[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/porn_nation.jpg” caption=”First-year engineering student, Bahy Mehany, gives his opinion on pornography. Photo credit: Eileen Liu”]Every week, more than 20,000 images of child porn are used on the Internet. Sixty per cent of all website visits are sexual in nature. Annual worldwide porn sales total $57 billion. There are more adult bookstores in the United States than there are McDonalds.

These staggering statistics have been appearing all over campus this past week and they have been generating a lot of discussion and speculation. This is exactly the kind of response the posters are meant to invoke.

On Oct. 31, McMaster Student Union club Campus Crusade for Christ embarked on a campaign to raise awareness about the effects of pornography in North American society. Titled “Porn Nation”, the campaign seeks to prompt dialogue about a taboo issue. “Pornography is one of those subjects that are always swept under the rug,” says David Heska, president of Campus Crusade for Christ. “We are trying to bring it into the open and get people to start thinking about it and talking about it.”

The posters on the walls and the sidewalk chalk signs have been getting mixed responses. “Some people come up to us and thank us for doing this,” explains Heska. “While others think that this is just about chalking up the sidewalks.”

But Porn Nation is not just an opportunity to plaster the campus with signs, he says, adding it is about creating a space for discussion. “Society and mass media has taught us that pornography is just another form of entertainment. Porn Nation is trying to get people to think about the other side of the story. “

How is North American society affected by pornography? What are its consequences? How will it change and impact the next generation? These are questions that Porn Nation poses and challenges the McMaster community to think about, he says.

On Nov. 15, speaker Michael Leahy will also try to address these questions. In an 80-minute multimedia presentation, Leahy will show interviews with porn stars, journalists and experts to demonstrate the effects of pornography. Leahy himself is a recovering sex addict and has appeared on ABC's 20/20 and other media sources to talk about the impact pornography has had on society.

This past week, Campus Crusade for Christ surveyed the McMaster student population to assess where they stand on the issue of pornography. 78.1 percent of respondents agreed that pornography was at least somewhat harmful to society. 53.2 percent of male respondents viewed porn at least once a week or more. Of all respondents who visit pornographic websites, one forth are women. 30 percent of respondents were exposed to pornography before the age of 12.

The Porn Nation presentation will run on Nov. 15, 2005 at 11:30 a.m. with a repeat presentation at 2:30 p.m. in Quarters. There will be a $2 cost at the door with all proceeds going to the McMaster Student Food Bank.