Children as young as 10 are being exposed to online pornography which is affecting their ability to empathise and causing them to be sexually aggressive, says a New South Wales parliamentary report.
The inquiry found that pornography is easily assessed by children and young people online, with the average age of first exposure to pornography is 13 years old.
Harmful impacts also including poorer family and social relationships, addictive behaviours, and negative attitudes towards women.
It also found a “significant number” of young people were turning to pornography to fill gaps in their sexuality education.
Children and young people are showing reduced self-esteem, emotional stability and empathy, poorer family and social relationships, an increase in sexual aggression, compulsivity and addictive behaviours, and an increase in attitudes of sexual objectification towards women.
The report also found that current sexuality education is not meeting the needs of a “significant number” of young people, especially LGBT people and those with a disability, who turn to pornography to fill gaps in their sexuality education.
“The committee is concerned about the prevalence of pornography in the lives of many young people, and the problematic themes displayed in what was described as mainstream pornography,” the report states.
“This includes themes of violence and misogyny; real or implied lack of consent; racism, homophobia and transphobia; and illegal themes such as child abuse and incest.
“These concerns increase alongside evidence that shows children are accessing pornography while still in primary school.”
The committee was “shocked to learn of the correlation between problematic pornography use and problematic and harmful behaviour in children and young people, age 10 to 17 years, who access the NSW Health New Street Services,” the report states of a community service for 10-17 year olds with harmful sexual behaviours.
“The committee notes an apparent large unmet demand for services to support children and young people who have demonstrated problematic and harmful sexual behaviour.”
The report recommended the government increase support services and resources for children and young people, and workforce development to equip mental health practitioners and teachers to work with them.
It also recommended the NSW government call on the federal government to look into banning ‘pop-up’ pornography advertising, especially in gaming apps and social media, among 17 recommendations.
However, the report published on 17 October at the NSW parliament website, found that pornography of itself is “not inherently harmful” as a form of adult entertainment.
It was published along with a dissenting statement Susan Carter who called it an “important report” but argued it lacked a more explicit statement about the harms of pornography and said it was disappointing that it called for parents to be engaged parents in children’s education about pornography “where appropriate”.
“Given the evidence, and the important role of parents as the first and fundamental educators of their children I moved for the deletion of ‘where appropriate’,” she wrote.
“Parental engagement is always appropriate – and indeed required for successful teaching about pornography and its harms.”
Carter said she was surprised and saddened at the extent to which pornography was shaping, and often warping, the views of young men and women about what a healthy sexual relationship is.
“Some expressed views that pornography viewing formed an important part of sex education – a how-to manual on every child’s phone,” she said.
“Considered as a whole, pornography does not present a healthy template for sex education – if we see sex as an important part of a relationship based on mutual respect. We should be very cautious about allowing it to be used as a substitute for sex education.
New South Wales is the first Australian state to hold an inquiry into the impacts of pornography on mental, emotional, and physical health.
The committee received 81 submissions, including from the Catholic Women’s League NSW, the Council of Catholic School Parents, and women’s advocacy organisation Collective Shout.
It also conducted an online questionnaire, and held two public hearings and two roundtables in Sydney.
The report makes 17 recommendations including more research into harms of pornography exposure.
It also recommends the NSW Government work with the Federal government to strengthen and enforce laws to ensure the removal of online content that includes illegal acts such as incest, as well as “child-like” pornography actors.
Representing the CWL NSW, Dr Deirdre Little told the inquiry the organisation regarded all forms of pornography as harmful and that “so-called ‘standard, non-violent pornography’ is not harmless.”
She said that “children are immersed in increasingly sexually explicit media,” which may contribute to the normalisation of pornography in Australia more broadly.
“In a home where there is repeated exposure to even non-violent, standard pornography, it is associated with reduced valuation of marriage regarding extra-marital affairs as normal, associated with mounting use to addiction, associated with escalation to more deviant pornography, the trivialisation of rape and behavioural aggression,” Little said.
