Ofcom finds 50% of UK men (rising to 3/4s for young men) visited pornhub in Sep 2020

[duffed]

Well this is depressing... I'm not sure I've seen independent stats on porn use in the UK before.

"Half the adult population of the UK watched online pornography during the pandemic, according to a projection by Ofcom which lays bare the activities of the 26 million individuals who view adult material.

By far the most popular pornography site was PornHub, which was visited by 50% of all males and 16% of all females in the UK in September 2020 – giving the site a far larger audience than mainstream television channels such as Sky One, ITV4 and BBC News.

The figures rise substantially among younger age groups, with a third of young women and three-quarters of young men visiting PornHub in the four weeks covered by the research."

www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jun/09/half-british-adults-watched-porn-pandemic-ofcom

@CharlieParley I think that's the best post I've read on MN in my 10 years on here.

As far as PornHub goes, in 2020 it removed all videos from its platform not uploaded by official content partners or verified models.

Oh yes. It was forced to as credit card providers said they wouldn't honour payments to PornHub until they could guarantee their content wasn't illegal, so no revenge porn, filmed rape, underage sex etc.
PornHub had to remove the majority of its content IIRC and they certainly did not do that because they are an ethical company. They were forced to. The volume that was removed shows just how much "porn" is likely to be illegal

@SmokedDuck for me the exchange of money for sex, whether for porn or prostitution is what sets this type of sex completely apart from other forms of sex.

The exchange of money is exploitative and creates a power dynamic. I don’t know how or when society will get to the point of seeing money + sex as extremely harmful.

It doesn’t seem strong enough to cite cases of extreme harm such as those suffered by sex workers or in porn. As there is always a counter argument that others are not harmed at all by this practice. Adults within the industry will come forward and say that it is their adult choice, even that it is empowering because they get paid money.

Despite pretty robust evidence that people are psychologically as well as physically harmed by selling sex, if people can say it is their choice and they are not coerced then we can choose harmful practices for ourselves if we wish.

For me it is a form of slavery. If society can be persuaded that slavery is also being bought temporarily as a human for someone else’s sexual gratification, then shame will be attached.

For me it is also a human rights abuse akin to domestic abuse. Having sex with someone for money is abusive, watching someone have sex for money is abusive. It is abusive because of the overwhelming evidence that it always causes some kind of harm. It even causes harm in the person watching it (like addiction, rigid sexual thinking).

If it is seen as abusive, then this weakens the argument that adults can choose to do this and it be OK. Many women find themselves in abusive relationships, as adults no one can make them leave and many do not recognise the harm. We now recognise as a society that women/vulnerable people are able to be abused because they feel it is normal and OK, because that is how the abuse breaks them down.

If shame is attached, then porn and prostitution will be no longer normalised.

It's not really depressing many women use porn and it only really this nutty section of Mumsnet that really has an issue with it and thankfully as we see that is changing/disappearing as younger people are watching porn more than the older ones. Either way it isn't getting banned nor should it be I'm fed up with people telling me what I can and can't watch so long as there is consent from the parties involved. Porn actors either do it as a job and a very well paid job too considering the CV required or they do it as a amateur in which case who am I to stop them doing their hobby. Sorry it's really just this website and this section in particular that seems to have a big issue with this.

Women have a right to do whatever they want with their body, including porn and sex work.

Women have a right to do whatever they want with their body, including porn and sex work.
True. Doesn't mean society should blindly support something harmful.
Women have the right to do whatever they want with their body, including injecting it with heroin or starving it to death. We don't enthusiastically support those "choices" because a woman made them.

Also, what are your thoughts on men? Is it a man's right to buy sex from a woman who exchanging consent for money?

Porn actors either do it as a job and a very well paid job too considering the CV required or they do it as a amateur in which case who am I to stop them doing their hobby
You are talking bollocks. Porn actresses earn most when they are new to the industry, then are pushed to do more and more extreme stuff to make money.
Watch "Hot girls wanted" in Netflix. A particularly charming long term male porn actor/producer says that girls entering the industry have a "shelf life" of 2 years (or could've been five, but not long for a career) before they aren't considered for work

|@Whoarethewho do in essence you don’t care if anyone is being harmed whilst you are watching porn? And you can’t just get your rocks off without it?
@BilindaB Maybe you need to read up on abuse, and how it happens. I have no condemnation of vulnerable women being abused in porn, it is not their fault, women make up a tiny proportion of people watching porn or using prostitution, so much so it’s negligible. Maybe you need to read @CharlieParley’s post as they put it so much better - and really think about whether that woman hospitalised or that child coerced was really in control of their decisions? Think about it.

And just to take this out a bit.

It’s really not a niche feminist issue - feeling uncomfortable about porn.

Where I live you’d be hard pressed to find a man over 40 who admitted to using porn, they would feel ashamed and so if they are, they hide it.

Anyone that I’ve come across in any organisation such as domestic abuse charities, charities supporting those with addictions, supporting sex workers, the police, politics - you’d again be hard pressed to find anyone who has a good word to say about porn as the evidence of damage is overwhelming.

It’s basically silly men who haven’t got a clue how horrific it is. When the mirror is held up I do believe it will start to change. A few hard hitting documentaries would be a good start.

@BilindaB

As far as PornHub goes, in 2020 it removed all videos from its platform not uploaded by official content partners or verified models.

As I linked above in the thread, some of those "official content partners" are sex traffickers, on trial for sex trafficking, or on the FBI's most wanted list for sex trafficking.

Either way it isn't getting banned nor should it be I'm fed up with people telling me what I can and can't watch so long as there is consent from the parties involved.

Women have a right to do whatever they want with their body, including porn and sex work.

So if someone consented to be killed and eaten by a cannibal on video, you'd both be fine with that?

I think finding murder/ violent killing on the net is probably really easy.

Yeah the beheading videos was what I was thinking of. I suppose I expressed it incorrectly - that kind of thing is obviously available online and accessible to people who want to do so without that much difficulty. Just like animal torture videos or child abuse videos. But it's the sort of thing you'd have to be fairly determined to access. That's not the mainstream internet.

My point was that rape videos are in a different category. I believe that videos depicting the rape and abuse of adult women and older girls are much easier to access and it's obviously much more socially acceptable to the point that large numbers of people are happy to say they watch porn and don't care whether it's rape or not (and won't admit to themselves that it easily could be and that they have no idea). They don't think it's real somehow. It's completely bizarre to me because I don't believe anyone could watch a beheading video without realising that it is an actual person being killed, but so many people seem able to disconnect from porn to the point that they actually say it's not 'real', even though they can see with their own eyes that the acts are not simulated.

so long as there is consent from the parties involved

What if there wasn't consent? What if the sex was consensual but the woman didn't consent to have it posted on the internet? What if the 'woman' is an underage girl? What if the woman has been sex trafficked? What if she is being controlled by a pimp?

And why the fuck do you think you can tell that none of these situations are the case? You can't tell, you are deluded if you think you can.

The next time you want to watch porn just try asking yourself, who is that woman? Do I really know what her situation is? Is this really what she wanted for her life? Could she have said no? Am I watching her rape? See if you're ready to be honest with yourself.

It’s just naive at best to imagine that you can be sure that not only is there consent, but that there is no harm.

As my friends who when younger who were in porn, they were on the ‘soft’ side, all adults, all consented, all paid (not very much!). However all of them were still harmed. Two physically. All of them vulnerable young people - think 18 to 20. Two women, One gay man. All from abusive backgrounds and crossed over too far into the dark underworld - because that’s what it is. These are the most acceptable side of porn - and they all consider that they were too vulnerable at the time and all consider it now a form of abuse. Unfortunately adults can be just as vulnerable as children. I wouldn’t penalise the people taking part in porn. However we can be compassionate and protect fellow citizens from harm. That’s why we don’t accept videos of real harm and child abuse - we try and eradicate them.

@SaucyHorse

so long as there is consent from the parties involved

What if there wasn't consent? What if the sex was consensual but the woman didn't consent to have it posted on the internet? What if the 'woman' is an underage girl? What if the woman has been sex trafficked? What if she is being controlled by a pimp?

And why the fuck do you think you can tell that none of these situations are the case? You can't tell, you are deluded if you think you can.

The next time you want to watch porn just try asking yourself, who is that woman? Do I really know what her situation is? Is this really what she wanted for her life? Could she have said no? Am I watching her rape? See if you're ready to be honest with yourself.

I am perfectly comfortable and I'm sure she is enjoying it as either her job or hobby. And if there isn't consent then that is illegal and covered by the law. We don't ban cars because some people drive without insurance we tackle the rule breakers. Sort out the law breakers and let the rest of us live with our freedoms. I'm just glad this data shows those against porn are gradually decreasing in number (even TV is getting more and more explicit) and the thought police aren't going to interfere with what a woman or man does with their bodies. The boat has sailed Mumsnet feminism posters and it's not about to return.

@Whoarethewho I wonder what makes you want to come onto feminist boards and gloat over being totally comfortable even after reading some of the horrific stories of people in porn? Scrap that. I don’t really care. I care about others who are vulnerable, and being exploited. Thank goodness some of us are, particularly on these feminist boards they really do reflect a pretty fantastic, intelligent, thoughtful and above all caring. Same as in RL where many men I know are absolutely great human beings who once they reflected on what happens as normal in the porn industry, would never watch it. A caring world isn’t one that gloats over the amount of people happy to watch others in their suffering. I am very happy to be in that caring side and I don’t need to call it feminism. It’s just not being an asshole.

I am perfectly comfortable and I'm sure she is enjoying it as either her job or hobby
You are perfectly comfortable as the law will ensure women aren't being raped for your pleasure?
How exactly do you square that with the minimal prosecution of rape when women report it?
Or the fact that some police forces have admitted they don't have enough resource to investigate the volume of clearly illegal online child abuse being viewed by men, before you even get to the more nuanced position of whether an old-enough-to-consent woman is actually being raped or acting being raped?

You sound horrifically selfish. But hey, as long as you are getting your orgasm, who cares if someone's being raped or abused to facilitate that?

And I am surprised or not as the case may be that a board can defend the rights of people who wish to critisise gender transition but not allow a woman to partake in sex work as she chooses. It's ironic that sex work is one area where women earn considerably more and have equality because they earned it and should be celebrated as a feminist success. Whereas women's sport doesnt generate anywhere near the viewing figures and relies on the organisers to fund equal prize money.

Sorry not having it and thankfully the views of many on here are being left behind. even amongst my peer group the views of this board are the minority from surrogacy, misandry, to sex work and trans rights.

Noone has said women shouldn't work in the sex industry.
They've said the sex industry is harmful, mainly to women and girls but also to men and boys. And given evidence of this.
They've said people that use its services are complicit in that harm.
You aren't engaging on those points so I think you aren't posting in good faith.

Also, inconvenient fact, but over the course of their career in porn men earn more because they have more longevity.
Men definitely see more of the revenue from the sex industry than women as they control the top of the chain. So you are misrepresenting the position to suit your argument.

Mia Khalifa earned around £12,000 for being the second most streamed porn actress. Its estimated PornHub earned £501,000 from her. So who's making the money if its not the actress?

www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/porn-the-billion-dollar-industry-that-doesnt-pay-its-stars/MF3FPJCTBQSRLICHQMVDTJLYD4/

Actually the Mia Khalifa story is interesting in itself.

@QuentinBunbury

Mia Khalifa earned around £12,000 for being the second most streamed porn actress. Its estimated PornHub earned £501,000 from her. So who's making the money if its not the actress?

www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/porn-the-billion-dollar-industry-that-doesnt-pay-its-stars/MF3FPJCTBQSRLICHQMVDTJLYD4/

Actually the Mia Khalifa story is interesting in itself.

So I worked in an industry where I am subcontracted out my company earns many multiple times my salary from my work. You would expect the publisher to earn more. However if they self publish or publish new content on a different site then the actors may well get more money. So long as women and men are age verified and consent is confirmed then I really think the state should leave alone. I should not be denying women who want to work on onlyfans webcamming professional porn and pornhubs verified amateurs. Illegal behaviour in parts of the industry like there is in any industry (remember the cockle picking gangs of Morecambe bay or the slave labour used in the cleaning and agricultural industry in the UK but we don't ban any of those industries). Illegal behaviour is illegal behaviour and the law should deal with it and not interfere with those operating legally.

I was responding to this:
It's ironic that sex work is one area where women earn considerably more and have equality because they earned it and should be celebrated as a feminist success.

I also work in professional services so am very familiar with clients who are surprised that I only get paid a fraction of what they pay my employer for my time

My point was that even one of the most sought after actresses has earnt comparatively little, it's the owners of PornHub that have benefitted (MindGeek, owned and run by men).

That's replicated throughout the sex work industry (e.g. who owns the German megabrothels and how much do they get from it, compared to the employees being paid a flat rate for providing an "all you can eat" style sex service"?)

The sex industry exploits women and its mainly men that benefit. You are either being naive or disingenuous if you really think "women earn considerably more"

remember the cockle picking gangs of Morecambe bay or the slave labour used in the cleaning and agricultural industry in the UK but we don't ban any of those industries
We do regulate them though and prosecute employers not complying with regulation. That doesn't happen with sex work 1) because h&s legislation would effectively kill the "in person" services and men wouldn't want their pleasure affected and 2) because virtual services are on the wild west of the Internet where regulation is almost impossible because its cross jurisdiction.

Again, bad argument