE: You can still sign it and share your reasons for doing so, so please do that if you haven’t already!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/porn_studies_bias/

P.S. Thanks to our friend, supporter and contributor Brian Black for the heads up on this article, which he posted on our Facebook page yesterday. He and others often post a wide variety of interesting and useful things on our POSTS BY OTHERS section of our page, so please feel free to check out, like and share those helpful posts on a regular basis. Thanks! 🙂

https://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation?filter=2

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Please support the cause by following us here at this blog, liking us at Facebook, subscribing to our YouTube channels, and following our Twitter accounts. Thanks! ~~
FACEBOOK: AntiPornography.org – Nonreligious, Pro Free Speech, Pro Healthy Sex & Love ~~ http://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation ~~
YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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Great graphic on DEMAND: “Women and Children Trapped in SexTrafficking Triangle”

Please LIKE and SHARE this excellent and informative graphic with as many people as possible, to educate them about how to reduce DEMAND for, and SUPPLY of, sex trafficking victims. Thanks for your support for the cause! 🙂

HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING:

DEMAND — Reduce by individuals:

— Not viewing/buying pornography
— Not participating in prostitution
— Not legalizing prostitution

Citizens can work to REMOVE the DEMAND

SUPPLY — REDUCE BY:

— State policy — Prostitution illegal
— Federal policy — Prostitution illegal
— Gov’t. securing borders, intelligence
— Federal/State Law Enforcement
— International cooperation
— Criminals/pimps not operating

DISTRIBUTION — Reduce by:

— Intergovernmental efforts
— International policy — trafficking illegal
— Global effort to shut down human trafficking, intelligence sharing

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Please support the cause by following us here at this blog, liking us at Facebook, subscribing to our YouTube channels, and following our Twitter accounts. Thanks! ~~
FACEBOOK PAGE: AntiPornography.org – Nonreligious, Pro Free Speech, Pro Healthy Sex & Love ~~ http://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation ~~
YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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Criminalise possession of ‘rape porn’, campaigners urge UK Prime Minister David Cameron

There is growing pressure in the UK for possession of rape pornography to be criminalized. What do you think?We think that this is more than fair, for all of the excellent reasons covered in the below article.

[Guardian UK] — More than a hundred anti-rape groups and campaigners have written to the prime minister urging him to make it a criminal offence to possess internet pornography depicting rape.

They argue that such material “glorifies, trivialises and normalises” the abuse of women and girls, and note that both Mark Bridger and Stuart Hazell – recently convicted of murdering April Jones and Tia Sharpe respectively – were users of “violent and misogynistic pornography”.

In their letter to David Cameron, the campaigners also cite US research, which they say has long demonstrated a significant link between “arousal to rape material and a propensity to rape”.

Possession of such material is already an offence in Scotland and could be similarly outlawed in England and Wales if the government closes a loophole in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, they say.

Although it has been illegal to publish pornographic portrayals of rape for decades in the UK, existing legislation does not cover material uploaded abroad and outside British jurisdiction.

Research by Rape Crisis South London into “rape porn” available online found that much of the material – bearing descriptions such as “young schoolgirls abducted and cruelly raped. Hear her screams”; “little schoolgirl raped by teacher”, and “tiny girl sleep rape” – appears to promote or endorse such criminal acts as kidnap, additional violence and child sexual abuse.

Fiona Elvines, a Rape Crisis South London campaigner, said the 2008 legislation – which criminalised the possession of pornography judged “grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character” or pornography depicting life-threatening injury, serious injury to the anus, breasts or genitals, bestiality or necrophilia – did not go far enough.

“Permitting the possession of depictions of sexual violence as entertainment glorifies, trivialises and normalises such abuse at a time when government statistics estimate that 85,000 women and girls are raped each year,” she said.

Holly Dustin, the director of the End Violence Against Women coalition, said that while the government had taken some positive steps towards preventing sexual violence, it needs to tackle the issue of “rape porn”.

“If it is really serious about keeping its promise, it must look at the cultural backdrop against which women and girls are abused,” she said. “‘Rape porn’ glorifies sexual violence and undermines the government’s work.”

READ THE REST OF THIS STORY AT THE LINK BELOW: (And please don’t forget to like, comment and share to spread the word and support the cause. Thanks! :-))

ARTICLE LINK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/07/criminalise-rape-porn-campaigners-cameron

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Please support the cause by following us here at this blog, liking us at Facebook, subscribing to our YouTube channels, and following our Twitter accounts. Thanks! ~~
FACEBOOK: AntiPornography.org – Nonreligious, Pro Free Speech, Pro Healthy Sex & Love ~~ http://www.facebook.com/ENDSexploitation ~~
YOUTUBE CHANNELS: AntiPornographyBlog ~~ AntiPornographyOrg ~~ SayNOtoProstitution ~~ ENDSexTrafficDEMAND ~~ PornAddictionHelp ~~ SayNOtoSadomasochism ~~
TWITTER ACCOUNTS: @AntiPornography ~~ @ENDSexTraffic ~~ @ENDProstitution ~~ @NoSadomasochism ~~ @PornAddictHelp1 ~~ @HealthySexNLove ~~
Post created by AntiPornography.org Nonprofit Organization ~ Preventing and combating the devastating harms of pornography, prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual slavery, while supporting safe, healthy, equality-based sex, love, and relationships ~

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Anti-porn Feminist Gail Dines Testifies In Favor of Porn Industry Record Keeping that Ensures Performers Are Over 18 Years Old

Here’s interesting testimony by Pornland’s Gail Dines from a case against the U.S. government by the porn industry. The porn industry plaintiffs — “The Free Speech Coalition” — are objecting to the “2257 law” that requires them to verify that performers in porn are over 18 years old, and to keep records of that verification. (Note: The article is from a porn industry news website.) ~~ Go Gail! Keep telling the harsh truth about porn to keep the good laws in place! 🙂

[XBIZ] — Antiporn feminist Gail Dines and veteran photographer Barbara Nitke both gave extensive testimony during the fourth day of the trial for Free Speech Coalition vs. Eric Holder, which is being held in the courtroom of Judge Michael M. Baylson at the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia.

Representing FSC and 16 other plaintiffs in the case are attorneys J. Michael Murray and Lorraine Baumgartner, while attorneys Kathryn Wyer, James Schwartz, Hector Bladuell and Nathan Swinton are representing the U.S. Justice Department under President Barack Obama’s attorney general Eric Holder.

The New York City-based Nitke testified in support of the plaintiffs, while the Boston-based Dines testified on behalf of the Justice Department. Free Speech Coalition vs. Holder involves federal record-keeping law 18 U.S.C. § 2257, which the plaintiffs allege places an unfair hardship on companies or individuals presenting any sort of erotic depictions.

The proceedings began at 9:15 AM, and Dines was soon called to the witness stand by the defendant’s side in the case. Although Dines is originally from Manchester, England and speaks with a British accent, she now lives in Boston (where she is a professor of sociology and women’s studies at Wheelock College). Dines, who is the author of the antiporn book “Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality” and was a founding member of the antiporn organization Stop Porn Culture, told the court that she has spent 25 years studying adult entertainment. “All of my academic career has been devoted to the study of pornography,” Dines testified.

Dines said that she studies the adult industry closely and reads both XBIZ and AVN in order to “get a picture of what the industry really looks like…. I interview people in the industry. I also have many contacts in the industry who tell me what’s going on.” AVN’s Tom Hymes, who testified for the plaintiffs earlier this week, was present in the courtroom this morning — and Dines said that she was well aware of his work. Dines described the adult industry as an industry that “shapes cultural values and cultural norms.”

But Dines does not study the adult industry because she is favorable to it; she has been vehemently outspoken against it, in fact. A frequent guest on the BBC, she is considered a go-to person when the BBC and other media outlets are looking for an antiporn voice to interview.

Because of her antiporn efforts, Dines has been compared to law professor Catharine A. MacKinnon and the late Andrea Dworkin (two other feminists known for their vehement opposition to porn). And during her testimony today, Dines set out to paint the industry in a negative light and was quite critical of porn sites that use the word “teen” as a marketing tool.

Dines testified that between the “Playboy/Penthouse/Hustler days” of print media and the digital era, porn went from bad to worse. Porn “has become much more cruel, much more body-punishing” and often involves “some form of physical or verbal violence,” Dine testified. Dines said that during the digital era, there has been a major shift from Internet adult paysites to a domination by adult tube sites — and in a tube site-oriented environment, Dines said, the teen genre of porn has become increasingly prominent.

Dines described adult tube sites like PornHub and RedTube as a “gateway into the entire porn industry,” adding that people who use tube sites can find an abundance of porn in the teen genre. “I have spent many, many hours on tube sites,” Dines testified. Dines also said that free tube sites often lead to pay sites but said that the adult membership adult site model isn’t nearly as profitable as it once was. Dines said of membership porn sites, “They’re losing money like crazy…..It’s very hard to make money now from the production side.”

Dines testified that she has spoken to “child protection agencies” about the teen genre and finds that genre disturbing because it is “normalizing young women, very youthful-looking women as objects for male use…chipping away at the cultural norms that define children as off limits.” And Dines said that the type of imagery she typically encounters in the teen genre includes “the bobbie socks, the pink … the pastel colors, light makeup … cartoon figures on her t-shirt,” whereas in the “regular genres” of porn, one typically hears terminology more along the lines of “bitches, whores and sluts.”

Dines cited other imagery she finds is common in the teen genre: “the hair on their head is done up like a schoolgirl…..You’ll have them with teddy bears, lollipops.”

With the teen genre, Dines testified, female models are not curvaceous or voluptuous; they are likely to have smaller breasts, she said. When asked about the college porn genre, Dines said, “College porn is the one subset where you get women who are more curvaceous.”

Gay porn, Dines said, has its own version of the teen genre: “in gay porn,” she said, “it’s called twinks.”

At one point during her testimony, Dines described adult production companies as “sweatshops.” Judge Baylson jumped in, saying, “You mean a sweatshop where people work for low wages?” But when Dines was unable to clarify why she considered adult production companies to be “sweatshops”—a word with an extremely negative connotation—Baylson decided that her reference to “sweatshops” was unnecessarily inflammatory and asked that it be stricken from the record.

During much of her testimony for the Justice Department, Dines implied that part of the porn industry — especially the teen porn genre — is trying to appeal to men who have sexual fantasies about under-age women. But when attorney Murray cross-examined Dines, he immediately set out to discredit her testimony and paint her as a zealot whose disdain for the adult industry is obsessive and irrational.

Murray asked Dines if she had described herself as an “antipornography activist” and an “antipornography advocate”; she acknowledged that she had described herself that way. Murray asked Dines if she had described Playboy founder Hugh Hefner as “society’s most influential pimp”; she acknowledged saying that.

Murray also inferred that part of Dines’ disdain for porn comes from a disdain for capitalism. Murray asked Dines if she has a problem with capitalism in general; she responded that in her view, it creates problems and leads to major wealth inequalities.

Citing some of Dines’ own research, Murray noted that the top three genres of online porn are (1) MILF, (2) gay and (3) teen. Murray said that based on Dines’ own research, “67-75 percent” of Internet erotica doesn’t fall into the teen genre.” And Dines responded that the figure was “a bit lower than what you’re saying.” Dines also said that the teen genre was larger when one factored in “allied terms” such as “tiny tits.”

Murray used the terms “MILF” and “cougar” more than once in his cross-examination of Dines. Murray did so to counter Dines’ claim that the porn industry is trying to normalize sexual fantasies involving under-age girls. If MILF and cougar erotica is so prominent in online erotica, Murray set out to demonstrate, it makes no sense to paint the adult industry as one that encourages sex with minors.

When Dines was giving direct testimony to one of the Justice Department’s attorneys, she said that she knows people in the adult industry who assist her with her porn-related research. “I interview people in the industry. I also have many contacts in the industry who tell me what’s going on.” And during Murray’s cross-examination, Dines asked her who those industry contacts were. Dines replied, “They won’t allow me to speak their names. They ask me not to disclose their names…..They’re nervous about coming forward …. They’re scared of retribution from the pornography industry.”

READ THE REST OF THIS STORY AT THE LINK BELOW: (And please don’t forget to like, comment and share to spread the word and support the cause. Thanks! :-))

Note: As mentioned, the article is from a porn industry news website. But there is no graphic imagery at the print version of the article page, which is the one we’ve provided below.

ARTICLE LINK: http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece_print.php?id=163704

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