A few years ago (2015), a team of researchers traveled to India to find out about the risk associated with porn and other sexual premises on Sex Workers. You can find the abstract and keywords at the bottom of this page which concludes after my short review, and the full study is here.
The research took place in Bangalore, India, where the team interviewed around 684 clients of sex workers to ask them about to get data associated with the use of “pornography and sexual enhancement products” and the relation to the sexual acts received from the sex workers.
The findings were significant:
*91% of those reporting anal sex with a female sex worker had seen porn in the previous month. Comparatively, of those that didn’t view porn, only 75% requested anal sex.
*95% of those reporting anal sex with a male or trans sex worker had watched porn in the past month.
*89% of those who used a sexual enhancement product reported to using porn within the past month.
You can see that there is a clear, positive correlation between viewing porn and the sexual acts that were requested by clients. In all cases, when the client views porn in the previous month, there was at least a 20% increase in requests for acts including anal and sexual enhancement products.
This phenomenon is not entirely different than what is happening to our teens and children around the world. As they view various forms and types of porn, their sexual tastes are twisted to become them. Porn has become sex education for a lot of young adults, and naturally, they will emulate what they are watching.
Abstract
Despite their large numbers, and important role in the HIV epidemic in India, male clients of female sex workers (FSWs) are a difficult to reach population and little is known about their sexual behaviors. Using data from an integrated behavioral and biological assessment of 684 clients in Bangalore in 2012, we examined factors associated with their reports of having sex with three or more different female sex workers in the last month, and anal sex with sex workers. We included sociodemographic and sexual behavior factors and, for the first time in client studies in India, included data on the use of pornography and sexual enhancement products (SEPs) such as pills, oils, and sprays, in our multivariable analyses of client risk. Seventy-eight percent of clients had seen pornographic material and 8% reported ever having used SEPs. The profiles of men practicing the two risk behaviors examined were quite different. Travel in the past year, drunkenness in the past month, young age at first commercial sex, non-use of condoms at last sex, and finding sex workers in public places (but not use of pornography and SEPs) were independently associated with multiple partnering. Sex with a man or transsexual, being a white collar worker, seeking out FSWs at home, pornography and SEP use, and condom use at last FSW sex, were all independently associated with anal sex with an FSW. More research is needed to better understand the links between pornography and SEPs, and HIV risk behaviors, and HIV prevention programs need to be cognizant of the importance of ensuring that condom use is adequately promoted and supported in the context of anal sex in female sex worker-client interactions.
KEYWORDS:
Anal sex; Clients of female sex workers; Female sex workers; HIV risk behaviors; India; Pornography; Sexual enhancement products