Kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart says pornography made her captivity worse than "hell."

When Elizabeth Smart was just 14 years old and living the kind of nightmare most would assume was reserved only for the most dramatic of Hollywood films, she wondered if her life could get any lower.

Kidnapped from her own bedroom in Utah, sleepy, pyjama-clad and while her sister slept next to her, Smart’s reality went on to become one of rape in captivity, death threats and abuse.

Since her rescue in 2003 after nine months in the most brutal kind of prison, 28-year-old Smart has given her time and her energy for causes close to her heart.

This time, Smart has opened up about how pornography aggravated an already terrible scenario.

In a video released on Friday by Fight the New Drug, an anti-porn non-profit group, Smart spoke of how despite the fact she was already raped on consistent basis, she believed her captor's addiction to porn exacerbated the sexual violence and torturous nature of those nine months.

“My captor was really excited and really kind of amped up about something, and he said, ‘I have something and I’m going to show it to you, and you have to look at it.

"And then I remember he pulled out this magazine full of hardcore pornography. And I remember he would just sit and look at it and stare at it...and then when he was done, he would turn and he’d look at me, and he’d be like ‘Now we’re going to do this.’"

More than anything, Smart is stead-fast in her belief that his addiction to pornography made her captor more violent and that she "witnessed first hand just how damaging it is."

"It lead to him raping me more, more than he already did, which was a lot.

"Looking at pornography wasn't enough for him, having sex with his wife after looking at pornography wasn't enough for him and then it led him to finally kidnapping me. He just always wanted more," she said.

Although Smart acknowledges she does not know for sure if her kidnapping would have happened if pornography was out of the picture, she does accept it was crucial in making a bad situation much worse.

"I can't say that he would not have kidnapped me had he not looked at pornography, all I know is that pornography made my living hell worse.

With the help of his wife, Smart's captor Brian David Mitchell raped the then 14-year-old three to four times daily and threatened her with death lest she tried to escape. In 2010, he was found guilty of kidnapping and sexual assault charges and was sentenced to two life-terms in federal prison.

Today, the 28-year-old is an accomplished harp-player and is married with a child. When she looks at her life now, Smart says despite the trauma of that year, she believes she has been able to live a fulfilling and happy life.

“When I take a step back and I look at my life as a whole, I have had a pretty incredible, wonderful life,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m happy now.”

You can watch the full version of the video here:

*Feature image: Screenshot/Fight The New Drug.