This article contains references to strangulation, non-consensual hitting, and sexual assault.
Choking porn, or depictions of strangulation in porn, will be made illegal, the government has confirmed.
Women's safety campaigners have welcomed the move, including Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), who described it as a “Vital step towards recognising the role violent pornography plays in shaping attitudes to women and regulating an industry which promotes and profits from violence against women.”
It comes after a report by the government’s independent lead reviewer, Baroness Bertin, published in February, recommended making it a criminal offence to possess, distribute and publish pornography that depicts non-fatal strangulation.
Choking or strangulation is when one person applies pressure to another's neck, which obstructs blood vessels and can result in decreased oxygen supply to the brain.
This is only one of the 32 proposals made to the government and the pornography industry about tackling degrading, violent and misogynistic content. The proposals include banning porn that depicts incest, making nudify apps illegal, and creating an ombudsman to track reports of intimate image abuse, coercion, and trafficking in the pornography sector.
Here, Glamour spoke to women who've been impacted by choking – as well as experts who've long been calling for reform of the porn industry.
Here's what we know.
When Hannah*, then 18, went back to Connor’s* house for a one-night stand, she hadn’t expected him to choke her during sex. She opened her eyes to find his hand wrapped around her throat, pressing firmly. Later, he spanked her so hard that blood vessels burst on her buttocks, all while he was totally oblivious to how much pain he was causing.
“I left his house the next morning, covered in bruises,” Hannah says. “I wrote it off at the time as I didn’t say anything, but six years later, I’m only beginning to realise how wrong it actually was.”
Although Hannah’s experience may seem abnormal, she isn’t alone. Acts of sexual violence, including non-consensual asphyxiation or 'choking’, and hitting, have become increasingly prevalent in the sex lives of young people. While non-fatal strangulation laws were introduced in the UK in 2022 to address these dangers, choking – both consensual and non-consensual – appears to be rising globally.
In the US, a national probability survey revealed that 21% of women reported having been choked during sex, and 20% of men reported choking a partner, although the survey didn’t clarify whether these acts were consensual. Recent studies in Australia and a UK poll suggest even higher prevalence rates, particularly among younger women; in Australia, nearly half of the women surveyed said they had been choked during sex. This growing trend raises important questions about the medical risks, which are significant regardless of whether choking is consensual or not, and points to the need for more open discussions around its impacts.
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Choking hit the headlines in 2023 when, in an extensive report on the New Social Covenant Unit, former Conservative MP Miriam Cates claimed that school children have received “graphic lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely and 72 genders.”
However, James Bowen, policy director for the NAHT, which represents school administrators, responded to Cates’ claims, stating there is no evidence that “students being exposed to materials that are inappropriate for their age is a widespread issue” and that such cases would be handled individually. The report also fails to cite any instances of safe choking being taught in schools, instead referencing Cliterally the Best, a blog not included in the British RSE curriculum.
Amidst the backlash, former PM Rishi Sunak pledged to review the content of the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum. CURRENT It’s of little surprise that the epidemic of non-consensual sexual violence has been widely attributed to porn and its’ accessibility. Research from Ofcom revealed that Pornhub has a bigger UK audience than BBC News, with many visitors reported to be in their early teens thanks to the website’s lack of age verification.
In a study on memes related to choking and strangulation during sex, men were reported to describe first learning about choking from porn they’d watched, whereas women “Described learning about choking from partners, peers, and Internet memes.” Researchers advised sex educators to use these memes to “Generate class discussions, share interpretations, and challenge assumptions that sexual choking is safe”.
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As it stands, experts have warned that there is “no safe way” to engage in the practice without risking permanent brain injury or even death. Professor Clare McGlynn, an academic at Durham University specialising in pornography, sexual violence and online abuse, says that recent studies on sexual choking show that it “Impairs women's cognitive and memory functions. In other words, it causes brain damage, just like being hit as a boxer or rugby player.
This is in addition to the already known risks of stroke, dizziness, headaches, bruising, sore throats and more. McGlynn says, “These are MRI studies and cannot – or should not – be dismissed.” Also, the medical evidence is that before you lose consciousness, you lose the ability to move and move your eyes. There is no safe word when you cannot speak.”
McGlynn clarifies that when it comes to choking, consent, or the lack of it, shouldn’t be the focus. “Consent does not protect you from brain damage,” she says. “I think the message needs to be about these health risks. That's why I hope for particular recommendations on this in the Review. It's rife in porn, and porn is promoting sexual scripts that are particularly risky for young women. Further, there are links between the more porn you view, the more likely you are to choke a partner.”
None of this, of course, is to diminish the importance of giving and receiving consent during any sexual activity. “If choking is non-consensual, the harms are intensified,” McGlynn says. “However, even consent doesn't tackle some of the concerns about this practice. Because it is so normalised, in social media, in porn, it’s assumed that it's what everyone does and it’s expected. So women consent, but many still feel very uncomfortable and sometimes fearful. It’s consensual but not really wanted or enjoyed.”
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Insofar as universities offer consent courses to freshers, these sessions don’t do much to address violence during consensual sex. Hannah reluctantly accepts that the sex with Connor was “consensual” in legal terms, but she says that we need to think carefully about how this may normalise violent or coercive sex. “Truthfully, I wouldn’t have said yes if I knew he was going to choke me, and I think he knew that too,” Hannah says. “That’s why he didn’t bother to ask me, and that doesn’t feel very consensual to me.”
So, what can we do to address this? As sexual acts like choking have become increasingly prolific and normalised amongst young people, sex educators like Dr Yvonne K. Fulbright are calling for a reformed curriculum that includes a discussion on kinks and violence. By addressing the risks involved in these sexual behaviours, Fulbright says that “people can better assess whether some kinks and potential pleasures should even be navigated given risk or consider them better left unexplored.”
As Fulbright, and other researchers highlight, creating spaces to hold informed discussions about these topics is the only way forward. Campaigns in Australia such as #Breathless are raising awareness and educating on these issues. Far from Cates’ claims that these sorts of lessons are currently ongoing in schools, incorporating more nuance into the RSE curriculum will only help develop awareness about the dangers associated with risky sexual acts but also a wider discussion about where these desires come from in the first place.
When violence against women is continuously glorified in the media, in porn, and even perpetuated by the police themselves, how can we expect young men to know better without proper intervention? When we give young people the tools to work out where these fantasies come from and why, we can help empower more women to say no too. And at this point, that’s a necessity.
For more information about reporting and recovering from rape and sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis.
If you have been sexually assaulted, you can find your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre here. You can also find support at your local GP, voluntary organisations such as Rape Crisis, Women's Aid, and Victim Support, and you can report it to the police (if you choose) here.
The resources and helplines you need to know.
