TOXIC influencer Andrew Tate is being blamed for an alarming rise in young men choking partners during sex.
The trend is most common in those aged 16 to 34 — with 35 per cent of females reporting being throttled during consensual sex, a government-funded study found.
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Tate often promotes the idea of male dominance and sexual control online.
A recent survey by the government-funded charity the Institute For Addressing Strangulation, found that strangling is most common in the 16-34 age group, with 35 per cent responding that they had been choked by a partner during consensual sex.
Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) was made a specific offence in 2022, and can lead to a five year prison sentence.
In the year up to 2023, around 700 offenders were sentenced for the offence.
Michael Conroy, from anti-misogyny training firm Men At Work, said: “The rise in choking comes from porn and I see Tate as part of the porn world. He is part of porn world. He is the idea of porn made flesh.
“There’s a visual grammar of heterosexual porn, which is that you – the man – are dominant, you are the controller, you are the one who tells them what to do. You are at the top and she is at the bottom. And then Andrew Tate says it and reinforces it.
“He is responsible for fuelling the fire of sexual violence by putting that feeling in their stomach. And he refuses to acknowledge accountability and responsibility and that is attractive.”
Harriet Smailes, research officer at Institute for Addressing Strangulation, a Home Office funded group that carried out the research on the rise, said the practice was being turbocharged by online culture, where porn, influencers, and viral content are reshaping sexual expectations.
She said: “Online culture plays a huge role in normalising certain behaviours, and strangulation is now showing up as just another part of the expected sexual script.
“It’s not just porn anymore – it’s TikTok trends, memes, influencers and music lyrics. And there is a really strong message that this is a violent act, predominantly done by men to women.
“And when used in a non-consensual sexual environment, it’s almost entirely done by men to women. This is an incredibly gendered act.”
Tate was approached for a comment.
