At the end of January 2023, the Children’s Commissioner for England published a report looking into the prevalence of pornography exposure among young people and its impacts on children’s safety and wellbeing.
The report collates data from focus groups with 13- to 19-year-olds and a survey of over 1,000 16- to 21-year-olds in England. Findings include: 10% of participants had accessed pornography by age nine, 27% had seen it by age 11; 79%, of young adults aged 18-21 had seen pornography involving sexual violence before turning 18; and of those who had watched online pornography, young people who first watched pornography aged 11 or younger were significantly more likely to present lower self-esteem scores than those who first watched pornography aged 12 or over.
You can read the report on the Commissioner’s website.