Porn can lead to deviant bevaviour, say experts
Porn watchers expect partners to give them the same sexual experience; when not met it leads to trouble
In the last five days, two cases of gruesome domestic attacks were reported in the city, both linked to porn addiction.
While in one incident, a man thrashed his wife for objecting to his watching porn, in the other case, a man cut his son’s wrist for being a porn addict.
The viewership of pornography is relatively high across all age groups. One of the prime reasons for this is that most sites are free and easily accessible over smartphones.
It should be noted that all those who watch porn are not at a risk of becoming addicts. Also, those who watch porn regularly, are less likely to get hooked. But if a person enjoys watching deviant sexual acts and develops a behaviour that may lead to criminal activity, then there is a high risk. This is an indication of a minor mental illness, which, if left unchecked, it can result in criminal activity.
Experts say porn addiction is directly proportionate to sexual addiction across all age groups and even gender.
“Watching porn is the fastest growing addiction. I have students as young as Class 6 and 7 coming for therapy. Teenagers and budding teens are exposed to porn either through elder children, friends, acquaintances or through social media and more, and of course the parents are caught unawares. Kids take it up as a heroic act, curiosity, peer pressure, loneliness and even through accidental encounters, while adults due to sexual addiction and pleasure attained by watching it. An adult mind can process the imaginary but not a young mind. In this case, the parents instead of being shocked and responding in a violent manner, they should approach it with utmost sensitivity” said Diana Monteiro, a psychologist.
She added, “Watching porn directly leads to sexual desires. People should understand that such videos or movies are manufactured or made out of sexual imagination and are difficult to imitate. Due to sexual desires kindled by porn not being not met by the partners, relationship problems are cropping up as the watcher expects that kind of sexual experience with his partner.”
Dr Subramaniam, antrologist with Apollo Hospital explained, “We cant stop people from watching porn as it is widely available, but can limit the source if the addiction turns dangerous. Acute addict can be subjected to risky sexual behaviors which may lead to criminal intent. Also, porn addiction may turn people hyper sexual. This may later lead to porn dependence or even promiscuity, leading to relationship break-ups. The source of pornography cannot be curtailed unless the government blocks all the sites.”
The Supreme Court has heard several petitions so far in this regard. One was a petition filed by an advocate from Indore Kamlesh Vashwani. He pleaded before the court that though watching obscene videos is not a punishable offence, sites containing pornographic content are one of the main reasons behind the rising number of cases of offence against women in India.
Another was a petition filed through advocate Vijay Panjwani which stated that the absence of any strict Internet law makes porn videos easily accessible to the public and crores of clippings and videos are either freely downloaded from the internet or converted into video CDs.
According to the petition, kids can easily view graphically strong, brutal, violent and destructive adult content.
The Supreme Court, while dealing with a petition, passed a directive that watching porn does not attract any punishment but does when it is shared on public platforms, social sites and passed without mutual consent.
Meanwhile, the situation seems hopeless, with even the Central government informing the SC that it is impossible to block porn sites in India.