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Wikipedia summarises a view of some anti-pornography feminists:

[They] say that consumption of pornography is a cause of rape and other forms of violence against women. Robin Morgan summarizes this idea with her often-quoted statement, "Pornography is the theory, and rape is the practice."

Anti-pornography feminists charge that pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of women, and reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape and sexual harassment. MacKinnon argued that pornography leads to an increase in sexual violence against women through fostering rape myths. Such rape myths include the belief that women really want to be raped and that they mean yes when they say no. Additionally, according to MacKinnon, pornography desensitizes viewers to violence against women, and this leads to a progressive need to see more violence in order to become sexually aroused, an effect she claims is well documented.

Similarly, blogger and essayist Hamza Andreas Tzortis argues that there is evidence that:

Pornography, both violent and non-violent, is a major causal factor for the occurrence of rape in modern society. Although there are multi-causal theories established for the crime of rape, empirical and social research evidence is overwhelming in affirming that pornography is a major facilitating and causal factor.

[...]

  • 56% of rapists implicated pornography in the commission of their offences,
  • 66% of rapists claimed they were incited by pornography,

On the other hand, this article by Michael Castleman in Psychology Today refutes similar claims:

But the evidence clearly shows that from a social welfare perspective, porn causes no measurable harm. In fact, as porn viewing has soared, rates of syphilis, gonorrhea, teen sex, teen births, divorce, and rape have all substantially declined. If Internet porn affects society, oddly enough, it looks beneficial. Perhaps mental health professionals should encourage men to view it.

Is there a scientific consensus to the evidence?

Community
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    Fix your question, Jim. It's unacceptable that, after 22 questions, you still can't ask one properly. Quote the claim you're skeptical of. It's pretty simple, no? – Borror0 Mar 09 '12 at 15:44
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    -1 and close - That claim is no where in your link. Your premise is flawed. Voting to close... Would vote to delete. And staple! – Chad Mar 09 '12 at 16:57
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    Closing because the link you provide actually says the opposite as what you are asking. Note: this is the 3rd question from you I am closing today, and poor quality contributions is a cause for suspension. Please keep this in mind before opening another invalid question. – Sklivvz Mar 09 '12 at 17:15
  • Let me check again. I think the idea that porn cause rape is a VERY notable claim. In Indonesia, the muslims say that all the time. You think it's not notable? It used to be notable. I was surprised that in US it's not even notable anymore. –  Mar 09 '12 at 23:24
  • The link also contains references that porn cause rape is notable. I'll add more links. Basically sometimes I only quote one side and get flamed to. So does that mean I got to quote two sides? –  Mar 09 '12 at 23:29
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    Thanks @JimThio. No it doesn't mean that. You can quote both sides, but if you quote only one side, it should be the claim you are skeptical of. Otherwise we risk having to address stuff nobody believes! I think you are drawing down votes because you seem to have a beef against an ideology, whereas genuine curiosity would be much better :-) – Sklivvz Mar 10 '12 at 00:08
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    I suspect you're drawing downvotes because you're not asking questions properly. Still. After twenty-two questions. We expect a minimum of effort in asking questions, and you're not putting it unless we ask you to. – Borror0 Mar 10 '12 at 00:34
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    Performed major edit. Please check that it matches your question. – Oddthinking Mar 10 '12 at 04:03
  • Look I added it. What's confusing is some of my questions are closed even if I do it correctly. So I am confused. Anyway, this is a VERY notable claim and many other questions also don't bother putting a link to claims that are obviously notable and get accepted. –  Mar 14 '12 at 07:23
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    Related: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/7223/does-objectifying-women-in-advertisement-cause-violence-against-their-gender – Mechanical snail Dec 15 '12 at 14:16

1 Answers1

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There is a working paper, Pornography, Rape, and the Internet, by Todd Kendal that argues the answer is no. The abstract:

The arrival of the internet caused a large decline in both the pecuniary and non-pecuniary costs of accessing pornography. Using state-level panel data from 1998-2003, I find that the arrival of the internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence. However, growth in internet usage had no apparent effect on other crimes. Moreover, when I disaggregate the rape data by offender age, I find that the effect of the internet on rape is concentrated among those for whom the internet-induced fall in the non-pecuniary price of pornography was the largest – men ages 15-19, who typically live with their parents. These results, which suggest that pornography and rape are substitutes, are in contrast with most previous literature. However, earlier population-level studies do not control adequately for many omitted variables, including the age distribution of the population, and most laboratory studies simply do not allow for potential substitutability between pornography and rape.

The paper contains also an extensive discussion of previous literature. A popular exposition of the results can be found in a Slate column of Steven Landsburg: How the Web Prevents Rape.

Michael Greinecker
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