The Harms and Excuses of Pornography

Pornography has been wholly normalized in our society. It is expected that men and boys use it, is joked about, and is treated as a harmless pastime — synonomous with masturbation. But the industry is anything but harmless.

Benji Nolot is the founder of Exodus Cry, an NGO committed to abolishing sex trafficking and breaking the cycle of commercial sexual exploitation while assisting and empowering its victims. He recently produced a series called, Beyond Fantasy, which looks at the disturbing realities of popular genres of porn like "barely legal" and "hardcore," as well as the reality of coercion, violence, and health impacts like STIs on those on film.

In this episode, Meghan Murphy speaks with Benji about the documentary series and what we all need to know about what goes on on and off screen in porn. The truth is almost unimaginably disturbing.