Rape porn viewers should be shamed – their habit feeds a dangerous culture

Porn site xHamster has censored videos which simulate rape, sexual assault and coerced intercourse.

Instead of showing videos when a user searches for “rape”, “forced”, “taken” or “tricked” – essentially what are rape fantasies – a pop-up appears which says: “If you are searching for this category, probably it’s time you consulted with a professional psychologist.” With a link to a free online therapy website.

Say what you want about freedom of speech and the right to a private life, but it’s about time the porn industry took some responsibility for its content. Along with flagging the pop-up when someone searches for terms linked to rape, the site has also banned videos which involve sex with a sleeping partner or someone being hypnotised before sex.

This has all come to light in the wake of the Stanford rape case. Although it is believed xHamster’s policy has been in place for a while, the “Brock Turner Rule” has been coined after Turner was given just six months in prison for seriously sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. This is how we deal with sexual assault victims in the 21st Century, and it’s appalling.

These videos should never have been produced in the first place. They make a mockery of rape and sexual assault victims.

We live in a world where 29 per cent of 16 to 18-year-old girls have been subject to unwanted touching at school. A world where rape victims are still blamed for their own sexual assault. A world where, on Wednesday 8th June, the Daily Mail print edition reported exactly how many drinks a rape victim had consumed on the night of her attack. Rape is real: it’s happening to your sisters, daughters, friends, neighbours, colleagues – and all the porn industry can do is think about how to make some money out of it.

It doesn’t matter that the adults in the films are consenting adults. Rape simulation scenes exploit the idea that no means no until it means yes. They are the reason the conviction rate for rape in the UK continues to fall, even though the number of reported cases is on the rise. How can we expect victims to trust in the system when rape simulation videos are there for all to see at the click of a button?

But that isn’t the only reason we should be praising xHamster for this revolutionary move. More and more teenagers are turning to easy access, unregulated porn to fill the holes in school sex education. All they have to do is type “porn” into Google and thousands of videos are at their fingertips. A whole generation are growing up watching these videos without fully understanding consent and without realising you can withdraw it at any time. They are getting their sex education from porn stars who say no, but then – with enough persuasion – say yes.

We are conditioning a generation into thinking rape is a normal part of sex. It is not, and it’s great that at least some parts of the porn industry are taking some responsibility for their content.