Women's Views on News |
- Porn makes sex, relationships more difficult
- All change for press regulation
- Looking at porn and violence against women
| Porn makes sex, relationships more difficult Posted: 11 Sep 2014 04:23 AM PDT
With today's young people growing up with many digital technologies that weren't previously available, parents and teachers are having to navigate, while guiding and educating within, a complex climate of rapidly evolving technology and social norms. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) recently surveyed 500 18 year-olds about their sexual activities and relationships in order to gain a better understanding of where 'evidence indicates more could be done to support young people's happiness and safety in formative relationships in a digital world.' The survey also helped gauge the perceived effectiveness of the education and support the young people had received. Broadly, the majority of young people surveyed said that pornography is too easily accessed and too influential, harming them and their relationships. Eight out of 10 said that it is too easy to accidentally see pornography online. Two-thirds of young women (66 per cent) said that 'it would be easier growing up if pornography was less easy to access for young people.' Not quite half of the young men surveyed (49 per cent) agreed. Of the young women surveyed, 75 per cent said they believe that pornography has led to pressure on young women to act a certain way, and 77 per cent say they believe pornography has led to pressure on girls to look a certain way. Only 56 per cent of the young men surveyed agreed that pornography puts pressure on young women to act a certain way. Forty-five per cent of the young men surveyed said that pornography helps young people learn about sex. Only 29 per cent of young women agreed. It is clear that pornography is creating pressure on young people, particularly young women, to act and portray themselves in certain ways. Following the findings of the research, IPPR outlined three ways in which the challenges identified by young people could be met: Use the expertise of specialists to provide broader and better sex and relationship education; Provide a single point of access to advice and support for parents, educators and young people; and Broaden local authorities' responsibility for public sexual health. IPPR said that its research, 'alongside other evidence, highlights the role of the images, stereotypes and norms that young people are continuously exposed to. 'It is clear that there is a relationship between this culture and the way that societal and gender norms are set around sex and relationships,' and 'it is clear that young people want to talk about sex and relationships and want more support.'  |
| All change for press regulation Posted: 11 Sep 2014 01:09 AM PDT
IPSO (the Independent Press Standards Organisation) aims to uphold the highest standards of journalism by monitoring and maintaining the standards set out in the Editors’ Code of Practice, and provide support and redress for individuals seeking to complain about breaches of the Code. IPSO says it is committed to working with the newspaper and magazine industry to maintain and enhance the freedom and authority of the press through effective, independent regulation. Take harassment as an example: 'If you are experiencing problems with unwanted attention or harassment by journalists, or if you are concerned that a publication intends to publish information that you believe breaches the Editors’ Code, IPSO may be able to assist. 'We offer practical advice and support and act pre-publication to ensure that relevant newspapers or magazines are alerted to your concerns where necessary. 'Our team is available 24 hours a day to provide emergency support. Please click here for more information or call to discuss your concerns.' Over the coming months, IPSO's staff will continue to build the new standards-raising functions that will enable them to implement the full system of independent regulation that the newspaper and magazine industry has agreed to establish and support. IPSO is currently developing a full website, which will be operational in due course. In the meantime, there is a temporary site which should enable users to find out about IPSO's work and access the services and support IPSO provides. To contact IPSO click here. If you have any questions about IPSO, its work, or how it can help that are not answered on this site, then you are to call 0300 123 2220. IPSO’s board has twelve members including the chairman, Sir Alan Moses, only three of whom – Ros Altmann, Anne Lapping and Clare Tickell – are women. Seven of the board members are independent, which means they have no connections with the newspaper and magazine industry, the other five represent the newspaper and magazine industry. IPSO’s Complaints Committee also has 12 members, again including the chairman. Here too seven of the members are independent, which means they have no connections with the newspaper and magazine industry, and the other five represent the newspaper and magazine industry. The (six!) women on the Complaints Committee are Lara Fielden, Janette Harkess, Gill Hudson, Jill May, Elisabeth Ribbans and Elisabeth Ribbans. IPSO has the backing of most UK newspaper and magazine companies, including the publishers of the Sun, Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, but several national titles – including the Guardian – have refused to sign up. And IPSO has already been fiercely critised by victims of press abuse who have said they do not believe that this new organisation will make any practical difference to those who suffer abuse by newspapers. In a letter to the new organisation the signatories point out that, among other things, IPSO meets only 12 of the 38 criteria that Lord Justice Leveson said in his report on press misbehavior were essential to avoid a repeat of the failures of past self-regulation. And we will watch with interest to see if this new set up does anything to help those in the battle to stop the sexualisation of girls, the objectification of women, victim blaming and the prevalence of soft porn in print media sold as newspapers.  |
| Looking at porn and violence against women Posted: 11 Sep 2014 01:09 AM PDT
Trigger Warning for the briefing. Links between pornography and sexual violence, although hotly contested, are not new. In 1995 the links between porn and sexual violence were recognised by the United Nations, and research has been building from there. The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) recently published a briefing on the potential links between pornography and violence against women and girls. EVAW have a track record of leading the discussion on pornography; in 2012 they joined forces with Rape Crisis South London and the campaign to criminalise the possession of ‘rape porn’. This briefing sets these links out clearly, identifying the harm that extreme pornography can do to attitudes and expectations of sex and gender norms and, in response, calling for better Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in the UK’s schools. Evidence supplied by EVAW shows that the discourse that surrounds our young people and informs society are sexual narratives that are increasingly based on domination, submission and non-consensual sex. Importantly, EVAW highlight for parliamentarians, researchers and campaigners, the pervasive nature of pornography, quoting NSPCC research that tells us that children from the age of 11 to 18 believe that porn definitely “influences how young people have to behave in a relationship”. And in case you were thinking that eleven years old seems very young to have formed opinions based on pornography, a BBC/ICM poll from 2014 showed that sixty per cent of young people are first exposed to pornography when they are aged fourteen or younger. The briefing confirms what many front-line services concerned with – and about – violence against women and girls (VAWG) know from those they work with: that pornography is both used as a form of sexual violence and to inform abuse within relationships. The briefing presents the voices of survivors alongside the research, drawing on the expertise of EVAW's broad membership to honour women's experiences. The evidence presented in the briefing is compelling, but EVAW will probably not provoke critisicm from the powerful pro-pornography lobby. Although highlighting the research available and making space for women's direct experience they nonetheless conclude that there is no evidence that effectively demonstrates that there is a causal link between violence against women and pornography. However, they do conclude that pornography and sexualised popular culture do form a conducive context for violence against women, contributing to messages about gendered stereotypes and sex which normalise men dominating women. And there is still a widespread consensus on the idea that pornography is damaging our young people's expectations about sex. A YouGov/Sunday Times poll in 2103 illustrated the point, showing that 85 per cent of women and 63 per cent of men believed that internet accessible pornography was damaging to children. It would seem from this briefing that EVAW and public opinionare in step with one another. The briefing concludes by pointing to pornography's role in exacerbating the ‘rape culture’ and ‘conducive context’ which allows violence against women and girls to flourish and go unchecked in our society. If you want to help make sure the lawmakers know about this, send your MP a link to the briefing.  |
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