A majority of Irish citizens (71pc) believe pornography is causing serious harm to society – while 81pc of young people believing it leads to more demands for violent sex, a new study from Women’s Aid reveals.

The research entitled “Time to Talk About Porn” includes statistics from a recent RedC poll which reveals that most of the Irish citizens polled believe porn is linked to gender inequality, unrealistic sexual expectations, sexism and normalisation of requests for sexual images as well as coercion and violence against women and girls.

Women’s Aid CEO Sarah Benson said the domestic abuse charity frequently hears from women accessing its services who believe that pornography is implicated in the “verbal, sexual and physical abuse they are subjected to by their male partners.”