Porn views have sharply increased in some countries since coronavirus quarantines started worldwide

• More people are watching porn across the globe since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
• PornHub recently published insights tracking user engagement from the time global concern about COVID-19 began. 
• Countries that closed thriving sex work industries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland saw an uptick in PornHub use. 
• Italy, France, and Spain — where coronavirus is widespread — saw huge increases after they were offered free porn subscriptions. 
• In the US, there have been many coronavirus-related porn searches, mostly in Washington state, which has been the hardest-hit by the virus.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Coronavirus quarantines across the world are advising people to social distance and in some cases shelter-in-place in order to prevent the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 330,000 people and killed 14,000 people worldwide. 

According to new data from PornHub, people are finding creative ways to pass the time — like watching porn. 

The porn site recently published insights tracking user engagement in different countries from the time global concern about COVID-19 began and found traffic across the site has grown exponentially — with daily use to the site increasing by 11.6% since February 24 to March 17.

Countries that closed thriving sex work industries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland saw an uptick

Westend61/Getty Images

According to PornHub, some of the sharpest increases in views were seen in Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands: Germany saw an overall 5.8% increase in traffic to the site as of March 17, Switzerland saw an 11.5% increase, and the Netherlands saw a 14% increase. 

Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands are known for having thriving sex work industries, with red light districts that attract locals and tourists alike. 

As the virus spread across Europe, the three countries specifically announced the closure of all brothels. Switzerland outlawed sex work as a means of preventing the virus from spreading and Amsterdam's famous red light district had to close its doors due to similar concerns from officials. Berlin's sex workers are also being impacted hard by the closure of Germany's legal brothels. 

Italy, France, and Spain — where coronavirus is widespread — saw huge increases after they were offered free porn subscriptions

Westend61/Getty Images

Italian, Spanish, and French users were offered free porn subscriptions by PornHub after each country was hit hard by the spread of the coronavirus. After March 12 when the subscriptions were offered, each country saw a massive jump in user engagement. 

Spain saw a 61.3% increase in user engagement, France saw a 38.2% increase, and Italy saw a 30% increase as of March 17. 

Coronavirus-related porn searches are highest in New York and Washington, some of the hardest-hit states in the US

The US overall, which has a quickly growing number of reported coronavirus cases, has seen a 6.4% increase in site activity as of March 17.

PornHub also tracked which states had the highest number of searches for coronavirus related porn on the site and found that New York and Washington — some of the states hit hardest by the virus — were No. 2 and No.3 on the list. Washington DC topped the list with a 33% increase. 

New York had 16,900 confirmed coronavirus cases as of March 20 and Washington reported 1,901 confirmed cases.

According to PornHub's data, New York has seen a 24% increase in coronavirus-related porn searches on the PornHub from February 24 to March 17 and Washington saw a 22% increase. 

As coronavirus porn grows more popular, concerns have been raised that the genre pushes anti-Asian, racist stereotypes 

While some of the videos are intended to be a light-hearted take on the global panic over the coronavirus, many lean on racist stereotypes about Asian people as their punchlines. 

Videos like "Hot Chinese girl likes to s— coronavirus out of him" and "Hot Asian Girl Gives Me Coronavirus and A C——" combine xenophobic tropes about Asian people being "diseased" and "foreign" with the existing fetishizing of Asian women that occurs in porn. 

Source: Read Full Article