More research is needed to better understand links between the consumption of pornography and harmful attitudes and behaviours in men and boys, harmful sexual behaviour in young people, and child sexual abuse, in order to ultimately prevent violence and abuse from occurring, says Jesuit Social Services.
In its submission to the NSW Inquiry into the impacts of harmful pornography on mental, emotional and physical health, Jesuit Social Services has made several recommendations on what new research should be invested in, and the steps that should follow to influence behaviour through education programs and stronger laws.
“Through program delivery and research related to the prevention of violence and abuse, we have seen the impacts of harmful pornography first-hand. It is critically important that the NSW Government is taking the issue seriously and holding this inquiry,” said Matt Tyler, Executive Director, Community and Systems Impact at Jesuit Social Services.
“Our most recent Man Box report, the largest Australian study into men’s perceptions of and belief in rigid masculine norms, found that consumption of violent pornography was common among young Australian men, and this group of men were also more likely to have perpetrated violence and hold violence-supportive attitudes.
“This research tells us there is a relationship between pornography use and gender-based violence. The next step is to better understand where we can intervene, particularly with young people, to prevent violent attitudes and behaviours from developing.”
To address this and prevent young people being exposed to pornography, more needs to be done to progress age verification. With 94 per cent of children and young people exposed to pornography before they turn 14, schools and teachers also need to be equipped to approach the topic so that pornography does not become young people’s main source of sex education.
“This content is readily accessible to young children. We recommend stronger laws to ensure rigorous regulation and monitoring of technology companies with respect to harmful pornography,” Mr Tyler said.
Jesuit Social Services, in partnership with the University of Melbourne, is developing the Worried About Sex and Pornography Project, which aims to support young people concerned about pornography and/or sexual thoughts and behaviours. The organisation also runs Stop It Now! Australia – a child sexual abuse prevention program for adults concerned about their own or someone else’s sexual thoughts or behaviours towards children. As part of the design and delivery of these programs, we consistently observe the prevalence and harmful impacts of problematic pornography use.
“Investing more in early intervention programs like these can change behaviours before it gets to violence or abuse,” Mr Tyler said.
“With our years of experience through our programs and research, we hope that Government and other stakeholders see what Jesuit Social Services can offer in helping to deliver the recommendations of this inquiry.”
Jesuit Social Services recommendations to the Inquiry:
Recommendation 1: Invest in more research into the prevalence and influence of pornography, in particular to inform the state’s approach to the prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence.
Recommendation 2: Explore opportunities to better educate young people on the impacts of pornography. This should include providing robust and informed consent and sex education, sexual health and understanding respectful relationships.
Recommendation 3: Conduct research into the relationship and pathways between consumption of legal/mainstream pornography and child sexual abuse material.
Recommendation 4: Ensure stronger regulation and monitoring of child sexual abuse themes on mainstream pornography websites.
Recommendation 5: Adopt stronger laws and strategies to ensure rigorous regulation and monitoring of technology companies with respect to pornography and other online content that may be harmful. to ensure children’s safety online, more action is needed to introduce specific measures to prevent and disrupt access to child sexual abuse material, and enforce age limits on pornography websites.
Recommendation 6: Invest in online opportunities to influence behaviour, including pop-up warnings on pornography sites, and early intervention services, providing support for people (including children and young people) concerned about their use of pornography and/or sexual thoughts and behaviours (such as Jesuit Social Services’ Worried About Sex and Pornography Project and Stop it Now!).
Media enquiries – Kathryn Kernohan, 0409 901 248 or kathryn.kernohan@jss.org.au
