8 hours ago
Britain BANS ‘dangerous' porn trend to help tackle violence against women
THE Government will ban porn that shows strangulation in a bid to tackle violence against women after a shocking rise in men choking their partners during sex.
A review found that porn has made choking into a "sexual norm" despite it being "dangerous and degrading".
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Tory peer Baroness Bertin made the recommendation in a review for the Government.
She said men believe that choking their partner is "safe" during sex because it isn't fatal.
But there is no safe way to strangle a person.
Lady Bertin also recommended that online porn which is violent, harmful and misogynistic should be banned if it is being sold in high street shops.
Legal changes will be made as an amendment to the Crime and Policing bill which is going through Parliament right now.
This means the ban will likely be in place by the end of the year.
The Government's Independent Porn Review reads: "Non-fatal strangulation pornography (commonly known as 'choking' in pornography) should be illegal to possess, distribute, and publish.
"Non-fatal strangulation or 'choking' sex is perhaps the starkest example of where online violent pornography has changed 'offline' behaviour.
Toxic influencer Andrew Tate blamed for alarming rise in young men choking partners during sex
By Julia Atherley
TOXIC influencer Andrew Tate and other 'masculinity influencers' are being blamed for an alarming rise in young men choking partners during sex.
The trend is most common in those aged 16 to 34 — with 35 per cent of females reporting being throttled during consensual sex, a government-funded study found.
Tate often promotes the idea of male dominance and sexual control online.
A recent survey by the government-funded charity the Institute For Addressing Strangulation, found that strangling is most common in the 16-34 age group, with 35 per cent responding that they had been choked by a partner during consensual sex.
Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) was made a specific offence in 2022, and can lead to a five year prison sentence.
In the year up to 2023, around 700 offenders were sentenced for the offence.
"Choking sex is now being normalised with a survey showing 38 per cent of women aged 18-39 have been choked during sex.
"So-called 'choking' content is rife on platforms that host pornography and is a very popular category of content.
"The review has evidence to show the influence that media sources, including pornography, have had in establishing choking as a sexual norm.
"People acting it out in their sex lives may face devastating consequences.
"Evidence shows that even a small amount of pressure to the neck can harm the brain, and there is no safe way to strangle a person."
It comes after abusers who strangle their partners will now face jail sentences of up to five years.
New rules also now require porn websites to have "robust" age verification in place by July at the latest.
Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) was made a specific offence in 2022, and can lead to a five year prison sentence.
In the year up to 2023, around 700 offenders were sentenced for the offence.
Many blame "masculinity influencers" and those like Andrew Tate for the rise in choking being seen as a normal thing to do during sex.
Michael Conroy, from anti-misogyny training firm Men At Work, said: 'The rise in choking comes from porn and I see Andrew Tate as part of the porn world.
"He is part of porn world. He is the idea of porn made flesh.
'There's a visual grammar of heterosexual porn, which is that you - the man - are dominant, you are the controller, you are the one who tells them what to do.
"You are at the top and she is at the bottom. And then Andrew Tate says it and reinforces it.
'He is responsible for fuelling the fire of sexual violence by putting that feeling in their stomach. And he refuses to acknowledge accountability and responsibility and that is attractive.'
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