The increase in sexual assaults among young people, some of them in packs, seems to have a direct relationship with the consumption of pornography by adolescents. Minors start watching porn earlier every time -the school in which many are educated sexually- and end up reproducing these practices in real life. They arrive before and without looking for it. This is what Lluís Ballester (Santiago de Compostela, 1960), doctor in sociology and professor at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), points out. Ballester, an expert on the impact of porn on young people and a member of the research group that has prepared a study on the access, consumption and consequences of pornography, warns that 25% of adolescents consume violent porn and that the initiation of sexuality From its viewing, it educates in aspects as fundamental as the use of condoms, respect for others or shared pleasure. He points out that we have the challenge of offering young people a sexuality that is not toxic.
– What is the relationship between the increase in sexual assaults among young people and the consumption of pornography?
We know that there is a coincidence in time in the systematic increase in the viewing of violent pornography by some of the youngest people and the reproduction of these rituals that they have seen in porn. In addition, they film their criminal acts and distribute them through the networks. The emulation with porn is only complete when they put it into circulation and they are shown as the protagonists of a pornographic film. These characteristics are very indicative of a relationship.
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The lawyers for the packs or those involved use porn as a defense: “It’s not weird, I was doing something I’ve seen a thousand times.” It is a speech that pretends to be exculpatory, but in reality it shows an influence that is undeniable.
– Is porn among young people more interesting now or is it that they have easier access?
We differentiate three related issues. One is access, which has become much easier and has increased with screens. And in addition, companies have known how to attract young people and have done very clever marketing by buying domain positions in search engines around the world with sexually significant words. You put “tits” in a search engine and you get porn. Consumption has also increased because there is a habituation process and because the challenge of seeing who finds more powerful things has become widespread in the networks. They explore and go from a content that a priori was not so violent to another that is more so.
– And the third question?
The consequences in addictiveness and problematic consumption are very important and are worrying because the one who potentially does the most harm is to them. It affects subjective well-being.
– Does consuming pornography increase sexual aggressiveness?
It can be observed as a relevant predictor in cases of problematic consumption, which affects 25% of adolescents. And we are basically talking about them because access has been equalized by gender, but the level of consumption is much higher in them. In them it does not reach 3%. But problematic use is not necessarily a predictor of aggressive behavior. It can be from others.
– Of which?
Of risk behaviors. Not using condoms is one of the most notorious.
– They consume porn and imitate it.
In education and psychology we know that there is a modeling of behavior that makes you learn behaviors even if you don’t realize it. If 25% of adolescents watch more than 1,000 hours throughout their adolescence (between 13 and 18 years), they learn. They learn that condom use is rare. Or that there is no seduction. The consensus on practices also disappears because they don’t talk about what to do or how to explore. There is no expression and fulfillment of the desire of women or of people who are in a non-dominant position in the sexual relationship.
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I have also observed the introduction of small violence… or large, depending on how it is practiced. Choking used to be very rare in adolescent sex and is now becoming a repeated practice. Or pull the hair. Or spit on your partner. This is already part of what is possible or what is being done.
– Do they imitate and they feel compelled to agree to internships?
Indeed. The pattern of sexuality is changing. There are three criteria that we humans have developed to have sexual relations in conditions of equality, freedom and non-violence. One is the secure bond, respect for the other. The other is the consensus of practices. And the third is shared pleasure. One of the things that regular viewing of porn does is that it diseducates us on all three.
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Humans can represent sexual activity, but we cannot do it in a toxic way: with violence, with submissive women… No one would accept a 13-year-old boy buying a ticket at the cinema to see a porn movie. But if he is in his room and watches unlimited porn, no one cares. We are cynical as a society if we accept this!
– There is also a risk of victimization.
Yes. It increases the probability of getting involved in violent relationships, without consensus of practices, due to habituation to these contents in pornography.
– What impact does habitual consumption of porn have on very young boys?
It influences three things that are very important. The first, changes perceptions. In porn they refer to them as whore, slut or slut. Instead, they are superheroes. It also affects the rejection of one’s own body because there is a bodily hierarchy. That is why there have never been so many demands for strictly aesthetic surgery operations, as many labiaplasties as there are now in adolescents. It also affects attitudes. Porn is the only cinematography that, in order to represent violence, must have made that violence and filmed it. And it affects their naturalization. There are increases in sexual violence at all levels, but especially among adolescents.
– Since when have you detected the increase in sexual violence among young people?
In the last 10 years there has been a progressive increase. Now we are in very worrying data. The report of the State Prosecutor’s Office of 2021 that echoes a report presented in the European Parliament (pages 1304-1305) on the increase in complaints of crimes with minors for cybersex points out that there were more than 23,000 complaints in 2010 to 725,000 in 2019.
– Part of the blame lies with mobile phones, which are used to film and send.
Indeed.
– Should this be done?
What we are not doing well is limiting access to at least violent porn, which is very common. All mainstream porn has symbolic violence because of how women are talked about or because there is no consensus on practices. Apart from this, there is extremely violent porn: of very young people, with women in an advanced state of pregnancy, beatings… And there is no restriction on the distribution of this content.
– Is any restriction feasible?
Yes. There are countries that are studying age recognition. It is true that for now they have not worked much, but progress has been made because now it is facial recognition: you must put your face to let you access. And then there are parental controls, one of the issues that derive from the Audiovisual Law of 2022 and LOPIVI, the organic law for the protection of violence in childhood and adolescence, laws arrive a little late. 13% of male adolescents watch porn after 12 midnight. An hour of porn plus an hour of social media means that the next day you can’t pay attention to math or English in class. It harms them and not only because of their sexual behavior but also because it disconnects them from the educational process and takes away from them social opportunities.
– Would part of the solution be to limit access to screens and not have a mobile, for example, until the age of 16?
I couldn’t say at what age the limit should be. But you have to do digital education. Because once a technology gets in and goes mainstream, it’s very hard to take a step back. On the Internet we have not developed any limits and children have a four-year-old screen many times without any restrictions.
– The consumption of pornography has advanced. At what age?
In the Balearic Islands we have found that between 15 and 20% find pornography, because they are not going to look for it, around the age of 8. In a US study it comes out exactly the same: 15% of North American adolescents come to pornography before the age of 10. It is the strategy of these companies: to capture the attention of sexual curiosity, which has no response in our society.
– What can we do?
We could make a more educational film industry, clearly. That shows a healthy sexuality, that is scaled by age. This should be usable by the entire education system. You should be able to go to a cultural center or library and access these videos. We are challenged to access sexuality in a way that is not toxic.
– Do young people have a healthy sexuality?
Mostly yes. The level of problematic consumption is in 25% of male adolescents, although luckily there is a resilient part that does not develop toxic or violent behavior. But if it affects 10 or 15% of adolescence in a toxic way, it is already unacceptable.
– And a way of relating to sexual violence is normalized.
Clearly.
– Social networks like Instagram don’t help either…
Indeed. Certain practices have been inciting sexting in a public space, such as networks. Instagram or TikTok facilitate the evaluation of sexualized images and have become platforms for the first production of pornography through second-layer pages, which are accessed with access permissions, but which are “monetized” for the first experiences of production of pornography.
– Is more legislation or more education necessary?
The main option is awareness and affective education, as well as digital education. But also improve current regulations. We propose some priority actions.
– Which is it?
Guarantee compliance with the obligation to apply effective systems for verifying the age of majority. Measures to eliminate and penalize the publication of extreme and violent pornography, as well as any type of violence against women and girls. Establish by law that all devices with an Internet connection that are put up for sale in Spain have parental controls activated by default, which can only be deactivated by adults. Or introduce modifications to the Criminal Code to guarantee the persecution of the directors of the platforms that allow minors access to pornographic materials and classify extreme and violent pornography as a crime.
What advice would you give parents/families?
Be prudent in accessing technologies. Employ, in a negotiated manner, effective parental controls. Promote critical thinking, speaking in confidence with their sons and daughters. Support educational initiatives to raise awareness. And do not fall into the temptation of thinking that everything is solved by prohibiting.
– And the young people?
That they be informed, that they participate in the activities of their educational centers and neighborhoods. That they remember that when a product is “free” they should be suspicious, because those who have made it want to manipulate their behavior. Don’t do sexting on social media. And above all that they do not accept practices that do not give them pleasure, that they do not do so without consensus. And that they recover relationships based on a secure bond, respect and the avoidance of all kinds of violence.
