Though the misogynist pro-pornography advocates insist that the proliferation of pornography that followed the so-called "sexual revolution" should coincide with a reduction in violence against women, The Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter tells a different story. According to their statistics for total sexual assault calls from the years 1974 to 1997:

1974: 112 
1975: 185 
1976: 300 
1977: 314 
1978: 398 
1979: 475 
1980: 500 
1981: 600 
1982: 630 
1983: 652 
1984: 705 
1985: 778 

In 1986, we began counting each incident we were
told about, a slightly larger number than 
total calls.

1986: 994 
1987: 1200 
1988: 861 
1989: 848 
1990: 1191 
1991: 1284 
1992: 1421 
1993: 1504 
1994: 1439 
1995: 1191 
1996: 1284 
1997: 1532 

Larry Baron and Murray Straus (1984) undertook a 50-state correlational analysis of reported rape rates and the circulation rates of eight pornographic magazines: Chic, Club, Forum, Gallery, Genesis, Hustler, Oui, and Playboy. A highly significant correlation (+0.64) was found between reported rape rates and circulation rates. Baron and Straus attempted to ascertain what other factors might possibly explain this correlation. Their statistical analysis revealed that the proliferation of pornographic magazines and the level of urbanization explained more of the variance in rape rates than the other variables investigated (for example, social disorganization, economic inequality, unemployment, sexual inequality).

In another important study, Mary Koss conducted a large national survey of over 6,000 college students selected by a probability sample of institutions of higher education (Koss, Gidycz, and Wisniewski, 1987). She found that college males who reported behavior that meets common legal definitions of rape were significantly more likely than college males who denied such behavior to be frequent readers of at least one of the following magazines: Playboy, Penthouse, Chic, Club, Forum, Gallery, Genesis, Oui and Hustler (Koss and Dinero, 1989).

Links to More Statistics:

Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault

National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families

Pornography: Evidence of Harm, by Diana Russell

Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter, Statistics