Mumbai woman seeks ban on porn that 'ruined' her marriage
A 27-year-old Mumbai-based woman has approached the SC claiming her husband's addiction to porn had 'ruined' their marriage, and sought a complete ban on such websites. Due to his addiction, he had become "perverted," forcing her for "unnatural oral sex," and was ignoring his day-to-day chores, she claimed. Incidentally, this petition comes exactly a year after a similar one by another Mumbai-based woman.
What does her petition say?
According to the petitioner, her husband had been addicted to porn since teenage and had flunked his Class 10 exam because of it. Now he's "indifferent to my physical and other material needs" due to the same habit, she claimed. He was "exhibiting abnormal behavior," had lost his virility and was pressing her for divorce, she added. The couple has been married since 2016.
Can you actually get addicted to porn?
Porn capitalizes on the primitive lust for flesh: the more porn one watches, the more one will crave. It also raises the standards of sexual gratification: as one starts associating porn with sexual pleasure, one will eventually be in need of it to get turned on. It eventually builds an unrealistic idea of sex, often ignoring emotional connect and taking physical pleasure to extremes.
How does it affect relationships?
Research found that compared to people who watch porn as a "healthy habit," those who identify themselves as addicts often report trouble with romantic relationships. One said he felt his wife "owed him sex." "When you have a sense of entitlement, it's dangerous," he added.
Is porn substantially prevalent in India anyway?
According to a 2016 report, India is the 4th largest consumer of porn worldwide; UK, US and Canada occupy the top three spots. Traffic from India towards adult sites in the 18-24 age group was significantly higher than many other countries. Statistics provided by adult website PornHub indicates that 30% of their Indian visitors are women, 6% higher than the global average.
Can the problem be resolved in India by banning porn?
In July'15, the SC ruled banning pornographic websites is at the government's discretion. The next month, the government blocked over 800 pornographic websites. The aim was to prevent pornography from becoming a social nuisance, it said. But it rolled back the decision partially after it ignited a massive debate over censorship and attracted widespread criticism. The Center has since batted for banning child pornography.
Easy availability of porn will lead to doom: Petition
The Mumbai woman has filed a petition through advocate Kamlesh Vaswani, who had herself sought a ban on porn in 2013. Porn was an "impediment in the nation's progress," her petition argued, saying it is causing "perversion of youth, loss of moral and spiritual values which if not checked can lead to total lack of productivity, rise in sex crimes, matrimonial disputes" and doom.
