Rape Porn, Cultural Harm, and the Law

“Rape pornography” describes pornographic content that explicitly depicts real or simulated acts of rape. Though debates about the regulation of pornography are far from resolved, in the United Kingdom rape pornography is classed as a form of extreme pornography and subject to legislation criminalizing its consumption. Introduced in 2015, the legal change followed widespread public support for a campaign led by a coalition of antiviolence against women organizations and feminist legal academics. Unlike the extreme pornography legislation itself, under which the “rape porn” amendment sits, this campaign argued against the concept of obscenity. Instead it oriented around the concept of “cultural harm.” The basis of such an argument is not one of moral objection, rather it raises important questions about competing rights and media representations: in particular how we balance freedom of speech and sexual practice, with the cultural implications of eroticizing violence against women and girls. In making visible the conflict that can exist between regulation, harm, equality, and freedom, the UK approach to rape pornography provides a useful, practical, overview of several of the key concepts that lie beneath the notoriously polarized porn debates.