New data shows Gold Coast’s domestic violence crisis being fuelled by links to pornography

THE Gold Coast’s domestic violence crisis is being driven by drug and alcohol-fuelled men consumed by pornography, a community forum has been told.

The Emergency Department at the Gold Coast University Hospital at Parkwood where more women are presenting with injuries from domestic violence. Picture Mike Batterham

THE Gold Coast’s domestic violence crisis is being driven by drug and alcohol fuelled men consumed by pornography, a community forum has been told.

A concerning new trend tracked by welfare workers at the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence reveals clients who have been raped had been subjected to increasing violence.

Centre director Di McLeod in an address yesterday to more than 50 community stakeholders detailed the shocking violence which included women being subjected to group sex along with strangulation and choking.

Melinda Tankard Reist, centre: “I believe it is an act of child abuse to expose our children to this. Everywhere I go schools are reeling, they are playing catch-up to deal with this issue.”

Much of the violence had occurred after women were forced to have nonconsenting sex and their injuries required them to obtain treatment at the emergency departments at Gold Coast Hospitals.

“These levels of physical and sexual violence are bordering on and including behaviour that would meet the criminal code definition of torture,” Ms McLeod told the Problem with Porn conference at the Sharks Event Centre at Southport.

“What used to be an uncommon story is now very much an everyday story involving women of varied ages and diverse backgrounds.”

In the past five years the Coast centre had experienced a 56 per cent increase in referrals from emergency departments of local public hospitals, the forum was told.

“Sometimes the sexual violence is committed by a just-met partner, but in cases where the woman has knowledge of the offender’s habits she has often identified that the offender is a regular consumer of pornography,” Ms McLeod said.

The forum was told it was clear not everyone who viewed pornography would commit sexual and domestic violence “because some men who use pornography don’t rape”.

“But what research is finding and what we are seeing at our centre is that pornography is clearly influencing sexual expectations and practices between intimate partners, so that the correlation between pornography, rape and domestic violence can no longer be ignored,” Ms McLeod said.

The key finding by welfare workers was violent men using pornography could not see the difference between fantasy and reality and believed “women are up for it 24-7”.

The increased reporting figures were due to the extent of the injuries and view that many women felt less shame about admitting what had happened.

Canberra-based anti-porn crusader and author Melinda Tankard Reist in her address highlighted an email she had received a year ago from Ms McLeod warning about the concerning trends on the Coast.

“If we don’t address this, you will be more overloaded with clients than you already are,” Ms Tankard Reist said.

Her research showed the average age of exposure to pornography was 11 but that introduction was beyond boys “viewing bare breasts” and often involved youths watching rape porn.

“I believe it is an act of child abuse to expose our children to this. Everywhere I go schools are reeling, they are playing catch-up (to deal with this issue),” Ms Tankard Reist said.

Interviews with young schoolgirls revealed their bodies were being judged by some male students and rated as porn stars.

Some girls who were hoping for a warm relationship were told her by their boyfriends “give me a blow job and I’ll give you a kiss”.

After watching the film Fifty Shades of Grey many teenage girls believed that being stalked by a man was romantic, Ms Tankard Reist said.

“They feel the equivalent of being a sexual service station for the boys and guys,” she said.