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Rape, Pornography and Sexual Violence

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Submitted By Bkrbb11
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Betty Waltermire
Critical Issues in Criminal Justice JUS-250
March 27, 2014

Rape, Pornography and Sexual Violence
When you hear about a person being raped in the news, your mind begins to think of the type of person who could commit such a violent sexual crime against another person. The perpetrator of this act usually wants to feel powerful and be controlling over another person. There could be any number of reasons a person needs to dominate another, one of the biggest reasons is, because they may have been sexually abused as a child or teenager. We ask ourselves could pornographic materials be the cause of the rape. In 1989, Susie Bright, a supporter of erotica for women gave a public lecture to defend pornography against recent attacks. Bright talked about whether or not pornography causes rape. Her view that it does cause rape as, “the devil made him do it.” To believe that pornography causes rape, we must accept that we are letting the rapist off the hook. If we indicate that the pornography caused the rape, then we cannot also say, that it was the rapist who caused the rape (Adams).

The most important charge against pornography, that it incites sexual aggression. Although rape statistics suggest otherwise, some experts believe the consumption of pornography may actually reduce the desire to rape by offering a safe, private outlet for their deviant sexual desires. Rape from a moral standpoint, is simply a more extreme form of a desire to use and objectify others who are at the root of the pornography industry (Darwin, 2012).
Many sex offenders consume an extreme amount of pornography and some even claim that the pornography plays a part in some of their assaults. Persons who are unbalanced may find the erotic images become triggers for them especially if they have been victims of sexual assault in their past. Possibly we should turn our attention on stopping child sexual abuse and focus on therapy for the survivors than on stopping pornography (Adams).
Psychologist Karen Cimini believes rape to be a power and control issue and online pornography is irrelevant. She further stated that a decrease in rape cases could be caused by people being able to better protect themselves. The accessibility to pornography keeps one person from committing a sexual crime against another, it should be explored (Kendall, 2009). A study of convicted rapist and non-rapist had instantaneous sexual reaction to pornography. They showed generally greater arousal to non-violent scenes. No difference can be found in regard to and between rapist and non-sexual criminals (Kutchinsky, 1991). There appears to be no rule as to the information provided of internet access and the incidents of rape, however the view is an increase in internet pornography has resulted in a decrease in rape (D'Amato, 2006).

Pornography has been turned into a villain as a change of personal and cultural depravity and a cause of rape, aggression, devaluation of women and marital dissolution. Yet there is little if any evidence to support claims that pornography causes or contributes to violence, sexual deviance, degradation of women, destruction of relationships, public health concerns or moral decay (Watson & Smith, 2012).
The pornography issue has been going on for decades and will probably go on for many more. There is no specific answer as to whether it is right or wrong with some people. There are persons who will always be against pornography for whatever reason, personal, religious, or other. Pornography is a personal choice to either watch for pleasure, for educational reasons or for medical or psychological reasons.
No matter which side you fall on for or against pornography, we have to admit that it is a growing business. It currently is approximately a 2.5 billion dollar industry and is more lucrative that the Hollywood movie business. As per these facts I can see nothing wrong with the industry or the people who enjoy watching the videos of their favorite sexual fantasy as long as it does not involve children or become a way to become aggressive toward another individual.

References

Adams, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from Can Porn Cause Rape: www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/3925/Readings/porn.pdf
D'Amato, A. (2006). Porn Up, Rape Down. The Original Law Review, 91-99.
Darwin. (2012, June 29). Catholic Exchange. Retrieved from Does Porn Prevent Rape: www.catholicexchange.com/does_porn_prevent_rape
Kendall, T. (2009, February 04). Voices. Retrieved from Online Pornography Helping Lower Rape Incidents Study Says: www.voices.yahoo.com/online-pornography-helping-lower-rape-incidents-study-says-2612381.html
Kutchinsky, B. (1991). Int. J Law Psychiatry 14 (1-2):47-64. Retrieved from Pornography and Rape: Theory and Practice: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2032762
Watson, M. A., & Smith, R. D. (2012). Positive Porn: Educational, Medical, and Clinical Uses. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 122-145.

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