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Gone are the days of pornography being purely a masculine vice; women are closing the gap in both quantity and intensity of porn consumption. Despite more than 6 in 10 Americans saying it is morally unacceptable, pornography is seeing unprecedented growth in accessibility online, exposure to children, and consumption by women. Recent data from a leading porn provider finds that women now account for nearly one-third of porn consumers, up from 13.6% just 10 years ago. Female users are actually starting younger than their male counterparts and are spending more time searching for graphic material. Data shows:

• One-third of all women consumers are between the ages of 18 and 24;
• Women are more than twice as likely to search for more “hardcore” material than their male counterparts; and
• Women spend more time on pornographic websites than men.

It is not surprising that more demographic groups are being exposed to sexually explicit content when you consider:

• More than one-tenth of all Internet websites are pornographic;
• 40 million Americans admit they are regular porn site visitors;
• 1 in every 4 online searches is related to sex (about 68 million searches a day); and
• 35% of all Internet downloads are pornographic in content.

For years, women have cried foul on men’s use of pornography, saying it objectifies women and contributes to sexual aggression. Now, women are following men into the bowels of this societal infection, despite increasing evidence, even from mainstream media, on the negative physiological, psychological, and relational effects of pornography.

More and more younger children are being exposed to the worst of what the Internet has to offer every day. On average, children will be exposed to sexually explicit content at the tender age of 11. Recent research finds a connection between early pornography exposure and an assortment of negative outcomes, including addiction—even at the age of 12 and 13 years old.

As a result, pornography is tearing apart the fundamental relationships that form a healthy society by: degrading the inherent dignity of men and women; artificially separating the physiological, psychological, and relational connections of sexual activity from the security of committed relationships; exposing younger and younger children to harmful, addictive behaviors; and cheapening the spiritual, emotional, and biological importance of sexual activity.