Porn Free

Interesting article in reasononline about pornography and sexual violence. Since the rise of the internet, there's been far more pornography available than ever before. Many who had been trying to limit or ban pornography claimed it gave rise to sexual assault, but the numbers don't seem to bear that out.

In fact, since 1993, the rate of reported rape has dropped a heartening 72%. It's true violent crime in general has been dropping as well, but at only at a 58% rate. Furthermore, in the past two years, while violent crime had been rising slightly, rape continued to fall.

If anything, the actual rate may have been dropping even faster, since with public education on sexual violence, one would expect a higher level of reporting.

In addition, a recent study shows that states with higher levels of internet access saw rape decline most.

While it's plausible that greater availablity of pornography could lower sexual assault rates (since it could be an outlet for sexual urges), I have to admit that, as yet, the evidence is far from compelling.

Nevertheless, after looking at how things have been going, we should admit, at the very least, that pornography is not as great a factor in inspiring sexual assault as its opponents claim.