Ban on porn sites won't help, focus should be on sex education, say experts

NEW DELHI: Claiming that ban on pornographic sites would not help tackle sexual offences and crime against women, instead lead to rise in such cases, experts have called for introduction of sex education in schools and said there should be a national policy on the issue.

At a day-long workshop on 'Understanding and Management of Sexual Dysfunction' here today, experts and psychiatrists stressed that the government should focus on sex education in order to generate awareness among the youth and help them appreciate the role of women in the society and respect them.

"There is no scientific and established links between banning the (porn) sites and controlling people's actions and inclinations towards sex-related crime," said Dr T S Sathyanarayana Rao, psychiatrist and sexologist of J S S Medical College, Mysore.

Such bans would only push people towards cheap magazines, books, adult movies, and lead to increase in alcoholism and even drug addiction, he said.

"Ban can only result in an increase in curiosity and thus instead of bringing down sex-related crimes, we could end up increasing the same sex-related offences," he added.

Dr Sunil Mittal, a leading psychiatrist and Director of Cosmos Institute of Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences (CIMBS), said the menace needs to be addressed at the "social level". He said there is a "distorted anxiety and curiosity" among a section of people towards women and in order to curb this menace "there should be a national policy" on the issue.

"The solution should be sought by addressing the challenge at the social level... Sex is today seen more as a physical element... Besides, ensuring punishment for wrong-doers, efforts should be made to involve psychological experts to bring about change in mindset of individuals," Dr Mittal said.

Mitali Shrivastava of CIMBS said discussing anything about sex is still considered a major taboo in schools, home and workplaces. "Students and younger generation in particular should be encouraged to ventilate their queries about sex. There ought to be training sessions on the subject for both students, teachers and also parents," said Shrivastava, adding that steps should be taken to introduce sex education at the school level.