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Pornhub study: Anal sex porn ‘more popular in Russia than any other country’

Analysis of user data by a porn website showed a proportionately greater number of uses of the search term than anywhere else

Tuesday 05 August 2014 09:27 BST

Gay rights activists march during a traditional May Day rally in St.Petersburg, Russia. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Internet porn users in Russia are more likely to search for videos featuring anal sex than people from any other country, it has been reported.

According to user data collected by the website Pornhub, Russian users made a proportionately greater number of searches for anal-related material than anywhere else covered in the study.

The website said Russian users showed a greater preference for anal sex videos than those from Western countries including the US, UK and Canada.

It also found that anal sex featured in under 6 per cent of searches specifically for gay material, less than the 7.24 per cent of “straight” searches.

Pornhub’s Insights team, which analyses the data, said in a statement: “Proportionately speaking, Pornhub gets more requests for anal sex from Russia than any other country,” according to a report by Pink News.

It came as Russia was condemned by the veteran campaigner Bob Geldof for its anti-gay laws, which have been used to make it illegal to provide education to children about homosexuality.

Speaking at the International Aids Conference in Melbourne, Australia, Geldof described the Russian President Vladimir Putin as “that brute in the Kremlin”, and criticised the country for the “disgraceful” level of its donations to the Global Fund to Fight Aids.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

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1/15The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

When Madonna performed in Russia, she took to the stage with the words "No Fear" scrawled across her back. "Show your love and appreciation to the gay community," she urged her audience.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

"In solidarity. From Russia with love," Tilda Swinton posted alongside this photograph of her holding a rainbow flag in support of the LGBT community outside the Kremlin in Moscow.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

"As a gay man, I can’t leave those people on their own without going over there and supporting them," Elton John said ahead of his boycotted string of shows in Russia in 2013. "I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ve got to go."

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

"The Russian government is criminal," Lady Gaga tweeted in August. "Oppression will be met with revolution. Russian LGBTs you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom." She later noted: "Sending bravery to LGBTs in Russia. The rise in government abuse is archaic. Hosing teenagers with pepper spray? Beatings? Mother Russia?"

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

"I think we should do more than just send gay Olympians there," the Star Trek actor said in a recent interview. ''What's happening there in terms of gay rights or the lack of it is extraordinary and awful."

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

Gay Star Trek actor George Takei that Russia's "cynical and deplorable actions against the LGBT community have given license to hate groups within its borders to act with violence and impunity against a group, based solely on whom they were born to love."

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

Prisonbreak star Wentworth Miller publicly came out in an open letter to Russia regarding its anti-gay laws. "I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government," he wrote, turning down an invitation to a Russian film festival. "The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly."

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

Jamie Lee Curtis was one of many celebrities who joined the 'Love Conquers Hate' T-shirt initiative, lauched by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights activist group in the US.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

Kevin Bacon also joined the 'Love Conquers Hate' initiative."We stand with Russia's LGBT community and their allies," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "We are committed to doing as much as we possibly can to support their efforts to repeal this heinous law."

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

“I'd boycott Russian goods if I could think of a single thing they made besides the rest of the world depressed," Hugh Laurie posted on Twitter in January 2014.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

"I can’t name names but my friend called who is a big oligarch over there, and asked me if I’d like to be an ambassador for the Olympics and open the show," Cher told Maclean's writer Elio Iannacci. "I immediately said no. I want to know why all of this gay hate just exploded over there."

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

Putin "is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews," Stephen Fry warned in his appeal to the IOC.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

"For real: Tell Russia & the @Olympics that #LoveConquersHate. Join @HRC and share your pic. #Sochi14," actress Kristen Bell tweeted, promoting her gay rights advocacy T-shirt scheme.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

"Help us show Russia & the world that #LoveConquersHate," Wolf of Wall Street star Jonah Hill tweeted as part of the same campaign alongside a picture of himself wearing the T-shirt.

The A-list opposing Russia's anti-gay laws

Grammy-winning singer Melissa Etheridge released a song, “Uprising of Love”, in support of the Russian LGBT community, and partnered with Bruce Cohen to launch a coalition of celebrities and influential public figures, too.

In one of the first events to put the spotlight back on Russia’s anti-homosexuality laws since Putin’s gay rights charm offensive around the Sochi Winter Olympics, the new openly gay president of the International Aids Society Dr Chris Beyrer also named Russia for its restriction on “basic human rights”.

“We should all be deeply concerned about the laws and policies being enacted in Russia, India, Nigeria, Uganda and now being actively debated in too many more countries,” he said in his first speech as president.

“Not only because they restrict basic human rights and freedoms but because these laws threaten the entire HIV response.”