Opinion: Legislation needed to target violent pornography

Each day this week newspapers have covered the horrific murders of women at the hands of intimate partners. Legislators must start looking holistically at what’s causing the problem, and violent pornography should be enemy No.1.

Each day this week newspapers have covered the horrific murders of women at the hands of intimate partners. Legislators must start looking holistically at what’s causing the problem, and violent pornography should be enemy No.1.

Young Australians are contending with a powerful porn industry practically drugging our kids with hardcore, violent sexual material. Porn can degrade women, normalise rape and sexual violence, and can enforce gender stereotypes.

One young person told the eSafety Commissioner during an inquiry into age verification for online pornography: “There’s no escaping it in a way; you’re always surrounded by it.”

There is a real connection between watching violent porn and committing sexual and domestic violence.

More than one in 10 porn videos shown to first-time users describes an act of sexual violence – and 86 per cent of Australian teens are estimated to have consumed pornography in the past 12 months.

The correlation between watching violent, hardcore porn and committing sexual and domestic violence isn’t just conjecture; it’s a tragic reality.

One 2020 study from Melbourne University reported intimate partner sexual violence and pornography consumption were strongly related. The UK Government Equalities Office found an association between pornography and an increased likelihood of committing both verbal and physical acts of aggression, with a significantly stronger correlation with the use of violent pornography.

In the same week that Australia counted its 70th woman killed so far this year, violent pornography needs to be in the firing line.

In 2020, a bipartisan inquiry I set up recommended the eSafety Commissioner develop a road map to mandatory age verification for online porn and gambling. The commissioner spent two years investigating the issue, recommending earlier this year that the federal government implement an age verification trial. Despite the pleas from experts, parents, and child safety organisations, Labor took the side of Big Porn, tasking them with the responsibility to develop their own industry code.

That’s like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank.

I won’t stay silent when it comes to protecting women and children and nor should you. Neither should the Labor federal government.

Andrew Wallace is the federal Member for Fisher

Originally published as Opinion: Legislation needed to target violent pornography