Investigating the Effects of Digital Pornography on University Students in Zimbabwe and Proposing an Empowering 8-way Pornography Reduction Model

This research examines the effects of digital pornography on university students in Zimbabwe, focusing on the ignorance of relevant information and its connection to undesirable behavior. Concerned about the high rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) resulting from this ignorance, the study collected quantitative data from a sample of 1500 university students (64% male, 36% female) from Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT). The review encompassed demographic information, porn use and perception, the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (mCIUS) to measure habitual web porn use, and questions on emotional and sexual states related to porn use (EmSS). Findings indicate that porn use negatively impacts social relationships (58.7%), mental health (63.9%), sexual performance (67.7%), and psychosocial development in youth and adolescence (78.1%). The research highlights a significant correlation between literacy ignorance, porn use, and behavior addiction leading to increased STIs. Recommendations include awareness campaigns, on-campus/off-campus talk shows, sensitization workshops, and the introduction of technology with a machine learning-based Short Message Service (SMS) engine to generate warnings against pornography which lead to the creation of an 8-way pornography reduction model.