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The 180

PornHub is teaching sex ed and that's a good thing

Global porn website Pornhub is aiming to be the one-stop shop for both pornography and sexual health education.
CBC Radio ·
Four scantily clad women are seen on a large banner, against the Pornhub logo.
Global adult entertainment website Pornhub has launched a Sexual Wellness Center. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

It was an opportunity she had never considered before. 

But when Dr. Laurie Betito thought about running the sex-ed portion of PornHub — the largest porn website in the world — she realized it was a chance to have a big impact.

"I've spent my whole career trying to educate the adult population on healthy sexuality and I figured 70 million people visit that site. Where can I go and have access to that many people? Nowhere. So it was a no-brainer for me in the end."- Dr. Laurie Betito

Dr. Betito, a Montreal-based clinical psychologist, says PornHub's Sexual Wellness Center — linked to from the main page — features a range of informational posts written by a variety of contributors, including sex researchers, scientists, medical doctors, psychologists, sex therapists, sex addiction specialists and dating coaches.

Montreal-based clinical psychologist Dr. Laurie Betito has over 30 years of experience in the field of sexuality. She has written books on sexual health and is a regular radio and television commentator on sexual matters. (Dr. Laurie Betito)

Though the online resource has been criticized for some of its content, Dr. Betito says the sexual wellness site will address the downside [of porn], sex addiction, and other issues related to porn consumption.

But she says, "the science does not show that every single person who watches porn has a problem, or that porn is problematic to every single human being."

​To Dr. Betito, she says it's more important to her to educate people and ensure that pornography alone doesn't become a substitute for sex education.

"Porn has been around for a very, very long time, and it's not going away anytime soon... So if we can't eliminate, we help. That was my goal — why can't I be there to at least give the people who are already there [on Pornhub] some good information, some reality checks rather than just basing it on the fantasy?"- Dr. Laurie Betito

Since the site first launched on February 1, Dr. Betito says it's received hundreds of questions from all over the world — many of which a reflect a lack of information on sexual health and wellness. 

"It's an initiative to me that was better than not having anything there." 

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