The extent of exposure to pornography among children and young people: A fact sheet

A growing body of international scholarship documents that significant proportions of children and young people are exposed to pornography. Different studies define ‘pornography’ in varying ways or allow research participants to do so, and some do not distinguish between different kinds of pornographic media (videos, internet sites, and so on) or between accidental and deliberate exposure. Nevertheless, it is clear that large numbers of young people, particularly boys, are growing up in the presence of sexually explicit media.
The deliberate consumption of pornography is highly gendered among young people, as it is among adults. Males are more likely than females to use pornography, to do so repeatedly, to use it for sexual excitement and masturbation, to initiate its use (rather than be introduced to it by an intimate partner), to view it alone and in same-sex groups, and to view more types of images (Cameron et al. 2005; Flood 2007: 51, 56; Flood and Hamilton 2003: 13-14; Nosko 2007: 2). Males are more likely than females to be sexually aroused by pornography and to have supportive attitudes towards it (Sabina et al. 2008: 691; Johansson and Hammaren 2007: 60-64; Wallmyr and Welin 2006).
Please see the attached document below for the fact sheet summarising various studies on the extent of children's and young people's exposure (deliberate and accidental) to pornography.