The Government has announced that pornography depicting strangulation and incestuous relationships will be banned from early November. The content will be outlawed from November 6 after cross-party pressure about the negative impact on women and girls led ministers to announce the new laws earlier this year.
What will be banned
It means pornography which depicts strangulation or suffocation, sex between people who are related or pretending to be related, or when somebody is pretending to be a child under 16, will be illegal. Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin made the recommendations in her review into pornography regulation which reported in 2025.
She said the news came “not a moment too soon”, after previously saying strangulation in porn had become “totally normalised”. Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said: “This Government has a commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. For many people, it is still easy to access harmful pornography online.
“From November 6, it will be illegal to possess or publish pornography showing strangulation or suffocation, sexual activity between certain relatives, or adults roleplaying as children under 16. This isn’t about criminalising harmless sexual preferences. But porn can shape what people think a healthy relationship looks like, especially young people.
“Content that normalises, or even glorifies, violence against women is dangerous and can blur the line with what is acceptable in real life.”
Review findings and impact
Lady Bertin’s report found pornography which shows women being choked can have “devastating” real-world consequences. It highlighted “disturbing” role-play, including incest and adults portraying children. Both will be banned.
A study by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation in 2024 found more than a third of 16 to 34-year-old adults had reported being strangled or choked at least once during consensual sex. A survey by the same group last year found 43% of 16 to 17-year-olds, who are sexually active, said they had been subjected to it.
In her report, published in February 2025, the Conservative peer said there had been a “total absence of government scrutiny” of the pornography industry. Lady Bertin previously told the Press Association that strangulation had “gone into the bloodstream” of society and it should be “wiped out of the culture”.
Non-fatal strangulation is already an offence in its own right, but it is not illegal to show it online. She said: “It is very good news these offences will come into force, and not a moment too soon.
“This change in law alongside better enforcement and stronger regulation will send the unequivocal signal not only to the companies that host and facilitate porn but also to wider society that extreme and violent content that encourages real-life harm is not acceptable.”
Minister’s warning and reaction
Ms Davies-Jones said: “Young people especially deserve better examples of what healthy relationships look like. Real intimacy is built on respect and trust, not abuse. If you’ve got this material, delete it. If you’re sharing it, stop. It’s not as harmless as you may think, and after 6 November it is criminal.”
The End Violence Against Women Coalition welcomed the ban, urging ministers to ensure it is enforced. Interim director Janaya Walker said: “This is an important step towards tackling the normalisation of violence against women and girls, and the result of years of campaigning by EVAW and other experts who have raised concerns about the impact of violent pornography.
“Strangulation can cause serious, lasting harm and even death, yet its widespread portrayal in pornography risks normalising this violence in sexual relationships, particularly among young people. The introduction of this offence is an important recognition of the harm caused by violent pornography and the need to hold an industry accountable for content that depicts and profits from violence against women and girls.
“The Government must now ensure the ban is effectively enforced, and update the Online Safety Act so that online platforms are required to remove this content.”
