Sexual addiction is real. We have long recognized drug addicts, alcoholics, compulsive gamblers, but only recently has public attention begun to focus on compulsive and disordered sexuality. It is still among the least understood of all the addictions, although now a major social problem and public health issue.
A sexual addict cannot break free from escalating sexual behaviour which brings increasingly damaging consequences to self and to others. They become addicted to the neuro-chemical changes in the body produced by sexual activity. It was Patrick Carnes, an American psychologist in the late 1970's who did most to identify and treat this disease. After years of research he claims that 8% of men and 3% of women become sexually addicted at some stage. This seems high to me, but there are now groups for those who want to break from these chains of habit.
There are many forms of this addiction including multiple affairs, sometimes anonymous, exhibitionism, voyeurism, compulsive masturbation, as well as rape and sexual abuse of children.
Addicts have often experienced radically disordered or unhappy childhoods, where they have been starved of love and affection. Some research indicates that 60% were abused by someone in their childhood. Sexual activity of some form or other is adopted as an escape from this unhappiness.
The internet has now become the fastest growing source and forum for sexual addicts, because it is available at any time of day or night, is isolated and secret, rich in fantasy and endless variety.
Sexual addicts are only a minority, but the spread of pornography on the internet is feeding these addictions. Some Australian cities, including Sydney, are among the highest users in the world of pornographic material.
40% of the adult male population in the U.K. (9,000,000) logged onto sex websites last year, four times as many as in 2000. 1.4 million women downloaded internet porn in that time, but this represents an increase of 30%. It is not surprising that 40% of couples with marital difficulties say internet pornography is at least partly to blame.
With this background the great majority of Australians will welcome the announcement by the Federal Government's Communications Minister Helen Coonan recently that $116 million will be spent to combat pornography especially among children as every Australian family will be offered free internet filtering software to block X-rated sites and offensive words. She expects that 2.5 million families will take up the offer. Public library terminals will also be blocked.
Pornography is marketed aggressively to those who are not searching for it as a report by the Australia Institute in 2003 showed that more than four out of five boys and three out of five girls using the internet had experienced unwanted exposure to sexual material.
Public awareness must continue to grow as pornography is the worst fruit of free market capitalism.
