Pornhub has been sued by 40 women who say it profited from a sex-trafficking operation by a content partner. The women were all victims of Girls Do Porn, whose owners have been charged with offences by US officials. The victims allege that Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek knew of the allegations against the company, but continued a partnership anyway. It comes as Pornhub finds itself cut off from customer payments amid a scandal over illegal content. Payment providers Mastercard and Visa have cut ties with the site after a New York Times investigation accused it of hosting child abuse and rape-related content. The move has left the site - one of the world's most popular - with cryptocurrency options like Bitcoin as the only way to pay for subscriptions.

Many people may go without physical sexual intimacy for an extended and indefinite period. Given human touch and connection are fundamental to humanity, this could have significant implications for the well-being of those who are single or apart from their sexual partners. The media has reported people turning to digital technologies to find sexual pleasure and human contact during periods of social isolation. But what does research tell us about the capacity for technologies to meet human needs for sex, touch and intimacy? Solo sex is one solution to lack of sexual contact and well within current health guidelines.

How did you learn to have sex? Maybe you worked it out bit by bit with a partner. Maybe you talked about it with friends and got tips and tricks from them.

For Nicki Briant, 25, pornography left her with negative feelings about sex, a lingering sense of inadequacy and a "tarnished" body image. Children's charity Plan UK and the Institute of Psychosexual Medicine have called for the dangers of porn to be taught in schools. And I found that never, ever matched any sort of sexual experience I had so I thought something could be wrong. Growing up, Nicki said, she never had a "normal explanation" of sex, with "a lot of shame surrounding the topic". Aged 11, she was first exposed to porn on social media sites, such as Tumblr, and it would have a big influence later.