The Problem of Pornography

Dr Quratulain Zaidi of Mind N Life looks at the problem of pornography – particularly among children – and the detrimental impact that its consumption can have in our homes.

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Over the past few months, I’ve had a few distraught parents coming to my office, reporting they have recently discovered their young daughters have been watching pornography. In some cases, it had been going on for months – in one case, over a year. The age range of the children involved was seven to nine years. The parents were, as you can imagine, experiencing an avalanche of emotions – including feeling scared and helpless, and blaming themselves.

It has highlighted to me that this silent issue that is so prevalent in our society is one that needs to be addressed.

The problem of porn

Pornography destroys lives, dreams, marriages, and families. It doesn’t discriminate based on race, culture, age, gender, political affiliation, religion or financial status. It plays a role in marital and family breakdowns, and generates serious problems for individuals, families, and societies.

This global business is estimated to be worth almost US$100 billion, with about $12 billion of that in the US alone. In 2018, more than 5,517,000,000 hours of porn were consumed on the biggest porn site in the world. Eleven such sites are among the world’s top 300 most popular internet sites. Porn sites receives more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon, and Twitter combined each month. This industry is big, to say the least.

It’s often assumed that girls aren’t the ones seeking out porn. Yet, this is quickly changing – and teenage girls are significantly more likely to actively seek it than women 25 years old and above. What’s more, one study of 14-to-19-year-olds found that females who consumed pornographic videos were at a significantly greater likelihood of being victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault.