Majority of Irish people believe porn is harming society and is ‘hugely problematic’

According to the findings made by Women’s Aid, while the majority of men (60 per cent) agree that pornography is harmful to society, the level of concern is significantly higher among women (82 per cent).

And those aged between 18 to 25-years-of-age also believe porn is increasing young men’s interest in rough or violent sex.

The charity said its support workers regularly hear about the role pornography plays in the verbal, sexual and physical abuse women are subjected to by their male partners.

Respondents to the survey also said porn is too accessible to children and is contributing to gender inequality and sexual violence.

Leading psychotherapist. Anne McCormack said the proliferation of porn among young people who don’t understand consent is “hugely, hugely problematic”.

“There are a lot of difficult issues when it comes to pornography,” she told Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

“I think one of the main issues that I would have with it, in terms of my experience of people who I meet with, is that people are using pornography before they have an understanding of consent.

“That is definitely causing harm to society. I think that is one of the main problems when it comes to porn.

“I don’t think porn itself is necessarily problematic. I think the fact that people are accessing it before they understand consent is hugely, hugely problematic.”

According to Ms McCormack, a lack of regulation and education has left it up to parents to teach their children about the difference between porn and reality.

She noted that most people understand that they can’t act out what they see on the screen.

“I know there is information in that survey as well about women’s experience of men when pornography is being used but what I would say about that is that, if people watch porn that’s misogynistic, it doesn’t mean that they themselves are misogynistic,” she said.

“In the same way that some people like to play video games that contain violence and it doesn’t mean they are violent people themselves.”

She said people need to have open conversations with their sexual partners about consent and their sexual expectations.