UNICEF: Pornography Not Always Harmful to Children

UNICEF says any efforts to block children from accessing pornography online might infringe on their human rights

The report published by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) addresses how government policy can be used to protect children from harmful, abusive and violent content online.  Its conclusion is based on a European study of 19 EU countries that found in most countries, most children who saw pornographic images were “neither upset nor happy.” In fact, the report UNICEF relies on says 39 percent of Spanish children were happy after seeing pornography.

The UN report suggested there is no conclusive evidence that children exposed to pornography are harmed.

UNICEF’s report ignores the vast body of research demonstrating the harms of pornography to children. By ignoring the real harms pornography can have, UNICEF is playing roulette with children’s health and safety

Mainstream pornography contains horrific sexual abuse, rape, incest, racism – all of which children should not consume.

UNICEF’s milquetoast assessment of the impacts hardcore pornography on children does nothing to challenge the political narrative that pornography is benign, and as a result, puts children in harm’s way.

The 2020 EU Kids Online Study concluded that some children and young people “intentionally seek out sexual content” for a variety of reasons and that seeing sexual images “might also represent an opportunity” to provide answers to questions about puberty and sexual identity. The study encouraged “seeing the nuances” which lead children to seek out and view sexual content online.

UNICEF says any efforts to block children from accessing pornography online might infringe on their human rights. UNICEF bases this claim on an expansive interpretation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

UNICEF also claims that asking for age-verification to access pornography online may deny children access to what it calls “vital sexuality education.”

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