In the US, internet pornography brings in $2.84 billion a year, while the entire worldwide industry is worth $4.9 billion. A 2011 report by United Families International (UFI) stated that 12 per cent of the websites on the internet are pornographic, a total of 24,644,172 websites.

UFI is dedicated to promoting pro-family public policies and programs at the local, national and international level and works to educate UN ambassadors and delegates on policies affecting the family.  

Many Cambodian students use mobile phones rather than computers to watch porn as they’re small and portable. Some have stated that watching pornography increases their sexual desire, and some admitted to soliciting prostitutes after watching them.

They want to practice what they viewed and lie to their parents that they need money for studying, but the truth is that the money is used to pay for sex with prostitutes, which can cost from US$5 to US$10.

Corruption in the education system is an ongoing issue in Cambodia. With the increased viewership of internet porn by students, school is now a place for students to view porn on their phones.

This will add more pressure on the teachers as they try to monitor their students’ activities in the classrooms. Some students bribe the teachers to look the other way, and some succeede.

Case studies have reported that viewing porn leads to rape. A case involving three teenage boys and a girl who was raped by them was a result of watching pornography. The boys admitted that they copied the actions they had seen in the porn video and raped the seven-year-old girl.

Viewing pornography can lead to an addiction. The sexual stimulation from viewing pornography releases dopamine, which creates a “high” that can be addictive. In addition, viewing porn has negative side effects, and people start to see women as only sexual objects.

In porn, women are one dimensional, as they never say no, never get pregnant and can’t wait to have sex with any man and please them. On the other hand, porn portrays men as unfeeling, having no respect or empathy for women and only having erect penises.

Porn has a numbing effect on reality as it makes real sex boring.

Pornography gives men the false impression that sex and pleasure are entirely separated from relationships. It becomes about your pleasure, and not the self-giving, love and intimacy that it was designed for.

Pornography is something a man does by himself, for himself, and uses women as a consumed product.

Parents should try to monitor what their kids do, and be active in their children’s’ life. You have to be in the game to help them know what’s wrong and what’s right.

Teachers should be the mentors for kids and not teach them that it’s alright to accept bribes.

Cambodia is developing so fast, and so are the kids. We can’t have them learning from outside influences, especially from pornographic videos.

The Social Agenda with Soma Norodom

The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.