Does porn cause sexual violence?

It is hardly a topic we like to talk about -- a 'dirty', 'shameful' 'necessary evil' -- but something that its consumers are not willing to give up. For young boys, it is often an initiation into manhood. Pornography is perhaps the best kept open secret in almost all modern societies where there may be laws that prohibit its production, use and sale, but in reality it is the most accessible form of sexual gratification. The internet and mobile phone have formed the perfect accomplices to perpetuate this phenomenon that degrades and dehumanises women and children reducing them to objects that can be used and abused. It is a medium that propagates a distorted version of sex and sexuality. In a world where sexual violence has become the biggest obstacle to women's emancipation and children's physical and mental health, how much of it can be attributed to the influence of pornography?

In March 2015, five SSC examinees gang raped their classmate on the roof of their tutor's house in Savar, while he was away. After they raped her, they demanded TK 10,000 and when she refused, they uploaded a video of the rape. Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) recorded 245 gang rapes and 484 rapes in 2015. As many as 16 of the victims of gang rape were between 7 to 12 years old and 58 between 13 and 18.

Were all these rapists prompted by watching pornography? Unfortunately, there is no study to prove such a theory as research related to this issue in Bangladesh is hard to find. In any case, it would be an oversimplification to say that porn is the main cause of sexual violence. Not all men who watch porn become rapists or have the urge to rape while not all rapists watch porn. But there is overwhelming research to show that the content in pornography does create distorted perceptions about women and sex. Robert Jensen, a professor of Journalism at University of Texas in his article 'Pornography and Sexual Violence', has found through his studies on the subject, a few basic themes in pornography: "women want sex all the time from all men, they enjoy all the sexual acts demanded of them, and even when they resist they can be persuaded with a little force because, after all, women are all basically the 'nymphomaniacs many men fantasise about'".  Jensen and his co-researcher Debbie Okrina have found that there are few things that haven't been 'pornographised'. Sex with slaves on plantations, prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, with women who are disabled and the most debauched of all – with children of all ages – anything goes in the triple X world. Women having sex simultaneously with multiple partners, being raped, having objects inserted into their bodies – all kinds of perversions are made to seem 'acceptable' in these films.

Many researchers in the West have found that men who are already predisposed towards sexual violence are further encouraged after watching pornography that seem to justify those acts. There is also enough research to show that continuous watching of porn (which can lead to addiction) does have significant effects on men and boys regarding women's role in society, sex, rape etc. Donna Rice Hughes, an internationally known internet safety expert, in her research, has found that boys' (14 years or younger) frequent exposure to pornography may result in their involvement in sexually deviant acts, especially rape. The study Hughes cites, of convicted child molesters, has found that 77 percent of those who molested boys and 87 percent of those who molested girls admitted to the habitual use of pornography in the commission of their crimes.

We may dismiss this as being the consequences of the liberal West's obsession with sexuality. But even in conservative Bangladesh, where you can't even say the word 'sex' out loud without evoking horrified gasps, porn has been alive and kicking. And now, because of the ease with which video clips can be uploaded and viewed on the internet, perverts can have hidden cameras to record rapes, consensual sex with girlfriends and create 'unofficial' porn that can be used to blackmail, extort or just get back at someone.

A study conducted by Manusher Jonno Foundation in 2009 reveals that many school going and out of school children are exposed to pornography through CDs, posters and view cards. The research also made some frightening discoveries - around 77 percent of respondents to one of the studies said they get involved in pornography as viewers, while a significant number of children have turned into performers and sellers of porn clips. Sometimes shopkeepers of video stores, relatives and pimps convince children to take part in child pornography. Street children are especially vulnerable as they are left to fend for themselves and the promise of extra money lures them into the trap.

With internet porn, there are virtually no limits to finding porn, as a huge number of youngsters have access to mobile phones and cybercafés. Gary Wilson, author of Your Brain on Porn, explains that "with internet porn one can escalate both with more novel "partners" and by viewing new and unusual genres." Also, as there is no age limit to users of internet porn, even pre-adolescent children can be exposed to sexually explicit material that they are not ready for. This may lead to confusion, misinformation about a child's sense of self and a disruption in the normal personality development of a child. If a child's introduction to sexuality is derived from pornographic images, s/he is likely to form distorted ideas and attitudes regarding sex, sexuality and the image of women which can carry on up to adulthood.

Not that adults who regularly watch porn remain unaffected. Studies in the US as cited by Donna Rice Hughes have shown that exposure of male adults to even six weeks of pornography brought out certain negative attributes. This included "an increased sexual callousness toward women, trivialisation of rape as a criminal offense or even no longer considering it a crime at all, a distorted perception about sexuality and an appetite for deviant, bizarre, or violent types of pornography".

There will be, no doubt, many detractors who say that just blaming porn for the rising incidence of sexual crimes is an oversimplification of a very complex problem. But there is little scope to deny its role as a catalyst in sexual violence. For a conservative society like ours, where formal sex education is nonexistent, where any interaction between males and females (unless they are married) is frowned upon, and where females are regarded as subordinate to men, pornography seems to be the main source of information regarding sex. Pornography reinforces the objectification and sexualisation of women and children, it promotes the notion that they can be subjugated to do anything a man wants and that coercion, force, in other words rape, is a justifiable act. If this is what porn has the potential to do, why are we allowing it to seep into our lives with such success?

In 2012, the Parliament enacted the Pornography Control Act 2012 which declares pornography in any form to be a crime and punishable with up to seven years imprisonment. The Act, furthermore, declares 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of five lakh taka for child pornography. Despite such a stringent law, how many of those individuals who have uploaded videos of rapes, gang rapes, sexual encounters with girlfriends, wives or ex-wives, children, for blackmailing or defaming, been convicted and sent to jail? The answer is hardly any, if at all.

The reason perhaps lies in our tendency to gloss over practices that have been tacitly accepted in a patriarchal environment, no matter how harmful the implications may be for women and children's security. Pornography is one of the most lucrative industries in the world because the demand for it is never ending. Now, thanks to the widespread use of the smart phone and internet, the unlimited range of pornography is reaching even the remotest of villages, bombarding young (and older) impressionable minds with unrealistic, deviant, sometimes violent, versions of sex. If we are really serious about ending sexual violence, why don't we start by removing porn from our lives once and for all?

The writer is Deputy Editor, Editorial and Op-ed, The Daily Star.