A 19-year-old woman has spoken out about the devastating impact of an 11-year-long addiction to pornography.
Identified only by her first name, Rebecca appeared on the Australian television programme Australians on Porn. She described how she first began to view pornography at the age of 8, after seeing a film in which a young girl was kidnapped.
‘Violent, aggressive and demeaning’
Rebecca reported being confused by the “deep feeling” she experienced whilst viewing the film, and searched for the same feeling afterwards.
But the porn habit, she said, quickly spiralled out of control:
“When I first started watching porn, I would just watch kind of I guess “normal” or “vanilla” porn, just heterosexual, just run of the mill”.
“And then as I got older it started becoming more violent, more aggressive and demeaning, I guess. I would watch it kind of multiple times a day and I felt like I couldn’t stop”.
Rebecca described how the material she viewed affected her personal relationships, which she said were all “centred on sex”. She said that she’d been sexually assaulted “several times” by her partners and considered it normal to be in abusive relationships.
‘I wish I’d never seen it’
Rebecca still battles with her addiction and sees a psychologist to help her overcome it.
She said: “Quitting has been really hard and I wish retrospectively I’d never seen it and I could have lived my life without it.
“I just would like to have a respectful, equal relationship”.
Related News:
Lords scrutinise damaging effect of porn
'Children to consider impact of pornography'
Editor of "lads' mag" expresses regret over promoting pornography
Related Coverage:
The 19-year-old woman who has been addicted to porn since she was eight - and the devastating impact it has had on her relationships (Mail)
'I wish I'd never seen it': The woman who's been a porn addict since she was 8 (Telegraph)