Pakistani Porn Searches & Habits
Porn remains a highly controversial and stigmatised topic in Pakistan, where cultural and legal factors contribute to its challenging landscape.
The increase in technology, particularly smartphones and high-speed internet connectivity, has made porn more accessible in Pakistan.
This increased access raises concerns about its impact on social dynamics, relationships, and the younger generation.
However, in accordance with cultural principles and obscenity laws, the production, distribution, and possession of porn are strictly prohibited in Pakistan.
The government enforces these regulations to align with the majority Muslim country and its values in preserving societal morality.
Violators can face severe legal consequences, including fines and imprisonment.
Such legal restrictions reflect the authorities’ commitment to upholding teachings and societal norms.
Despite the widespread ban on adult content, Pakistan ranks as one of the highest countries for certain explicit-related searches and porn habits.
We dive into the surprising nuances surrounding porn in Pakistan, exploring the specific searches of people in the country and where it ranks against other regions.
Social Stigma and Enforcing Restrictions
The consumption and discussion of porn in Pakistan carry a substantial social stigma due to prevailing conservative values and societal expectations regarding modesty and sexual morality.
Pakistani society places a strong emphasis on family, modesty, and traditional gender roles.
As a result, explicit depictions in porn are viewed as a violation of cultural norms, leading to shame and secrecy surrounding the topic.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) actively monitors and blocks websites and platforms that host or promote explicit content.
These regulatory measures aim to protect society.
This is because moral degradation is associated with the adult industry.
The PTA conducts periodic crackdowns on websites and individuals involved in the production and distribution of explicit material.
Such actions reflect the government’s commitment to enforcing existing laws and upholding societal values.
Online Curiosity and the Rise of Technology
Despite the legal restrictions and cultural attitudes, Pakistan has witnessed a significant volume of online searches for porn.
The prevalence of these searches indicates a disconnect between legal prohibitions and individuals’ private inclinations.
It underscores the human nature to explore taboo subjects, even in restrictive environments.
The contradiction between societal expectations and personal curiosity highlights the complex dynamics surrounding adult content in Pakistan.
Whilst the increased access raises concerns about porn’s impact on social dynamics and the younger generation, Pakistan also feels it can lead to addictive patterns and negatively impact mental health.
The evolving technological landscape necessitates a careful examination of the associated challenges while balancing the preservation of cultural values.
Porn Habits & Searches
Between 2013 – 2015, numerous outlets reported that Pakistan ranked number one for the most searches of “porn” on Google.
Although, there was no resounding evidence to support this claim.
In 2015, the Pakistan Tribune (PK) provided its findings on porn searches in the country and outlined how Pakistan didn’t even rank in the top 10 for some searches.
In fact, as per Google Trends, PK outlined how it was Papua New Guinea that topped the list along with Trinidad and Tobago in second.
Surprisingly, in fourth, the country that searched for “porn” the most was India.
Pakistan ranked sixth in the top 10, which was far off from the top spot that many outlets somehow “confirmed”.
Whilst this shows that back in 2015, Pakistan wasn’t directly searching for the word “porn”, has this changed since?
The answer – yes, it has. But not in the way one may think.
Using Google Trends, DESIblitz looked at the 2023 statistics for porn-related searches and found that Pakistan ranked 13th in the world for searching “porn” on Google.
So since 2015, it has actually dropped out of the top 10.
Mongolia ranks first whilst Sri Lanka ranks 13th and India comes in at 15th.
Given the increase in technology, this finding could represent a higher respect for the cultural values of the country mentioned before.
But, just searching “porn” doesn’t give the full story of Pakistan’s porn habits and searches.
Therefore, we analysed some other terms and phrases on Google Trends to see where the country ranked for specific porn-related searches.
The results are as follows (note that these figures are as of 2023 and are subject to change):
“Sex”
Pakistan ranks seventh for searching the word “sex” whilst India is sixth.
Surprisingly, Sri Lanka tops the list whilst Bangladesh ranks fourth.
However, when looking at specific cities, it’s actually Madurai, Alesur, and Coimbatore that take the top three spots – all Indian cities.
Not one Pakistan city is inside the top 10, yet the country as a whole still ranks very high for this search.
“Nude Girl”
Again Sri Lanka tops the list for the country with the most searches for “nude girl”, with Bangladesh in second and India third.
Pakistan does rank fifth which shows this has a higher search rate than the word “sex”.
It’s no secret that the censorship of porn has an adverse effect on some of the population and many flock online or to secret stores to try and view adult content.
It definitely seems like this is the case.
“Girl Kissing”
It’s fair to say that there is great importance placed upon modesty within Pakistan.
This mixed with cultural ideologies means intimacy, appearance, and certainly public displays of affection are reserved within the household only.
Therefore, the term “girl kissing” means people are actively searching for content that shows this act of affection.
Pakistan tops the list of countries who search for this specific term.
The region as a whole is number one but three of its cities also occupy spaces in the top five of the world.
Surizai Bala (first), Peshawar (third), and Rawalpindi (fourth) are the main places where this porn search is used.
The other two places in the top five are occupied by India’s Thrikkariyoor and Ambua.
“Boy on Boy”
Things take a turn when you start diving deeper into sexually related searches and porn-related genres.
Homosexuality and the LGBTQIA+ community are heavily taboo in Pakistan, but also amongst other South Asian communities.
There is no denying that the laws and views on homosexuality within Pakistan are harsh.
The Pakistan Penal Code of 1860, first developed under the British Raj, dictates that same-sex sexual acts are punishable via the law.
Therefore, victims can sometimes face a maximum of life imprisonment for this ‘crime’.
So, why does Pakistan rank seventh in the world for searching “boy on boy”?
Most of the top 10 are dominated by African countries.
Pakistan is the highest-ranking South Asian country – India is 12th.
It seems that there is a lot of secret acceptance and exploration of homosexuality, especially among men.
Whilst this highlights how stigmatised this issue is, it also emphasises how Pakistan’s LGBTQIA+ community may be larger than originally thought.
“Nude Boy”
On that same basis, looking at the phrase “nude boy” also brings up a surprising result.
Pakistan ranks third in the world for this specific term on Google.
Whilst it can be argued that women will also be interested in this term to fulfill their desires, it’s understood that men are much more likely to search for adult content in Pakistan than women.
“Sex Boy”
If we carry on with this route, to explore how poignant this topic is, “sex boy” was also looked at on Google Trends.
Pakistan ranks second in the world for searching for this term. Again, women could be searching for this, and make up a large number.
However, when comparing it to the term “sex girl”, Pakistan ranks seventh.
So, if a larger number of the population that searches for porn is men, and the country ranks higher for “sex boy” than “sex girl”, it raises a lot of questions on how this taboo subject is actually seen.
“Shemale”
Shemale is a phrase most commonly used in the adult industry to describe trans women or people with male genitals and female characteristics obtained by surgery/horomones.
Many of the transgender community find this term degrading but it is widespread within porn.
Due to the connotations attached to the word, and Pakistan’s outlook on this community as a whole, it ranks second in the world for searching “shemale”.
Because this word is directly related to the porn and adult industry, it seems there is widespread interest in seeing transgender people in a sexual way.
Peshawar and Rawalpindi also are among the top five cities in the world that actively search for this term.
Whilst most of the country will deny this is the case, the figures obtained by Google Trends display that this porn habit is very much loved.
“Young Boy Sex” & “Young Girl Sex”
Pakistan ranks fourth for both of these phrases.
The term “young” is popular within the porn industry as it refers to adult stars above the age of 18.
But, it still shows an infatuation with young people engaging in sex.
Although this is not a harrowing or controversial search, the underlying motivation could come into question.
Given the history of child abuse and child marriages in not only Pakistan but across South Asia, means some could be searching for offensive and criminal porn.
However, this isn’t always the case.
“Rape Sex”
Perhaps one of the most harrowing findings was that the search for “rape sex” was dominated by South Asian countries.
The act of rape, most commonly against women in South Asia, is an overwhelming issue.
Whilst many protests and activism events have happened to make a change, not much progress has been made.
Therefore this term could trigger a lot of women, knowing that those around them could be searching for this type of sexual content.
Pakistan ranks sixth in the world for searching for “rape sex”, which is an astonishing result.
But, it’s important to mention that it’s actually Sri Lanka that tops the list with India following in second.
So, this provides insight into the porn interests of people in Pakistan and South Asia.
And regardless of the social issues at hand, there is no barrier to the adult content some of them want to see.
Other terms were searched for such as “BDSM”, “threesome”, “porn sex”, “porn” etc, but Pakistan was nowhere near the top 10 or even 20 for these phrases.
It is more of the ‘taboo’ or fragile areas that individuals search for.
In a broader view, there is no major issue in looking at porn itself.
However, when one weighs that up with the context of Pakistan’s cultural views, its laws, and the actual content people are searching for, it illustrates just how massive porn is in the country.
It also shows the type of material they want to see. When considering some of the search terms, there are bigger issues at hand than just porn itself.
The ban on porn is pretty much non-existent it seems and with the use of technology, Pakistan’s porn interest is much higher than originally thought.