Several researchers
have discovered (in an idea later popularized by Steven E. Landsburg in his book, The Big Questions) that
more access to pornography means that fewer rapes are committed. This statistical fact was first noted years ago when
comparisons of crime statistics showed that Sweden (known for its lax laws on porn) had far fewer rapes than
other countries. This strange fact has since been reaffirmed by several studies
and more recently by studies on access to pornography on the internet. Today, boys in their teens and twenties can find
easy access to plenty of porn on the internet. As Lansburg notes, “More Net access, less rape.
A 10 percent increase in Net access yields about a 7.3 percent decrease in
reported rapes.”
So how does this work? Can access to fairly mundane sorts of porn act as a "safety-valve" that prevents or reduces the number of rapes that take place?
When the BTK Killer/Denis Rader took a job working for the zoning department of local government, he suddenly had access to bureaucratic power over his neighbors; and this minor power to bully people with fines & citations appears to have reduced his need to torture others, much the same way that access to non-violent pornography seems to lower the incidence of rape. Perhaps many young men, who might be tempted to commit rape, are satisfied by photos and films that show sexual encounters, but without the violence.
Criminologists seem to think that when Denis Rader murdered his victims, it was primarily in order to escape punishment. Perhaps the potential rapist is easily satisfied with simply viewing sexual acts, and he only commits rape in order to achieve a sexual goal. This idea seems to fly in the face of modern sociologists who proclaim that “rape is an act of violence” (which, of course, it is). Except that the main goal of rape, at least among the “novice” group of young men in their teens and twenties, is sexual release. Acts of violence are mainly the by-products of rape as a sexual act. Those men who become serial rapists are men who have — through repeated experience — linked the act of violence to the sexual act and essentially develop a psychological need for both.
When the BTK Killer/Denis Rader took a job working for the zoning department of local government, he suddenly had access to bureaucratic power over his neighbors; and this minor power to bully people with fines & citations appears to have reduced his need to torture others, much the same way that access to non-violent pornography seems to lower the incidence of rape. Perhaps many young men, who might be tempted to commit rape, are satisfied by photos and films that show sexual encounters, but without the violence.
Criminologists seem to think that when Denis Rader murdered his victims, it was primarily in order to escape punishment. Perhaps the potential rapist is easily satisfied with simply viewing sexual acts, and he only commits rape in order to achieve a sexual goal. This idea seems to fly in the face of modern sociologists who proclaim that “rape is an act of violence” (which, of course, it is). Except that the main goal of rape, at least among the “novice” group of young men in their teens and twenties, is sexual release. Acts of violence are mainly the by-products of rape as a sexual act. Those men who become serial rapists are men who have — through repeated experience — linked the act of violence to the sexual act and essentially develop a psychological need for both.
In 2001, a First Amendment attorney, Paul Cambria, working with the commercial porn industry, recommended a range of unacceptable sexual display that came to be known as the Cambria list. It restricted a host of onscreen practices, including, "No shots with appearance of pain or degradation," "No degrading dialogue," "No wax dripping," "No forced sex, rape themes, etc." and many more. Porn that works within these guidelines should be viewed quite differently from the current trend of "gonzo porn" which focuses on humiliating women. This current trend is likely the result of reactionary anti-women themes in society.
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