Christian lobbying group CARE has told Premier that the cultural tide in the UK is turning against the porn industry, amid growing concern over the lack of safeguarding measures for children accessing material.
Mental health and addiction clinic Paracelsus Recovery estimates that 60 per cent of under 18s today are affected by a form of porn addiction. It says latest figures show that, compared to 2019, 2.5 times more people are seeking the clinic's help for porn addiction.
Jamie Gillies, CARE's press officer told Premier that while legislative actions to enforce restrictions on porn sites are essential, he's also seeing the beginning of a cultural shift towards the moral arguments against pornography, as well as a growing awareness of its impact on brain function.
"I think the key thing was people became aware of the harms that are associated with things like smoking - especially indoors where young people were present. And it's the same with pornography, there's groups, not just Christian groups, but also maybe women's groups and others, who are starting to talk about and recognise the damage of impact of the porn industry - particularly on girls and women.
"As society is waking up to that, we see in our own polling that we've commissioned that people are very concerned: 8 in 10 people think children should be prevented from accessing porn sites, and 6 in 10 think porn is motivating sexual violence in society.
"So there's a large proportion of the UK public that are waking up to this and, and that cultural change is really key."
Earlier this year, alarming figures revealed that half of the 106,984 child abuse cases reported in England and Wales in 2022 involved a child perpetrator, aged between 10-17 years old.
The Online Safety Bill, which passed through both Houses of Parliament in September 2023, will task broadcast regulator Ofcom with regulating social media sites and age restricting pornographic content. It is not yet known when it will be put into motion, having been announced in February 2022.
Louise Davies MBE, Director of Advocacy and Policy at CARE said: "It has taken years for concerns about internet pornography to gain prominence, and it falls to political leaders to keep up momentum for change. The pornography industry cannot be allowed to act with impunity anymore.
"There is a moral obligation for action that leads to vulnerable groups being protected.”
