This week, a group of trauma surgeons, criminal justice experts, and lawmakers gathered in London for the Times Crime and Justice Summit—and the picture they painted was bleak. The event wrapped a year-long investigation into the UK’s criminal justice system, but the conversation quickly zeroed in on a darker, more urgent crisis: the way violent online content is rewiring how young people think, act, and hurt each other.
One of the most unsettling moments came from Martin Griffiths, a trauma and vascular surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust and clinical director for London’s Violence Reduction Programme. During a panel on the human impact of crime, Griffiths said he’s routinely asked by teenagers how to choke their sexual partners.
“Choking is a massive issue for me,” he said. “That’s something people are normalizing as part of sexual behavior. I’m routinely asked by young people, ‘Is it okay to choke my partner? How can I do it safely? Is it okay to say no to being choked?’”
Young People Now See Choking as Normal Part of Sex, Doctor Warns
Griffiths didn’t sugarcoat anything. Violent porn is bleeding into real life. Acts like choking, bondage, and sexual degradation aren’t dark kinks anymore—they’re showing up on every screen, framed as completely normal. “Broadcast and filmed as normality without challenge or context,” he said. And teens are watching. A lot.
Baroness Anne Longfield, former children’s commissioner for England, called out the tech companies enabling all of it. She wants the digital age of consent bumped up from 13 to 16, but also made it clear that platforms aren’t doing nearly enough. “They’re playing us,” she said. “They give a little bit, and everyone is pleased, but it has no impact on their business model.”
The commission tossed out several bigger-picture fixes—things like banning big knives, locking down social media for kids, and raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. But what everyone really kept circling back to was this: the problem isn’t just algorithms or access. It’s that no one’s taking responsibility for how bad it’s gotten.
“We can’t ask children to fix themselves,” Griffiths said. “Somewhere the adults have to be part of the conversation about how children access and utilize devices and what’s on there.”
The real takeaway? Violence, misogyny, and warped ideas about sex are no longer side issues hiding in dark corners of the internet. They’re mainstream—and showing up in emergency rooms, courtrooms, and classrooms. You can read the commission’s full report here.
The post Trauma Surgeon Concerned by Choking Trend in Sex appeared first on VICE.
