Porn (pornography)
What is porn?
Porn is sexual images or videos that have been created to make someone feel aroused (feel turned on).
Porn can show sexual body parts (for example penis, vulva, vagina, breasts), or show people having sex.
The types of porn that are free or easy to access do not show what sex is like in real life, or show a range of real life bodies.
Why do people watch porn?
There are lots of reasons someone might watch porn, for example:
- to find out more about bodies and sex
- to have a laugh
- to feel aroused (feel turned on)
- they have been sent something by a friend
- they have accidentally stumbled across it
- they feel pressure to watch it because everyone else is watching it
- they are curious
It is natural for most young people to be curious about sex and they may be tempted to look at porn to find out more.
Does everyone look at porn?
No, not everyone looks at or watches porn. Some people do not like porn or are just not interested in it. Other people are curious about porn or enjoy looking at it. Some people never look at porn, others do it sometimes, and others look at porn a lot.
Looking at porn is a choice only you can make. No one should make you look at porn.
If you are worried about porn you have seen, or about how much porn you are looking at speak to an adult you trust.
Find out more facts about porn from Childline.
Most porn does not show real life sex or a range of real life bodies
Stories in porn rarely show the people:
- asking for or giving consent
- giving pleasure or enjoyment equally to both partners
- practicing safer sex
Consent, pleasure and protecting both you and your partner’s sexual health are things that are important to healthy, safe sexual relationships.
A lot of porn can show violence as well as non-consensual sex. Porn that shows sexual assault or rape, violence that might put someone’s life in danger, or risk hurting the sexual parts of their body, is illegal.
It is important to know that the way sex is shown in lots of porn is just a story or fantasy. It may be very different to how you or others would like to have sex.
What is the impact of porn?
- Watching porn can make real sex less enjoyable.
- Porn can make people feel less happy in their relationships.
- Porn can lead people to think about sex a lot more. This can make it harder for them to enjoy their friendships and other interests.
- Porn can lead to people viewing others, especially women, as ‘sex objects’. This means they only see other people as things to have sex with, not as people with intelligence and feelings, and start to respect them less.
- Over time, porn can shape the types of things you get turned on by. There’s some extreme porn out there so if your brain is trained to be turned on by the things you see, you could have trouble enjoying real sex.
Adapted from NCA – CEOP education
If you are worried about anything you have seen or have shared on online, speak to an adult you trust, or you can contact Childline.
Porn and the law
- Sexual images or films showing anyone under the age of 18 are illegal. This is child pornography.
- It is illegal for someone to show you porn or give you access to it if you are under 18.
- It is illegal to share a sexual image or a nude of anyone who is under the age of 18. Find more information here on sharing images (nudes).
Some types of porn is illegal.
- Porn that shows sexual assault or rape, violence that might put someone’s life in danger, or risk hurting the sexual parts of their body, is illegal.
- Revenge porn is illegal. Revenge porn is when a partner or ex has sexual images of you that you maybe agreed to at the time, but they are now using them to threaten you because you want to split, or you’ve already broken up and they have posted the pictures to get back at you.
You can report what has happened to the website it was posted on.
If you are over 18 you can get support from the Revenge Porn Helpline. Take screenshots of anything you are sent as evidence.
Speak to someone
Looking at porn is a choice only you can make. No one should make you look at porn.
Some porn can be upsetting because it shows a person being hurt or abused or it can show sexual acts that many people would find distressing and painful in real life.
If you are worried about anything you see or have shared on online speak to at sexual health centre or trusted adult or report it to CEOP’s child protection advisors.
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