A team of women at Nelson Mandela University in the Eastern Cape wants to tackle porn addiction in communities by creating a safe space for people to go if they believe that porn exposure or addiction is having an impact on their lives or those of their children, and they need help dealing with it.
The team includes Prof Darelle van Greunen, director of the Centre for Community Technologies, Prof Kerry-Lynn Thomson of the Centre for Research in Information and Cyber Security, and cyber-security expert Dr Noluxolo Gaza.
Together they intend to tackle this escalating problem, which has become very serious in the past few years, especially since the forced isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“A few months ago, a few of us were talking about how we can combine our passion and interest for cybersecurity and taking technology to communities. Then we started talking about the topical issues that we needed to consider,” says Van Greunen.
“There was quite a lot of coverage in the press about porn addiction at the time. It was always an issue, but it is more of a pressing issue now.” Thomson says they are working from the viewpoint that it is great to roll out technology and give children access to the digital space, but it is negligent to do so without warning them about the risks.
“Porn addiction is one of those risks,” she says. The plan is to start by giving caregivers information so that they can understand the technology environment they are creating, especially for children.
“It is an uncomfortable topic for any parent or teacher to broach with a child or a teenager,” says
Thomson. She points out that research shows that children will likely be exposed to porn between
the ages of eight and 12, though some will encounter it at a younger age.
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