THE SEXUAL FREEDOM COALITION

Steve Ruddell
Sentencing and Offences Unit
Room 316
50 Queen Anne’s Gate
London SW1H 9AT

30th October 2000

Dear Mr Ruddell,

This is the Sexual Freedom Coalition’s response to your Consultation Paper on the Regulation of R18 videos.

You ask that we make a selection between options 1, 2 and 3.

We select Option 2, because at least this allows hard core videos to be sold to adults in licensed sex shops. It would hopefully put an end to the current situation, where video recordings are sold at rip-off prices in grossly misleading cases, pretending to be hard-core. They thus encourage the public to associate pornography with dishonesty.

Although this is outside the scope of your Consultation paper, we would like to add that we object to shop owners having to pay large licence fees in order to sell erotic videos. Such shops are owned by the same few wealthy pornographers, or gangsters with cash to invest, who control so much of the trade. Young people and enthusiasts with no financial backing cannot afford to set up shops, and that is one of the reasons why the trade has become stale and uninteresting.

Your paper offers a blinkered view of the present position. There are dozens of companies offering hard core videos to UK citizens in this country by mail order. Mainstream magazines such as The Face and Loaded review hard core films which suggests their readers find no difficulties in obtaining and viewing them. People can download whatever film they want from the Internet on their DVDs. The battle of the censor has been lost, even though you continue to fight the war.

Research has proved that pornography does not harm adults or children (Ben-Viste 1970, Goldstein et al 1970, Kutschinsky 1970, Walker 1970). The British government chooses to ignore this research (eg Margaret Thatcher dismissed the Home Office Williams Report in 1979) for fear of allowing “immorality“ to increase, and losing control. They confuse immorality with sexuality and pornography. The porn industry is moral compared to the international armaments trade and large industries that are slowly polluting our planet and corrupting people with their advertisements for useless products. We ask you, therefore, to take a fresh view of immorality.

Here are some other responses to your document from our members:-
1) As an adult, I assert the right to view the fact and fiction in private that I choose. Such fantasies may include illegal acts, such as murder in the works of Agatha Christie.

2) As an adult, I assert the right to view, in private, sexually explicit work of fact or fiction, provided everyone involved with its production gave fully informed consent as an adult.

3) This right is academic if I cannot reasonably obtain materials, so both restrictions on content and on its channels of distribution must be justified.

4) While public opinion must be listened to, laws must be based on facts and rational debate. Risk analysis must be carried out and protection from risk should be consistent with restrictions on tobacco and alcohol.

5) What a “child” is in law should be consistent. If a person may consent at 16 to sexual intercourse, with the responsibilities for pregnancy and potentially fatal, incurable sexually transmitted diseases, they should be able to take responsibility for reading a book or watching a film depicting the same activities. Educational materials are also vital, so children may learn to make informed decisions about sex and relationships when they grow up.

6) When making a risk analysis, three factors need to be considered:-
a) every child has a parent or guardian with the legal responsibility for upbringing
b) the risk of a particular item harming a child who came into contact with it
c) the risk of a child coming into contact with that item.
These risks must be based on reputable studies. Since countries vary in what materials are available legally, there is scope for these studies.

7) Limiting all materials to that aimed at children, destroys the democratic right of adults to view adult materials. Culture cannot be reduced to the level of a five year old.

8) Human sexuality encompasses a wide variety of forms, and no sexual activity between consenting adults should be discriminated against. This includes same-sex activities and sadomasochism. Care must be taken to ensure such equal opportunities, and censorship bodies must not discriminate due to prejudice, lack of knowledge or personal taste.

Dr Tuppy Owens
of behalf of the Sexual Freedom Coalition