Pornography and Law Reform

Impact at a glance

• Clare’s and Fiona Vera Gray’s study on the content of mainstream porn was cited in a New York Times article that led to PayPal removing services from XVideos, one of the world’s largest porn websites.
• Clare's research into the harms of patriarchal (mainstream) porn has helped ensure stronger protections on pornography are now included in the Online Safety Act.
• Clare's work has provided the foundation for many recommendations in the recent UK Independent Review of Pornography, particularly on strangulation and incest porn. The government’s response acknowledged gratitude for the practical recommendations included within the report and outlined areas of ‘immediate action’.
• Clare was part of the successful coalition #Ban Rape Porn campaign to strengthen the laws on extreme porn to include rape porn.

Key Publications

• Read Clare’s piece for The Conversation on why incest porn is more harmful then you think.
• Read Clare’s Guardian article written with Dr Fiona Vera Grey on how online porn perpetuates harmful, violent, misogynistic and racist tropes.
• Read Clare and her colleague’s journal article on sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream pornography.

What was the problem?

The free and easy access to violent and misogynistic pornography available on mainstream pornography sites and social media platforms is a cultural harm that eroticises violence against women, normalises sexual violence, fetishizes minoritized women and perpetuates damaging gendered stereotypes. Young people report that they use porn as a way to learn about sex and accordingly dangerous and damaging practices such as strangulation or forceful, violent sex are perceived as unproblematic and even desired. Despite the word ‘rape’ being banned by most major porn sites, portrayals of non-consensual, ‘forced’ and ‘surprise’ sex are common, as are depictions of young children, vulnerable and intoxicated women.

How did these changes come about?

• Clare’s research, policy and advocacy work reveals the sexually violent nature of mainstream online porn, evidences its harms and recommends criminal sanctions and strengthened regulation. 
• Based on her research, Clare has given expert oral and written testimony to parliamentary groups regarding the harms of mainstream pornography. Clare’s testimony has provided the basis for recommendations for both law and policy reform.
• Clare has worked in partnership with colleagues from academia, women’s specialist organisations and the media to both highlight the harmful sexual scripts that are portrayed and normalised by mainstream porn, and to campaign and advocate for change.

What has happened since?

• Following Clare’s recommendations and the evidence she provided during Baroness Burton’s Independent Review of Pornography, the Government has announced that depictions of sexual strangulation in mainstream pornography are to be made illegal.

• Following Clare and Erica’s research on rape pornography, and their successful #banrapeporn campaign with the End Violence against Women Coalition and Rape Crisis, the law on extreme pornography was strengthened to include depictions of rape porn. Clare then worked with Professor Hannah Bows to understand how possession of extreme pornography is policed. Initial findings suggest that policing of extreme pornography is lacking. Clare and Hannah have drawn attention to this through their submission of evidence to parliament and their study has also been reported by the Huffington Post.
• The article that Clare and colleagues wrote for the British Journal of Criminology on sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography has been accessed over 93,000 times and is cited globally, including by campaigner and CEO of The Justice Defense Fund, Laila Micklewait, whose discussion with Jordan Peterson on the issue has been viewed over 358,000 times.

What next?

• Clare has recently been appointed to the UK’s Independent Pornography Review Taskforce, which has been established to take forward the recommendations of the Independent Reviewof Pornography led by Baroness Bertin. 
• Clare continues to work closely with Baroness Bertin and other colleagues to ensure that the Government announcement to criminalise strangulation pornography is implemented in the most comprehensive and effective way.
• Clare is currently writing a book called Exposed on the harms of mainstream online pornography, which is due to be published in 2026.

Image: Clare is appointed to work on the UK’s Independent Pornography Review Taskforce.