In the past, pornography addiction was considered almost exclusively a male problem. No longer. Rates of pornography addiction among females have escalated during the last five to ten years.

According to a survey cited by the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, 34 percent of churchgoing women had visited pornographic web sites.¹ Consequently, Christian organizations that conduct programs for the sexually addicted, such as Pure Life Ministries and Bethesda Workshops, have seen a dramatic rise in the number of women seeking freedom from pornography addictions² [see “Women’s Secret Shame”].

Why are females becoming addicted?

Traditionally, females are more relational by nature than males and not as susceptible to visual stimulation. Because of today’s cultural obsession with sex, however, girls become systematically desensitized to what they see in music videos, R-rated movies, and on the Internet. According to Dr. Mark Laaser, who heads the Christian Alliance for Sexual Recovery, the female brain is literally being rewired to be more visual and aggressive. ³

Pornographers know this and have wasted no time in developing materials to tap into a new market. Using females’ innate desire for romance and relationship, Internet pornographers combine soap opera-type videos with visual pornography to attract young women.⁴ This can plunge them into an addiction from which they may never escape.

How does this happen to our children?

While many parents carefully monitor their children’s Internet use, they seem oblivious to other forms of entertainment that may predispose their daughters to pornography addiction.

MTV is one example. Watched by 78 percent of girls ages 12 to 19 for an average of 6.2 hours per week, MTV exerts a major influence in the lives of teens. In a 2004 Parents Television Council study, analysts counted over 3000 depictions of sex or various forms of nudity in 171 hours of MTV programming—or approximately 18 depictions per hour. ⁵ Combine this with the magazines girls read and the other TV programs and movies they watch, and we have a generation of girls saturated with images of sex.

What about my daughter?

Few of us believe our daughters could become hooked on pornography. Unfortunately, many Christian girls have already traveled down that well-worn path. Rather than bemoan our culture’s lack of morals, take a proactive stance in safeguarding your daughter.

In addition to the protective actions already recommended on this site, the following tips apply particularly to girls:

• Block MTV. Use your television’s parental controls or contact your satellite or cable provider about how to block this channel. Your daughter may not vote you the most popular parent in town, but this one channel crosses the line on too many levels. If you’re not convinced, read the full report on the Parents Television Council web site at http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/mtv2005/main.asp.
• Prohibit or closely monitor your daughter’s chat room use. Not all pornography is visual, and not all porn addictions begin with exposure to nudity. Because of their relational needs, girls are particularly vulnerable to advances made in chat rooms. Predators often groom girls by breaking down their inhibitions with increasingly graphic sexual talk.⁶ Over time, this can lead to a desire to see or act out the things she visualizes.⁷
• Call your cell phone company and disconnect Internet access to your daughter‘s cell phone. Girls can not only receive but send pornographic pictures through their cell phones [see “Child Produced Porn”].
• Monitor what your daughter reads. Steamy romance novels have led many girls astray. Teen girl magazines often contain shockingly sexual articles. Even clothing catalogs, particularly Abercrombie and Fitch, can contain suggestive pictures and wording.
• Keep communication lines open. A survey by the Girl Scout Research Institute found that 30 percent of teenage girls had been sexually harassed in a chat room, but only 7 percent told their parents.⁸ Be sure your daughter knows she can tell you anything without fear of punishment.
• Spend time with your daughter. Girls often visit chat rooms and engage in other dangerous activity out of feelings of loneliness.
• Show your daughter you cherish her. This is especially important for dads. Girls who feel loved and valued by their fathers will be less likely to seek that relationship elsewhere, including pornography.

Pornography addiction can devastate a girl’s life just as easily as it can a boy’s. Don’t protect just your son from pornography and let it sneak up on your daughter. Porn-proof her now.

¹ www.nationalcoalition.org citing “Internet porn a guy thing? Not really, online rating service says” by Mark O’Keefe. The Charlotte Observer.
² Collum, Jason. “Pornography: A Woman’s Struggle, Too.” Agape Press web site, www.agapepress.org, March 9, 2004, p. 1
³ Collum, Jason. P. 2.
⁴ Buford, Tom. “You’re not alone!” Fires of Darkness web site, www.firesofdarkness.com/pornography_addiction-female.htm, quoting Mark B. Kastleman, The Drug of the New Millennium: The Science of How Internet Pornography Radically Alters the Human Brain and Body, p. 176, accessed 30 April, 2008.
⁵ Williams, Casey. “MTV Smut Peddlers: Targeting Kids with Sex, Drugs and Alcohol.” Parents Television Counsel web site, www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/mtv2005/main.asp, p. 2-4, accessed 30 April 2008.
⁶ Tips for protecting your children from dangers on the Internet.” Web Wise Kids web site, www.webwisekids.org/index.asp?page=advice (28 September 2007).
⁷ Buford, Tom. “You’re not alone!” Fires of Darkness web site, www.firesofdarkness.com/pornography_addiction-female.htm, p. 2, accessed 01 May 2008.
⁸ “Youth, Strangers and Sexual Solicitations,” Enough Is Enough web site, www.enough.org/inside.php?tag=statistics#1, accessed 01 May 2008.