Statement by H.E. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations 69th Commission on the Status of Women Side Event

Opening address at side event “The Scourge of Pornography in the Digital Age,”

19 March 2025, organized by the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Speakers,

Delegates to the Commission on the Status of Women,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for joining us at our side event, “The Scourge of Pornography in the Digital Age,” which the Holy See has co-organized with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Pornography is not a new phenomenon, nor are its harms. Thirty years ago, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action recognized the damaging impacts of pornography as a cause of violence against women.[1] It also included commitments to address it in the context of trafficking for sexual exploitation and the abuse of children.[2] Lastly, it recognized that “violent and degrading pornographic media products … also negatively [affect] women and their participation in society.”[3]

These problems remain, but the landscape has changed in meaningful ways with increased use of technology in our daily lives. Where once someone had to go in person to purchase still images, it is now possible to stream recordings and live images anywhere in the world, often free to consumers through ads and the sale of data. This has not satisfied an appetite; rather, it has tended to increase viewers consumption while desensitizing them to it, leading them to seek more and more extreme content. People who consume pornography can experience poor mental health, addiction, and problems in their relationships. Children exposed to such violent, demeaning, and, increasingly, racist and misogynistic content, may imitate it, with girls bearing the brunt of these degrading “lessons.”

Adults consuming porn may think that, at most, they are only harming themselves. This is not true. A significant proportion of sex trafficking victims are forced to participate in the creation of pornography, making their abuse into entertainment.  Yet even women who have participated voluntarily in the porn industry detail violence, coercion, and substance abuse after leaving it. This is not accidental or incidental, but intrinsic to the nature of a “business” whose product is women.

Moreover, as Pope Francis has noted, it is a mistake to “think that a society where an abnormal consumption of internet sex is rampant among adults could be capable of effectively protecting minors.”[4]  This is particularly true with regard to child pornography, which must be prohibited in all its forms, including simulated imagery, which reinforces a demand which will be met at the expense of children and can make it harder to identify victims.

We must be honest: any form of pornography objectifies and belittles women and girls, and toleration of its creation and consumption is incompatible with respect for their equal dignity. In that regard, I look forward to hearing from our speakers and to a fruitful discussion on the scourge of pornography in the digital age. Thank you.

[1] Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, nos. 118, 224, Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women (A/Conf.177/20/Rev.1), 1995 [hereafter BDPA].

[2] Ibid. at nos. 230(m) and (n), and 283(d).

[3] Ibid. at no. 236.

[4] Pope Francis, Address to the participants in the Congress on “Child Dignity in the Digital World” (6 October 2017).

The full event can viewed on UN Web TV here.