So What Does Porn Have to Do with Rape?

My old friend Glenn Reynolds recently caught this interesting item from the Washington Post:

The number of rapes per capita in the United States has plunged by more than 85 percent since the 1970s, and reported rape fell last year even while other violent offenses increased, according to federal crime data.

This seemingly stunning reduction in sexual violence has been so consistent over the past two decades that some experts say they have started to believe it is accurate, even if they cannot fully explain why it is occurring.

Hmm. What's different since 1970? Lots of things, of course, though bared midriffs and short-shorts are back. But probably the most relevant difference is porn. In 1970, some people argued that porn caused rape. Since 1970, though, porn has exploded. In 1970 you had to work pretty hard to find porn. Now you have to work nearly as hard to avoid it.

But rape has gone down 85%. So much for the notion that pornography causes rape — or, at least, if it did have much effect in that direction, it would be hard to explain how rape rates could have declined so dramatically while porn expanded so explosively.

So while I won't go so far as to argue that porn actually prevents rape, it seems clear that the claims of some people — including a commission headed by former Attorney General Ed Meese back in the 1980s — that pornography promotes rape are, at best, overstated. I suspect, though, that anti-pornography crusaders are unlikely to heed this lesson.

The referenced article, Statistics Show Drop In U.S. Rape Cases, Washington Post, June 19, 2006; Page A01, provided this graphic illustration:

While there are no concrete studies that I am aware of, the numbers seem to suggest (as does my friend Messr. Reynolds), that if, as stated by the Meese Commission among others, there is a direct correlation between the availability of porn and the level of sexual violence against women, that the increasing availabily of porn is the cause of a dramatic decrease in sexual violence. Perhaps, as some have argued, porn really does act as an outlet and release for those who might otherwise be prone to violence if they had no access to it.

Of course, it's a hypothesis in want of an empirical study, and who is going to fund such a study in today's repressive climate. Maybe the boys at Freakonomics might show an interest?