a day ago
Strangulation in pornography to be made illegal
Pornography depicting any act of strangulation is to be made illegal as part of government efforts to combat an 'epidemic' of sexual violence against women and girls.
The move was recommended in a review for the Government by Baroness Bertin, a Conservative peer, who found that porn had effectively established choking as a 'sexual norm'.
She said that a belief had taken root that choking a partner during sex was 'safe' because it was not fatal, despite overwhelming evidence that there was no safe way to strangle a person.
The Government has already introduced a specific offence for abusers who strangle their partners, with perpetrators facing jail sentences of up to five years.
Alex Davies-Jones, the justice minister, said: 'Depicting strangulation during sex is not only dangerous, but also degrading, with real-life consequences for women.
'Cracking down on the appalling rise of strangulation pornography will protect women and send a clear signal to men and boys that misogyny will not be tolerated.'
Lady Bertin, who was commissioned to carry out the review by Rishi Sunak, also recommended that harmful online porn that would be illegal on the high street should be banned.
The review, published on Thursday, found that violent, harmful and misogynistic porn was common on mainstream platforms.
However, the material would be judged as illegal and refused classification by the British Board of Film Classification if it was sold in shops on the high street, according to Lady Bertin's review.
It comes ahead of new legally enforced rules requiring websites that host pornographic or other harmful content to have 'robust' age verification in place for UK users by July at the latest.
Methods to be required include open banking, photo ID matching, facial age estimation, credit card checks, digital ID services and email-based age estimation.
'No such thing as safe strangulation'
Andrea Simon, the director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: ' We welcome the Government's decision to criminalise the depiction of strangulation in pornography, a move that reflects years of campaigning by EVAW and other experts who have long warned about the normalisation of violence against women and girls in online content.
'There is no such thing as safe strangulation; women cannot consent to the long-term harm it can cause, including impaired cognitive functioning and memory. Its widespread portrayal in porn is fuelling dangerous behaviours, particularly among young people.
'This is a vital step towards recognising the role violent pornography plays in shaping attitudes to women and regulating an industry which promotes and profits from violence against women. The UK's flagship Online Safety Act must now be updated to ensure online platforms are made to remove this content.'
