Access To Pornography Linked To Rise In Rape?

Kintarō Hattori

According to TV3 news this evening some people believe that our access to pornography is leading to a rise in the number of rapes in Ireland and in particular Dublin. Seemingly the 'hard core' images we can now access so easily are partly responsible.

What do you think of this? Do you think that pornography can be linked to rape? Personally I think it's a load of ballcocks. As one of the people in the report said, 'Your either a rapist or your not'. I can't believe the statement that it can be linked to the rise in cases. It's such an old fashioned backward idea from an Ireland of 15-20 years ago. I wouldn't mind but i think it was a woman from the Rape Crisis Centre or some such other institute that made the statement.

cornbb

I would also say its a load of dangly bits. If anything, porn is a bit of harmless fun, even a way of blowing off steam (so to speak) that might lead certain people to otherwise go off raping...

Cake Fiend

This reminds me of the 'games/movies/Marilyn Manson causes violence' argument. If someone rapes someone, it's because they're a piece of rapist scum, not because they saw Peter North jizzing on some girl's face.

Call me crazy, but I'd imagine the majority of men who watch porn do in fact somehow manage not to rape anyone.

AnonoBoy

While it can't turn something into a rapist I do think that there are certain unbalanced ****s out there who may be spurred to act on their rapist urges by over-exposure to pornography.

I don't think that it's causing them to rape though and I believe they probably would do it even if they'd never been exposed to pornography.

robinph

Any increase that they have found in the number of reported rape cases recently is exactly that, an increase in the number of reported rape cases and has nothing to do with the internet or anything else.

Niall123

It's like saying "access to axes linked to rise in axe murders". There are gonna be people who won't "use the product as intended".

Macha

While I would be very surprised if someone could establish a link between your bog-standard porn and rape, what about the hard-core s6m stuff? breath play, extreme bondage etc?

I think it was Charles Manson who said that porn had a role to play in his mentality that led to his crimes. In short he said that it helped him to dehumanise and objectify women.

Also, very violent porn is now banned in the UK, isnt it? After that girl was raped & murdered by a guy who was obsessed with very violent porn?

While Im not condoning this ban, When you look at it from that perspective, the link doesn't seem so crazy...

Smellyirishman

Niall123 wrote:

It's like saying "access to axes linked to rise in axe murders". There are gonna be people who won't "use the product as intended".

Well it's hardly like that. With no axes there are no axe murders. Without porn there is still rape.

taconnol wrote:

After that girl was raped & murdered by a guy who was obsessed with very violent porn?

While I'm not condoning this ban, When you look at it from that perspective, the link doesn't seem so crazy...

What about the link between guys playing video games and then shooting up schools.

Is it a coincidence that a lot of these people play violent video games?
No, it probably isn't.
Was it the video game that caused the person to act as they did?
I don't think so.
Would they have done the same without video games?
Probably.

Eglinton

When prostitution was legalised in Spain, the number of rape cases dropped hugely. I know it's slightly different but even so, in the same category. I agree with one of the previous posts that porn is probably a good release for those who may otherwise do something horrific. It's certainly not a cause. A hell of a lot of women in Ireland love porn. Does that mean more men are gonna get raped too? I doubt the so-called experts who came up with those stats would back that thinking. Rape was been going on for millenia. Grotesque but not caused by pics of nude people. It's a psychiatric problem. Definitely a Marilyn Manson = violence type of stupid stat alright

brianthebard

robinph wrote:

Any increase that they have found in the number of reported rape cases recently is exactly that, an increase in the number of reported rape cases and has nothing to do with the internet or anything else.

Was going to post the same, agree completely.

Karl Hungus

Anyone who would be profoundly stupid enough make the claim that looking at porn turns people into rapists should be forcefully removed from the gene pool. It's this kind of imbecilic behaviour that drags down society.

Honestly, the sheer level of idioticism is profane.

Kintarō Hattori

robinph wrote:

Any increase that they have found in the number of reported rape cases recently is exactly that, an increase in the number of reported rape cases and has nothing to do with the internet or anything else.

In fairness the report mentioned nothing about the internet, though you don't have to be a genius to work out that would be part of their arguement. They spoke to a sex shop owner who dismissed the claim, so do doubt these people have an issue with the number of sex shops that have opened in Dublin in the last few years.

brianthebard

Eglinton wrote:

A hell of a lot of women in Ireland love porn. Does that mean more men are gonna get raped too? I doubt the so-called experts who came up with those stats would back that thinking.

Um, men do get raped too you know. By men and by women. Its just reported even less than female rape because of the additional stigma attached to being a man who was raped.

robinph

eo980 wrote:

In fairness the report mentioned nothing about the internet, though you don't have to be a genius to work out that would be part of their arguement. They spoke to a sex shop owner who dismissed the claim, so do doubt these people have an issue with the number of sex shops that have opened in Dublin in the last few years.

If they are trying to claim that the number of sex shops has anything to do with the number of rape cases then that is even more ridiculous than trying to blame the internet. They are clearly on a slow news day and are just making stuff up instead for a laugh.

Smellyirishman

brianthebard wrote:

Um, men do get raped too you know. By men and by women. Its just reported even less than female rape because of the additional stigma attached to being a man who was raped.

He never suggested that men didn't get raped. Just that there was not an increase in men being raped due to porn being more freely available and since both men and women are raped, you would expect this.

brianthebard

But there has been an increase in reported male rape in any case.....perhaps its just that reporting doesn't always extend as far as these articles...

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Ok... so what percentage of us have ever looked at hard core porn on the internet? And what percentage of us have committed rape at some point?

See any similarity? No?

Good. Next question, please....

Smellyirishman

brianthebard wrote:

But there has been an increase in reported male rape in any case.....perhaps its just that reporting doesn't always extend as far as these articles...

But again, might this be due to porn or willingness to speak out.

brianthebard

Smellyirishman wrote:

But again, might this be due to porn or willingness to speak out.

I get you, its been a while since I've read anything about it tbh, so I won't drag the thread any further off topic.

so to conclude, porn does not cause a strong impulse in me or anyone else I know, to go out and rape girlies for kicks....

Dave!

It's completely unfounded bullsh*t. Probably some feminist who thinks porn demeans women and is trying to mislead us into outlawing it.

Hagar

Pictures in cookbooks linked to increase in eating.

Although give a starving man a cookbook and it might just push him over the edge...

Pigman II

I would have thought the exact opposite was the case? More porn = Less Rape?

I know I've raped far less people since getting the internet anyway.

Sangre

Historically rape has always been one of the lowest reported crimes along with sexual and domestic abuse. A lot of this was to do with the stigma attached to it, the id of the rapists and the prospect of a gruelling trial.

A lot of social and legal changes have caused an increase in rape reporting. Gone are the days the girl was 'asking for it'. Now she has stronger legal protection of her character in court.

Unlike other crimes, the increase in reported rapes almost certainly has nothing to do with the actual level of the crime. Rape levels could be falling and reporting levels increasing such is the disparity between the two.

Zonko

Karl Hungus wrote:

Anyone who would be profoundly stupid enough make the claim that looking at porn turns people into rapists should be forcefully removed from the gene pool. It's this kind of imbecilic behaviour that drags down society.

Honestly, the sheer level of idioticism is profane.

Agree. I've always seen porn greatly reduces sexual frustation, and thus likelihood to rape.

Mossy Monk

who actually said this. was it TV3 or "an expert" in the field. i am fed up of people looking for scapegoats to everything

Kintarō Hattori

Mossy Monk wrote:

who actually said this. was it TV3 or "an expert" in the field. i am fed up of people looking for scapegoats to everything

It was someone from the Rape Crisis Centre I believe. TV3 reported it.

Terry

well, i haven't raped anyone and i don't intend to either.
like someone said above, you're either a rapist or you're not.
rape was around before porn.

randylonghorn

Haven't psychologists been saying for years that rape is mostly about power / anger / control rather than about the sex as such?

Certainly don't believe that ordinary porn and ordinary people leads to rape ... that's pure b.s.

Take one psycho and add some of the off-the-radar stuff which is apparently out there, prob not a good idea ... but that is not what any normal person means when we speak about porn.

ferdi

'A new study conducted by London University Hospital has revealed that 100% of rapists are ****.'

1huge1

Well i'd think looking at pornography is one of the main things that sets the rapists off in the first place but that is because of the way they were brought up

Id say porno is harmless if its looked at by the right people (sorry if im unclear im finding it hard to put my thoughts into words on this topic)

Sangre

ferdi wrote:

'A new study conducted by London University Hospital has revealed that 100% of rapists are ****.'

Based on a new study by a leading team at London University Hospital it turns out **** is linked to the rise in rape.

Anti

Ah this awuld chestnut. What a load of bollix i say. And thats all i have to say, so goodnight.

Stephen

Perhaps more suitably, what a load of ****.

I'll get me coat.

Pighead

Slydicers are rapists.

steveland?

If there were no porn then someone who's likely to want to commit a rape might be more inclined to rape someone as they'd have no outlet for... taking it into their own hands...

DaBreno

I hope this isnt true or Im a crime wave waiting to happen.

Ruu_Old

Load of rubeesh. I blame [insert another social networking website here].

InFront

Pornography is bad, Rape is bad. They both objectify people, and reduce sex to a commodity. I have actually come across professional (academic) publication that links pronography to drug abuse. However, given the nature of the thing, common sense would seem to suggest that pornography does not actually cause rape.

Having said that, I don't think that the statement "rapists are born and not made" as some people seem to be suggesting, stands up to any scientific evidence or even logic.

DaBreno

InFront wrote:

Pornography is bad

Post reported.

aidan24326

OP, the news report is typical of the standard of news reporting on tv3. BS in other words. In fact I was reading only recently that increased access to porn has been linked with a marked DECREASE in rape, particularly in America where rape crime is down significantly over the past decade. Don't have a link to hand but will post if I can find. Though I would think establishing any meaningful link either way to be nigh on impossible.

muckwarrior

Declan Moffet

Mossy Monk

InFront wrote:

Pornography is bad

:mad: :mad:
it can be beautiful, not all of it mind but some

DilbertPartII

i must agree that access to pornography links to the rise in rape cases coz it triggers the mind to imagine what's it like (especially so when under the influence of drugs and alcohol). not all think clean the way YOU (including myself ) do!

Mossy Monk

i better stay indoors for a few days. i played Grand Theft Auto last night

Wacker

Well, what most of the posters here have neglected to point out is that there is porn and there is porn. I think it would be sheer idiocy to believe that softcore pornography (the likes of Playboy, and many, many others)leads to an increase in rape. That is total reactionary rubbish and I'll have no part of it myself.
However, have you guys heard of the likes of Rob Black or Max Hardcore? I am happy to say that I have never seen any of their stuff. If you haven't heard of them, just look at their wikipedia pages. The porn that these guys make is violent, sick by anyone's standards, and intentionally exceptionally degrading. I have out spoiler tags around a brief description of what can be found in some of their stuff, as it is horrible.

Simulated rapes and muders appear in some of their videos. One particularly infamous Rob Black flick features the raping of a woman in a wheelchair.

I honestly believe that anyone who indulges in their movies would be more likely to commit rape than somebody who doesn't.

Sangre

Wacker wrote:

I honestly believe that anyone who indulges in their movies would be more likely to commit rape than somebody who doesn't.

Maybe thats why they indulge in them, not the other way around.

Brian Capture

Wacker wrote:

Well, what most of the posters here have neglected to point out is that there is porn and there is porn.

I don't understand

'there is porn and there is porn'

why repeat the same expression?

Brian Capture

I think somebody should come up with a way to breed a very large shrimp. That way, you could ride him, then after you camped at night, you could eat him. How about it, science?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

DilbertPartII wrote:

i must agree that access to pornography links to the rise in rape cases coz it triggers the mind to imagine what's it like (especially so when under the influence of drugs and alcohol). not all think clean the way YOU (including myself ) do!

Your scientific evidence link this to rape, please?

Kintarō Hattori

Brian Capture wrote:

I don't understand

'there is porn and there is porn'

why repeat the same expression?

Because he is trying to say that there is softcore porn such as we see everyday and you can freely pickup in any newsagents and then there is the kind of seriously hardcore stuff as he mentioned in his post.

It's a common enough saying there is x and then there is x!!! It's used to illustrate that there is quite a difference between one and the other.

Brian Capture

eo980 wrote:

Because he is trying to say that there is softcore porn such as we see everyday and you can freely pickup in any newsagents and then there is the kind of seriously hardcore stuff as he mentioned in his post.

It's a common enough saying there is x and then there is x!!! It's used to illustrate that there is quite a difference between one and the other.

I know well it's a common saying but it's still illogical, stupid, hateful and irritating.

He should have said 'there is softcore porn and there is hardcore porn'.