Statement by Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of NCOSE
Washington DC – Last week, the Canadian Parliament House of Commons unanimously adopted motion M-47 which was introduced and led by Member of Parliament Arnold Viersen. This measure instructs Canadian federal Standing Committee on Health to undertake a study to examine the public health effects of viewing violent and degrading sexually explicit material online on children, women, and men. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) applauds this commission of analysis into the harms of pornography.
“The international community is recognizing the public health crisis of pornography,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “Years of academic research have revealed that pornography is linked to increases in erectile dysfunction, neurological changes to the brain that mimic drug addiction, and even increases in sexual violence. For example, a 2015 meta-analysis of 22 studies from seven countries found that internationally the consumption of pornography was significantly associated with increases in verbal and physical aggression, among males and females alike. What nation can afford to ignore this level of psychological, physical, and social damage?”
“Once a social or health issue involves problems that affect individuals or groups beyond their capacity to correct, responsibility shifts from individual accountability to holding the forces and influences that cause it accountable. That is why it is vital for Canada, and all other countries with heavy Internet usage, including America, to study the impacts of pornography on the health of its rising generations. After this research is concluded, we hope that the Canadian Parliament will use the knowledge gained to implement a multidisciplinary public health campaign combating the use and normalization of pornography.”
To learn more about the research on the harms of pornography visit here: https://endsexualexploitation.org/publichealth/
