Expose the Harm is run by the charity CEASE, the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation.
We believe that to end sexual exploitation, you have to understand what’s driving it. Our work shines a light on how the pornography industry is fuelling a diverse range of harms, including sexual exploitation – effects that are felt across the whole of society.
For a long time, the pornography industry has faced little scrutiny from governments and has got away with appalling practices. It has profited from child abuse, rape and image-based abuse, and shown children not just explicit sex, but sexual violence and abuse that you wouldn’t be allowed to sell offline. It has worked to shape individuals, relationships and society towards its profit, creating new norms of objectifying and violent sex in the process.
As societal discussion and government regulation starts to grow, it’s vital that this is informed not just by the research, but by people’s lived experiences. For too long, people have suffered pornography’s harms behind closed doors, largely in silence. We’ve set up Expose the Harm in the hope of changing that.
Expose the Harm brings together people’s stories of how pornography has harmed them or people they know, providing rich insights into this often hidden yet stark reality. This will be used to help MPs and other decision-makers grasp the nature of the problem, and guide the development of the laws and regulation that we so urgently need. We are also keen for Expose the Harm to become part of the conversation across society and within communities, helping to raise awareness, shift norms and build protection.
Join us today in this collective effort to take on the pornography industry. Share your experience, follow us on social media, and sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates and other opportunities to get involved.
Change is coming.
For 20 years, the online pornography industry has looked like the Wild West. Today, most businesses have to comply with strict rules and regulations to protect their customers. Not the pornography industry.
The vast companies behind pornography websites have avoided regulation in order to make greater profits. They have made money from videos of rape, abuse and other non-consensual sex acts and avoided measures to keep children off their platforms.
Learn more about the online pornography industry in Expose Big Porn.
The lack of regulation in pornography means:
- Children’s free, unlimited access
- Illegal content including videos of trafficking, rape, Image-based sexual abuse (“revenge porn”), covertly filmed material and child sexual abuse material.
- Content that would be refused the BBFC R18 classification.
Government regulation of the pornography industry is urgently needed. “Expose the Harm” will become a crowd-sourced evidence log of the various harms driven by pornography by individuals from all walks of life. This will be used to help MPs and decision-makers to grasp the urgent need for robust laws that will make porn sites protect children and to stop them from hosting illegal and harmful content.
Join us today to ensure that the Government does not give the pornography industry a free pass. Share your experience, and sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on the work to hold them to account.
