Violent porn to be banned by Irish government

The Minister for Justice has brought a bill to cabinet to create offences relating to the possession, production or distribution of extreme violent pornography; and acts of necrophilia.

The debate was sparked after two requests for extradition for offences relating to the possession of bestiality material. To address the gap, Minister Jim O'Callaghan is seeking Government approval to introduce new offences to criminalise the possession, production or distribution of extreme or violent pornography. 

The Minister says there is growing recognition that violent and extreme pornography is "one of the most influential, accessible, and commercially powerful forces negatively shaping sexual development and behaviour".

"This material is having a harmful impact, particularly on children and young people, and is distorting healthy sexual development and contributes to perpetuating misogynistic attitudes," he said.

The minister says research indicates that initial exposure to so-called “taboo” material, including violent or extreme pornography, can desensitise users to violence, skew perceptions of consent, and correlate with increased acceptance of sexual aggression, particularly among young men.

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly called on member states to ban the material described as: “graphically portraying scenes of degradation, sexual violence, torture, murder, necrophilia or bestiality for the purposes of sexual arousal.” 

In this same Resolution, the Assembly called on Member States to assess existing laws and regulations applying to violent or extreme pornography and introduce specific legislation to criminalise the production, distribution and possession - including for personal use - of violent or extreme pornography, if not already in place.

The offences should apply to pornographic material that is extreme or violent and contains:

•Depictions of violence causing serious harm to a person

•Depictions of bestiality or necrophilia

•The offences should be based on an objective assessment of the material concerned

•The offences should cover depictions of real people, but including where such depictions are altered, computer generated or simulated

•The offences should encompass possession, production and distribution of relevant material

A standalone offence for acts involving necrophilia is also proposed, in light of legal advice that there is currently a gap in legislation.

This category is intended to include pornography involving depictions of serious violence causing harm. This could also include depictions of non-fatal strangulation or suffocation causing serious harm.