Brits spending millions on pornography

LONDON: Britain is increasingly witnessing record numbers of people — men and women — downloading pornographic material from the internet, spending millions on sexual imagery and voyeurism.

As many as 9 million men, almost 40 per cent of Britain’s male population, used pornographic sites last year, compared with 2 million in 2000, according to Nielsen NetRatings, a leader in internet analysis.

The Independent reported that as per the research, women were among the fastest growing users of pornography on the internet, with a 30 per cent rise from 1 million to 1.4 million in the past 12 months.

In 2005, Britain’s censors reportedly cleared more hard-core sex films than movies rated 18, while relationship agencies reported that as many as 40 per cent of couples with problems believe pornography contributed to their difficulties. Christine Lacey, a senior counsellor, said, “For many women, the reaction is exactly the same as if they discovered their partner is having an affair. They may not be having sex with someone else but the effect is the same if it is detrimental to their marriage.”

Phillip Hodson of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy warned that this new generation of “voyeurs” risk problems in their love lives. “The internet has made sex-lazy men even sex-lazier where they get lost in their own world. It used to be said that men neglected foreplay, but now they are neglecting sex,” he said.