Violence against women and girls is a persistent human rights violation that has devastating ramifications for every section of society today. Regardless of ethnicity, age, or culture, it is a major obstacle to millions of women and children meeting their potential and living meaningful lives. While extreme acts of violence are often easily witnessed and condemned, problems arise when violent acts against women and girls are subtle and pervasive within a culture. For example, while existing research is divided on the role pornography plays in adolescent sexual development, there are some suggestions that exposure to violent pornography might increase violence in adolescent relationships. As such, pornography has the potential to amplify gender norms that exist in a society and normalise certain violent sexual acts and/or relationships. A clear understanding of pornography use amongst adolescents is necessary, as is an in-depth investigation of teenagers’ attitudes of violent and non-violent pornography and its impact on violence against women and girls. The present project is an interdisciplinary study of the relationship between pornography usage and attitudes towards aggression and violence amongst adolescents in European society. It will utilise a mixed-method design to answer the following questions: 1) What are adolescents’ perceptions of pornography including violent versus non-violent? 2) What are adolescents’ attitudes to how gender roles are portrayed in pornography? 3) What should adolescents know about violent pornography to improve their sexual health? The results of this research will guide policy makers, stakeholders, and other researchers in understanding how pornography and the portrayal of violent content therein relates to aggression and violence in adolescent relationships.
