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A charity has warned that extreme pornography is leading to online sexual offending as Briton’s become desensitised to legal content.
Research into the habits of 2,500 adults found that more than 40 per cent watch pornography, according to a survey commissioned by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.
More than a quarter say that their consumption has become more frequent and one in five admit the sexual content they view has become more extreme or aggressive over time.
The child sexual abuse prevention charity has warned this escalation can lead to viewing illegal images online after a quarter of online offenders who used their confidential hotline in 2023 admitted to having a problem with porn.
More than 275,000 Brits sought support from the charity’s Stop It Now services in 2024 due to concerns about their own or someone else’s online sexual behaviour towards children.
A married man in his 30s revealed he was placed on the sex offenders register after his porn addiction escalated from mainstream content into viewing child sexual abuse images.
He said viewing legal porn had been an addiction for as long as he could remember but slowly got worse.
“As the internet got faster, and porn more abundant, I only got worse and craved more,” he said.
“I had the knock on the door while I was at home with my wife. At first I thought a family member had died and the police were here to break the news to me. The news that my offending had been caught out was terrifying and crushing, for both me and my wife.”
After child sexual abuse images were found on his device he was handed a conditional discharge and placed on the sex offenders register for two years.
After calling the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, he was also referred to complete a course and now says he is “two years sober from pornography”.
Dr Alexandra Bailey, head of psychology at the charity and associate professor at the University of Roehampton, said people who develop a tolerance for certain types of porn can end up going in search of more hardcore content which could be illegal.
She said: “It may sound a bit extreme to suggest that escalating pornography habits can lead people to offending online and viewing child sexual abuse material, but sadly it’s true and something helpline advisers at Stop It Now see every single day.
“We see people who go from watching legal pornography to watching more and more extreme content online.
“In these instances, the individual builds a tolerance to the content they’re watching, becoming desensitised to legal adult pornography, which leads them to seek out more extreme material to achieve the same level of gratification – in some circumstances this includes illegal child sexual abuse material.
“It’s important that people can recognise when a relationship with pornography develops into something more problematic.”
The charity is encouraging anyone who is worried about their own behaviour or that of someone they know to seek help, warning it causes “serious harm to real children” as well as life-changing consequences for offenders.
The polling comes a week after a review into pornography concluded that free and easily accessible online content “has become increasingly violent, degrading and misogynistic”.
The government vowed to clamp down on pornography which shows women being choked after the review – by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin – found such content can have “devastating” real-world consequences.
Non-fatal strangulation is already an offence in its own right, but it is not illegal to show it online.
Assistant Chief Constable Alastair Simpson, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “Online child abuse sadly continues to grow in prevalence and severity, enabled by new technology that makes accessing child abuse material increasingly easier.
“The work of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation is fundamental in intercepting those who do or could pose a risk to children, and I would encourage anyone who is worried about their online behaviour to get help now, don’t let it escalate.
“Protecting children from harm is a responsibility we all share, and whilst policing works every day to target the most harmful criminals intent on abusing children online, we must see greater action from technology companies to regulate and control access to the content on their platforms.”
Source: independent.co.uk
