Comparative Study of Pornography in Iranian and American Law

The growing threat of pornography and its devastating effects on the family, women, children and society, in general, have led various countries, including Iran and the United States, to criminalizing this phenomenon. According to Iranian criminal law, some behaviours related to pornography have been criminalized with the approach of the absolute prohibition. In terms of means, pornography has both a visual aspect and an extension to the audio-visual content. With the spread of this phenomenon, the United States legal system has criminalized many behaviours in the field of child pornography and provided relatively severe punishments, including the death penalty and imprisonment. In the American legal system, child pornography is only a visual aspect and involves explicit sexual intercourse. In this study, in order to get acquainted with the various aspects of this phenomenon, the historical course of federal laws and the elements of this crime in both legal systems are analyzed to identify the shortcomings in the rules and even eliminate those gaps. In this way, appropriate measures can be taken to address this global phenomenon.