CARE has welcomed a new site that allows people to share anonymous stories about how pornography has affected them

Expose the harm, an initiative of the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation (CEASE), went live today and was heralded at a Westminster event.

It is hoped it will become a valuable resource in the fight to demonstrate the immense harms of porn, and build a case for legislative change.

The website states:

"Millions of people around the world watch online pornography each day. Some people don’t feel like porn is a problem for them. But for countless others, pornography has made life worse, sometimes even unbearable. And it is hidden. In recent times, brave individuals have spoken out about how pornography has harmed them. But these stories are the tip of the iceberg. Expose the Harm is a space for you to tell your story, safely and anonymously, of how pornography has harmed you in some way.

"You may use pornography regularly and be well aware of how it negatively affects your mind, emotions, body or relationships. You may have watched it accidentally and found it hard to stop, or hard to forget. You may not watch it at all, but see how it’s driving the sexual harassment you’ve experienced. You may have been filmed and your image uploaded to a pornography website without your permission. You may have an entirely different story of pornography’s harm. Share your story here."

Commenting ahead of the launch, CEASE stated:

"In the course of our work, we hear many heartbreaking stories about the harms of pornography. Porn users tell us how their lives have been devastated by addiction, isolation and poor mental health; parents share their deep concerns about how pornography is hindering their child’s emotional, social and cognitive development; and girls express how they feel that pornography is fuelling sexual harassment and 'rape culture'.

"We are painfully aware that what we hear is only the tip of the iceberg. Some stories are scattered in forums all across the internet, and others have not yet been told. This is where Expose the Harm comes in. It acts as a forum where anyone can share their story - completely anonymously - of how they have been impacted by pornography.

"Collating the stories of young people, adults concerned parents, teachers, carers and many more - we shine a light on the impact pornography has on us as human beings, communities, and a society. It’s high time that we expose the harm being driven by online pornography in the hope that we can wake governments and policy makers up to the urgent need for intervention and industry regulation."

Tim Cairns, CARE's policy expert on online safety, commented:

"The harm caused by pornography is well known. There is an abundance of academic and Government studies showing the harm to children, who have unfettered access to porn online, for women and girls, who suffer violence and for relationships, as many people struggle to form real relationships away from the online world.

"It is only as these stories are brought into the light that we can see healing. That is why CARE continues to campaign to ensure that our culture’s addiction to porn is addressed. CARE is working at Westminster to ensure that the Online Safety Bill delivers laws that will help people write a new story."

CARE campaigned successfully for age verification measures to be included in the UK Government's Online Safety Bill and is currently working with MPs to ensure provisions are fit for purpose.

To find out more about our work on this issue, visit our cause page | CARE for Online Safety