With all of the discussion of sexual abuse going on this week surrounding the supreme court nomination, it seemed like a good week to post about the topic as it relates to protecting children online. Sadly, in most of the discussions and #MeToo appeals about sexual abuse very few people ever bring up the role that pornography plays in the sexual abuse of women. Studies reveal that today around 88% of pornographic scenes depict some type of violence. Sexual violence becomes normalized in pornography. Men who use pornography become conditioned to be aroused by that sexual violence. Imagine what is done to the young, malleable mind of a child who watches it!
This quote by Dr. Mary Anne Layden is chilling and should cause all parents to do what is necessary to prevent their children from having access to pornographic videos and images.
“I’ve been a psychotherapist for 25 years. I specialize in the treatment of sexual violence victims and perpetrators and sex addicts. I spend all day, every day talking to rapists, and rape victims, pedophiles and incest survivors, sex addicts, pornography addicts, prostitutes, strippers and pornography models. After I had done this work for about 10 years, I had a sudden realization that I hadn’t treated one case of sexual violence that didn’t involve pornography. You don’t have to have a Ph.D. in psychology to realize something’s going on here.”
This video from Dr. John Foubert, Ph.D. from Truth About Porn™ explains why pornography fuels sexual violence and debunks the myths that pornography is harmful:
If you need to know how to protect your kids from dangerous online content, see our getting started page as well as our categorized, searchable blog as an additional resource.
Sources: Sources: John D. Foubert, Ph.D. & Bridges, Wosnitzer, Scharrer, Sun, & Liberman, 2010