Doctor also warned of the harm caused by non-fatal strangulation and the disregarding of female pain
Dr Madeleine Ní Dhálaigh, a GP in Roscommon, described how family doctors are dealing with the fallout from the growing and malign influence of online porn.
She told how one female patient said she could not walk after sex.
“She thought there was something wrong with her,” Dr Ní Dhálaigh said, adding that another woman had suffered bruising.
The GP later spoke to transition-year students and said the increase in anal sex was coming up as a topic – so she researched what this does to the female anatomy.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 26th April 2025
Dr Ní Dhálaigh said women’s anatomy is very different from that of men and their pelvic floor is configured in a different way, putting them at greater risk of faecal incontinence.
She told how some doctors reported seeing anal injuries in younger people.
“I have not see that myself, but it is starting to happen,” she said.
A study in the British Medical Journal by NHS surgeons reported that women in the UK are suffering injuries and other health problems as a result of the growing popularity of anal sex among straight couples.
The consequences include incontinence and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as pain and bleeding because they have experienced bodily trauma while engaging in the practice, the doctors said in the article.
Dr Ní Dhálaigh, who was taking part in a discussion in Killarney entitled “The malign force of pornography in fuelling sexual and gender-based violence”, referred to research showing how pornography downplays the safety and health of young women.
She also warned about the harm caused by non-fatal strangulation as well as the increased risk of homicide.
GPs increasingly need to expand their sexual-health conversation with patients beyond the normal areas to include the risks of pornography, she added.
It comes as recent research shows children in Ireland are accessing their first mobile phones at an average age of nine.
There is growing concern that early access to phones is leading to children coming in contact with harmful pornography at a young age and this is influencing how they view sex. “I think it is an area we have not studied in general practice,” Dr Ní Dhálaigh said.
“We really need to get in there now and start having conversations as a medical profession.”
She said the “scale and pace of change in pornographic material compared to just a few short years ago has been overwhelming and disturbing”.
“Now, pornography increasingly features extreme acts, including gender-based violence, which are not only potentially physically harmful to participants, but are also changing the sexual norms in society among young people in particular,” she said.
She warned of “unfettered access to pornography online, and children as young as 10 are viewing content which is both upsetting and deeply problematic”.
“The impact on both young men and women has been profound, with many of them learning about sex from violent pornography,” she said.
This informs young men to frequently push boundaries, to normalise coercion during sex and to have sex without a condom. Female pain and discomfort are also frequently disregarded.
“The onus is on the Government to urgently introduce regulation which would prevent children from viewing this material,” Dr Ní Dhálaigh said.
The panel also warned how children and teenagers are being tricked into clicking on the porn sites.
Providers can study the common spelling mistakes and keystroke errors of children, said Ruth Breslin, director of the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute.
They can also receive messages through social media and follow popular figures who lead them to the sites.
Eoghan Cleary, a secondary school teacher told the conference that he started a gender-studies programme for transition-year students. He speaks to the senior students about pornography and exposure to it at a young age.
They can end up “shocked and upset” that nobody has spoken to them about the negative impact of pornography until then.
He pointed to the rise in sexually violent crimes by young people as their access to pornography has increased.
“Once given the space to talk about it, the students are amazing,” he said, as the conversation tends to focus on areas such as communication and respect.
The three panellists agreed that it needs to be a criminal offence to expose children to pornography.
Ms Breslin said image-based sexual abuse is also an issue, with young women having images of them taken and shared without their consent.
They can be shared on WhatsApp groups and sometime on pornography platforms.
“Sexual violence is being portrayed as masquerading as sex,” she added.
A bill proposed in the Seanad last year called for access to pornographic material on the internet to be subject to an age-verification requirement.
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