Violence against women is prevalent in as much as 90% of online pornographic material, according to research by the government-appointed equality watchdog in France. Much of the violence shown is illegal under current French legislation.
Real Sexual Violence on Real Women?
On Wednesday, September 27, the French government received a scathing report on the unlawful activities of the porn business from the country's high council for equality between women and men. This calls for stricter penalties for those involved in the production of pornographic material and the removal of such content to safeguard the subjects of such videos.
According to The Guardian, the research was developed after 18 months of hearings and analysis of over a million pornographic videos from the most popular sites throughout the world.
The report indicates that in millions of films, women are objectified, dehumanized, abused, tormented, and exposed to treatment antithetical to human dignity and French law, all in accordance with the worst sexist and racist clichés.
"The women are real, the sexual acts and the violence is real, the suffering is often perfectly visible and at the same time eroticised," as stated in the study.
The French state prosecutor's own assessment that the great majority of pornographic material violated French law via its depiction of verbal and physical violence is also included in the study.
Much of it was so horrific that it could only be described as torture. The study cautioned that any contract was null and invalid since no one could legally agree to torture, sexual exploitation, or trafficking. The investigation concluded that violent behaviors seen on camera are unacceptable and must be punished.
See Also : UK Blames Pornography for Teens' Worsening Sexual Behaviors; Experts Reveal Alarming Details
'Blindness and Denial'
Years of lobbying by the pornography business, which fought for free speech, were criticized in the study as "inaction" on the part of the French state and authorities. According to the study, the state's blindness and denial have allowed the pornography business "total impunity," which must change.
The French audiovisual regulator Arcom reports that 51% of 12-year-old boys in France regularly engage in pornographic content. The survey found that rape culture is reinforced by the massive consumption [of pornography from a young age.
The director of France's Equality Commission, Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette, recently told France Inter radio that there was no reason in 2023 to tolerate these illegal acts of unbearable torture being exhibited to children. She referred to porn as "a school for sexual violence" that must be eradicated.
The French government's Pharos platform failed to address sexual assault appropriately, so the study recommended expanding its scope to include crimes against women in pornography.
French judges are looking at many instances involving pornographic production companies. At least 40 victims of rape, gang rape, and human trafficking for sexual exploitation are expected to testify against 17 individuals on trial in connection with a French pornographic website.
