Pornography is fuelling sexual violence that is leaving young women with serious physical injuries, doctors have been warned.

The annual conference of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) in Killarney heard Government regulation is critical, as children as young as 10 are being exposed to extreme, explicit material.

Roscommon GP Madeleine Ní Dhálaigh said the “scale and pace of change in pornographic material compared to just a few short years ago has been overwhelming and disturbing”.

She said aggressive intercourse and non-fatal strangulation are among the acts being “normalised” by being widely available to view online.

Dr Ní Dhálaigh said the Government needs to urgently introduce regulations to prevent children viewing this material.