New pornography laws - at last, a step in the right direction

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On Friday, new pornography laws came into effect, banning possession or publication of pornography depicting strangulation and suffocation, incest, and adults roleplaying being under-16 (the age of consent). The laws aim to target the normalisation of these sex acts, as they become translated from online pornography into sexual activity in the real world, and shape what young people think a healthy sexual relationship looks like. 

The need for these laws is clear. According to a 2025 report by the Children’s Commissioner, 58% of 16-21 year olds report having seen pornography depicting strangulation before the age of 18 (Children’s Commissioner, 2025). From this content, young boys are learning that sexual strangulation is what young women expect when having sex. A 2024 BBC report found boys as young as 14 are asking teachers how to ‘choke someone safely’ during sex, and Dr Tamasine Preece, a teacher in Bridgend, told the BBC that a pupil told her ‘girls were mad for it’ (BBC, 2024). The prevalence of strangulation in pornography teaches young boys that strangulation is a normal sexual behaviour that women desire.

These views then become translated to real life experiences. According to a study from the Institute for Addressing Strangulation, 43% of 16-17 year olds who have been sexually active have been strangled during sex. For 24-26 year olds who have been sexually active, this number rises to a staggering 72%. 

Men are the main perpetrators of these dangerous behaviours. The IFAS study found 63% of those who reported strangling others during sex were male. This is a gendered issue, and one that stems from young boys viewing pornography which normalises these dangerous acts from a young age. At a time when they are beginning to understand their own sexuality, exposure to this type of pornography can associate otherwise natural sexual desires with harmful and degrading behaviours, levied at the women around them. As a result, young men may develop contorted understandings of intimacy, consent and expectations in sex, undermining their ability to form healthy relationships with partners and their own sexuality.

The new laws are a welcome addition to a discussion that must go much wider. We must talk to our young boys and young women about what they see online, how to have safe, consensual sex and what healthy sexual relationships are. Doing so will benefit both the boys and their sexual relationships, and will protect our young women and girls from unsafe sex. If we don’t create spaces for these honest conversations, problematic and dangerous sexual practices go unaddressed. New laws banning dangerous forms of pornography are an imperative first step, though alone won’t change young people’s sexual behaviours. Open conversation is vital.

We may well ask ourselves how society has reached such a nadir when violence during sexual activity is seen as normal by so many in a generation of young people. At last we are beginning to outlaw what should never have become so widespread. This is a first step in the challenge to bring back innocence to childhood and love and care to relationships.

CPRMB is currently conducting research into the online harms faced by boys aged 8-18. We hope this research will bolster an ongoing conversation into the effects of online pornography on young men and boys, their relationships, and personal development.

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