Sexuality Education & Therapy with Children
Pornography and human rights education.
Open Access: Yes.
Abstract
Children’s exposure to violent pornography may have negative outcomes for their lives and the fulfilment of their rights. Many pornographic videos contain verbal aggression and sexual abuse, including rape. The Committee on the Rights of the Child affirms States Parties´ obligations to ensure that teachers are trained on safeguards relating to the digital environment, yet such training is not an integral part of many teacher education programmes. Educators need support in this field. Our methodological approach is inspired by auto-ethnographic research drawing on our own teaching experience related to pornography and sexual abuse. Extending on teacher typologies, we argue the need for critical perspectives through human rights education that enables students’ respect for and understanding of the human rights instruments, including the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as part of the context implicated in pornography to empower them to ethically navigate their everyday relations..
Relevance
In 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was the first legally binding international human rights instrument to oblige States Parties to ensure children’s rights in all actions concerning children…The CRC does not explicitly mention children’s exposure to pornography…[but] Children have the right to protection against all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation, both physical and virtual, which arguably also includes online sexual violence.”
The authors “call for educational measures that enable children and youth’s critical perspectives on violent pornography as a way of empowering them with knowledge and action skills to promote children’s best interests.”
“A human rights-based approach to education could promote children’s best interests in enabling them to critically examine the gender roles, norms and values portrayed in violent pornography.”
Citation
Goldschmidt-Gjerløw, B., Torstensen, R. L., & Frøvik, J. K. (2025). Pornography and human rights education. Human Rights Education Review, 8(1), 68–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/25355406.2025.2452122
