Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a resolution yesterday, April 19, that declares pornography “a public health crisis.”
The resolution, SCR9, does not outlaw or restrict pornography. It is intended to raise awareness and to be a call for “education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level in order to address the pornography epidemic that is harming the people of our state and nation.”
Studies within the last decade have indicated that pornography use is all too common in Utah. One study showed that Salt Lake County in particular has a very high rate of online subscriptions to pornographic material.
While SCR9 has been mocked and criticized by many in the media, Gail Dines, a professor of sociology at Wheelock College in Boston defended the resolution in the Washington Post: “After 40 years of peer-reviewed research, scholars can say with confidence that porn is an industrial product that shapes how we think about gender, sexuality, relationships, intimacy, sexual violence and gender equality — for the worse.. Utah’s resolution simply reflects the latest research.”
If you would like to read the resolution in full, click here.
We commend the Utah state legislature for taking a stand against the personal, familial and societal dangers of pornography!