There’s a political push to ban pornography depicting choking. Would this work?

Federal Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says Australia should “ look very seriously ” at banning pornography depicting sexual strangulation.

NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has urged the prime minister to ban it, advocating for laws similar to those in the United Kingdom.

Both politicians were responding to the death of a 16-year-old girl in New South Wales, which police are investigating for links to sexual strangulation .

But would this protect people? Here’s what the evidence says.

Read more: Here’s what you need to know about teens and sexual choking The dangers of sexual choking Sexual strangulation, often called choking, involves putting pressure on the neck to restrict air or blood flow during sex.

People engage in sexual choking for many reasons.

Some may feel social pressure to engage in it.

Other reasons include curiosity, enjoyment of risk, they feel it intensifies orgasm or as part of rough sex.

In our research more women (61%) than men (43%) reported being strangled during sex.

It is dangerous .

It takes no more pressure than opening a can of drink to cause unconsciousness within seconds and death within minutes.

Even when it doesn’t lead to unconsciousness, it can result in brain injuries that can worsen with each successive strangulation – invisible damage with no safe threshold .

Our research suggests this behaviour is now normalised among young Australians.

More than half of 18–35 year olds have been strangled during sex.