JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Since the rise of freely accessible pornographic streaming websites, pornography consumption (PC) has become normative and widespread across most parts of the world. The rate of teenagers being exposed to pornography before the age of 13 has tripled over the last decade. The majority of young men masturbate several times a week (and even daily) with the help of pornography. PC can have a positive impact on body satisfaction, self-exploration, and self-esteem, but little evidence about the effects of PC on sexual development and later wellbeing is available. However, some negative (though not necessarily proven) information about pornography has created a moral panic with certain social groups. The Flemish child helpline receives regular calls from young people having difficulty dealing with porn-related issues. Flemish students have expressed the need for information and education about pornography-related matters as early as possible. Care providers are seeing an important increase in young people consulting for (self-perceived porn-induced) sexual dysfunctions. Our discussions with young people from diverse backgrounds made it clear that they need and want help navigating the sexually explicit media they consume, especially in contexts where teachers and parents find it difficult to communicate about these topics. Further, in order to understand why some adolescents and young adults (AYA) struggle, we aim to explore the impact of pornography consumption (or sudden abstinence) in relation to young people's sexual wellbeing (SWb) in healthcare contexts. Our multidisciplinary, multistakeholder project on the sexual wellbeing of AYA in the ethnically and sexually diverse society of Flanders will advance knowledge in this polarized field. Given the increasing uptake of PC in our diverse society, it is time that these issues are studied thoroughly and that results are implemented in lesson plans and applications to improve the SWb of AYA.