Extreme pornography normalising violence against women, leading Scottish lawyer warns

Scotland's top defence barrister has warned that extreme pornography is normalising violent behaviour towards women, contributing to a surge in young men being prosecuted for sexual offences in the High Court. Tony Lenehan KC, vice-chair of the Faculty of Advocates, believes a forthcoming misogyny bill will help educate men that acts such as strangulation are illegal and may reduce violence against women.

Lenehan told the BBC's Scotcast programme that while nothing in the Scottish government's proposed legislation would criminalise conduct not already prosecutable, the publicity and messaging surrounding the bill could prompt men to reconsider their actions. He has observed a marked increase in cases involving young men accused of sexual crimes, many displaying patterns of violent and coercive behaviour that appear to stem from internet exposure rather than understanding of consent.

First Minister John Swinney announced on 1 September 2026 plans to recognise misogyny as a

distinct form of prejudice and abuse

as part of his programme for government. According to Parliament records from 1 September 2026, the government intends to outlaw misogyny in Scotland and to ban both the creation and possession of deepfake intimate images. The government also committed to a multi-year fund for specialist third-sector organisations and pledged to recognise pregnancy as an aggravating factor in domestic abuse cases.

The misogyny bill was previously shelved in 2025 when the government said it lacked time before the Holyrood election to draft legislation reflecting the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of a woman. Swinney said he would provide the

personal leadership required to tackle the epidemic of male violence against women and girls

and announced a public health campaign to challenge misogynistic attitudes in boys and young men.

Why is internet pornography a factor?

Lenehan attributed the prevalence of violent sexual behaviour among young men to easily accessible violent pornography online. He has dealt with cases across the country involving offenders from prestigious fee-paying schools, yet identified a common thread: exposure to harmful content on the internet.

I suspect the only common thing is the pattern of information from the internet nowadays. That has to be the thing which homogenises what we're seeing repeatedly now, particularly in terms of behaviours in the bedroom and the choking and things.

Such cases were rare 15 years ago but are now widespread. Lenehan recently visited Portobello High School in Edinburgh to educate students about consent and the legal definition of sexual offences. A 2025 UK government announcement stated that strangulation and suffocation imagery in pornography would be criminalised because such content can normalise harmful practices in private life.

What does the misogyny bill aim to achieve?

Lenehan explained that the legislation's primary value lies in its messaging and publicity rather than its legal scope.

I think the point of it lies in the publicity and the messaging so that people are reminded that these are things which are forbidden. All of the things that we can currently prosecute people for don't seem to be causing people to think again about what they do.

According to BBC reporting on the programme for government, the misogyny law is intended to ensure harassment and abuse based on misogyny is outlawed and may pass before 2031.

Scotland has discussed a misogyny bill since 2022, with significant dissatisfaction when misogyny was not included in the country's 2024 hate crime laws. The 2026 programme for government framed violence against women and girls as a central priority, linking the law to a wider push on prevention and services.

What do families of victims say?

The announcement follows high-profile cases during summer 2026. Stacy Hunter, 35, was murdered by her estranged husband Jim Mair at her home near Houston, Renfrewshire, in July. Mair, who subsequently took his own life, was out on bail at the time after being accused of strangling Stacy. Her brother Sean Hunter told BBC Radio Scotland's Mornings programme that while some aspects of the proposed legislation were important, the plans were not

anywhere near good enough

. He argued that stronger consequences and deterrence were needed rather than appeals to change attitudes, stating:

I think the main way of stopping that is more action towards reprimanding them, having real consequences to their actions and deterring them for doing that not trying to appeal to their better nature.

Following Stacy Hunter's death, domestic abuse campaigners called for greater use of location tracking technology to monitor high-risk suspects. The case of Vikki Soloman, 44, who was murdered in July by her ex-partner Lee Greenan, also generated significant media coverage. Greenan, 46, was accused of killing Vikki at a house in Edinburgh in July and was later found dead in prison.

What does the law say about consent?

Lenehan emphasised that certain acts cannot be consented to under Scottish law. He told school pupils what the Appeal Court had established:

You literally cannot consent to an assault. So if someone is going to take you by the throat and choke you, even if you think that this is flying under the banner of consent, you can't consent to that. People need to understand that if that's being suggested that this is the norm, it isn't the norm.

The barrister highlighted choking and spitting as acts the appeal court had ruled

simply can't be

part of a consensual relationship. He urged women not to feel obligated to participate in acts that make them uncomfortable and warned men of the consequences of continuing such behaviour:

Modern policing and prosecution, and court techniques, are so good that if you carry on like this, you're going get the jail and you're going to get put on the sex offenders register. You're never going to go to university; you're never going to go and work anywhere that has an HR department.

What happens next?

According to parliament records, the misogyny bill is due to be introduced in the first year of the current parliamentary session. The Scottish Government said it would bring the misogyny bill through parliament as part of its current programme for government. Parliament is also expected to consider the separate deepfake-intimate-images ban, which was referenced in the 1 September 2026 Official Report.

Key Facts:

• Tony Lenehan KC attributes rising sexual crime prosecutions among young men to normalisation of violence through accessible online pornography
• The Scottish government's misogyny bill, announced on 1 September 2026, aims to outlaw harassment and abuse based on misogyny and may pass before 2031
• Scottish law prohibits consent to assault, including strangulation and spitting, regardless of claims of consensual intent
• The government also plans to ban creation and possession of deepfake intimate images and recognise pregnancy as an aggravating factor in domestic abuse cases
• Families of murder victims have called for stronger enforcement and deterrence measures alongside legislative change