Porn can promote condom use among viewers

New York, April 28: Porn can play a positive role in promoting safer sex by encouraging condom use among men, suggests new research. Men who view more sexually explicit pornography where condoms were used were less likely to have al sex without a condom themselves, the findings showed.

The findings showed no evidence of a public health problem stemming from watching most internet-based sexually explicit media. “Actually one type of pornography was associated with higher rates of condom use — men who viewed more pornography containing condom use engaged in fewer condomless al sex encounters,” said one of the researchers Eric Schrimshaw, associate professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in the US.

“Even those who took part in compulsive pornography viewing were not more likely to engage in condomless al sex,” Schrimshaw noted.

However, watching pornography containing condomless al sex was associated with more condomless al sex behaviour.

Results were based on an online survey of 265 men who have sex with men and who had viewed sexually explicit media in the past three months.

Participants were recruited via ads on Craigslist and Facebook and asked about the amount, compulsivity, and proportion of condomless al sex and al sex with condoms.

Eligible men for the survey were at least 18 years of age and resided within 50 miles of New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington, D.C.

“Our finding that viewing pornography that contains condom use is associated with fewer condomless al sex encounters suggests that pornography may have a potentially important protective function by encouraging men to use condoms,” the authors noted. (IANS)