Catholic groups warn Australian lawmakers: No such thing as ‘harmless’ pornography

Catholic advocates in Australia are warning lawmakers there of the risk that pornography exposure poses to children, including the threat of normalizing forms of violent sexual behavior among young people.

The Parliament of New South Wales recently began public hearings for its inquiry into the “impacts of harmful pornography on mental, emotional, and physical health.”

The Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Issues says the inquiry will particularly focus on “age of first exposure to pornography and impacts of early exposure to pornography” as well as porn’s “impacts on body image” and “the impact of exposure to violent and/or misogynistic pornography on children, teenagers, and young adults.”

Advocates have been warning for years of the detrimental effects of pornography, including the harm it does to young people who consume it. Ubiquitous internet access and universal smartphone access has allowed porn to proliferate over the past several decades and has given children significant access to it.

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