There is no porn without violence, says UN rapporteur
A screen shows a video advert against child pornography and sexual abuse of children during a press conference of the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the police authorities of the federal states in Wiesbaden, Germany. Photo EPA, Thorsten Wagner
European Union
Prostitution is not restricted to the red-light districts or shady parts of big cities. Instead, it can enter your household very easily via the internet. Even from your sofa, you can exploit a trafficked victim.
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All this is a gross human rights violation, says Reem Alsalem, UN rapporteur, specialised in violence against women and girls. For Alsalem, prostitution is not an innocent job. It all ultimately boils down to direct violence against women and girls. “If we normalise that men can buy women's bodies or even children, that is incredibly dangerous, very harmful and it goes against the human rights obligations that countries have”, she says in a video interview with the European Centre of Law and Justice (ECLJ).
As a special UN rapporteur on violence against women and girls, she did research on the topic and wrote a report about her findings. In this report, she poses the statement that prostitution and pornography are the same. In short, she writes: “Pornography is understood to be filmed prostitution.”
Consequences
There are many similarities between porn and prostitution, Alsalem shows in the interview. Pornography has the same “modus operandi, perpetrators of violence, exploitation and the same consequences in terms of all forms of violence inflicted on women and girls” as prostitution, she says.
Both have an “immense harmful impact on all of society, on men and boys, but also on younger girls”, and are “harmful to gender equality overall in society.”
It is dangerous to teach men that they can buy women's bodies and that girls are commodities, Alsalem points out. Besides, according to her, the normalisation of porn and prostitution instil the idea in girls that exploiting their sexuality is the best way to prosper.
Normalising violence
Moreover, consumers of pornography, a study shows, have a changing attitude towards women in their lives, towards their children, but also towards sex in general and normalising violent sexual intercourse.
Girls and women are often dehumanised both in prostitution and in porn, Alsalem writes in her report. “It violates the right of women and girls to dignity, and often constitutes torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. Physical forms of violence include sexual abuse, rape, gang rape, severe beatings, including for the victim's refusal, lack of enthusiasm or dissociation”, she sums up.
The consequences of porn consumption are clearly noticeable in society. In some countries, the perpetrators of sexual crimes are of an increasingly younger age. In addition, gang rape and strangulation, often portrayed in porn videos, are happening more and more often.
Voluntarily
And even though Alsalem sees a growing awareness of the risks that come with porn consumption, society overall seems to remain in ignorant bliss. They believe that violent images are behind a safe age verification system, or that the porn world strictly moderates its content and deletes anything that is not recorded voluntarily.
Yet, they are mistaken, says Alsalem. “I think that the majority of well-meaning people in society may not understand that the violence it incites, the grotesque, the degrading treatment, is actually the majority of what we see.”
In addition, there is an ongoing trend that glamorises pornography and tells society that it is empowering for women and that many women and girls consent to work in the sex industry. The UN rapporteur crushes these arguments. She says that consent does not matter if someone is underage.
Moreover, she immediately rejects the argument that pornography and prostitution belong to the right to freedom. “In international law, you have limitations on free speech. You may not incite violence or hatred, for example. But somehow, we don't think about the link between pornography and physical violence. Yet, often pornography often leads to violence in real life.”
About Reem Alsalem
Reem Alsalem was appointed as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls in July 2021 by the UN Humans Rights Council. She serves a term of three years and researches the causes and consequences of this type of violence. By serving in this function, she is not part of the official UN staff.
Alsalem is an independent consultant and specialises in gender issues, the rights of refugees and migrants, transitional justice and humanitarian response.
Reem has a Master’s in International Relations from the American University in Cairo, Egypt (2001) and a Masters in Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2003).
Despite these conclusions, politicians turn a blind eye towards the sex industry, the UN rapporteur notices. Oftentimes, there is a financial reason behind that, she suspects. “Tourism, banking, and every other sort of business that can be related, thrives around prostitution”, she says.
Gross violations
By turning a blind eye towards pornography and prostitution, countries do not meet their human rights obligations, Alsalem points out. All humans have the right to be safe from violence, and states have the duty under international human rights law to protect women and girls against any form of violence, including prostitution.
Therefore, she calls women and girls in porn and prostitution victims. “Being victim is a legal term that means you have been subjected to gross violations of human rights, and you are entitled to assistance, protection and reparations”, she explains.
Pornographic materials
As a solution to the “epidemic of global proportions” of porn and prostitution, the UN rapporteur has several recommendations.
When it comes to porn, she advises governments to criminalise the possession, production or hosting of pornographic materials. Even more, it should be abolished internationally, she writes in her report. In addition, sexual images of minors should be removed immediately. And as long as a ban is not yet in force, there should be a strict age verification system so that children cannot view the graphic images.
Furthermore, the Nordic model could be a way to get rid of porn and prostitution, Alsalem believes. This form of policy criminalises the sex buyer but not the woman in prostitution. “We have to address the demand”, says the UN rapporteur. “We have to cut the demand. And we must make it more difficult to get prostitution online. We also have to create awareness about the fact that people are part of the supply chain, that they are, therefore, participating actively in the violence and exploitation of women and children that are depicted in pornography.”
“Marketing of prostitution”
Pornography fuels sex trafficking and gives abusers ideas, says Helen Taylor from the organisation Exodus Cry that combats sex trafficking. She spoke in Bergen at schools to tell students more about the topic, Dagen writes. Taylor calls porn the marketing of prostitution. “Exodus Cry and I have interviewed many men who have bought children and women into prostitution, and all of these men have been watching pornography since they were children”, she says. Taylor strongly believes that the porn industry must be targeted first if sex trafficking is to be put to an end.
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