Check out http://www.avedon.org.uk/ (Posted on Thursday 11th May)
deno, 11 May 2006 19:40:02
In a message dated 11/05/2006 17:56:16 GMT Standard Time, CORODENCO writes:
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____________________________________
Avedon Carol
Avedon Carol is a member of _Feminists Against Censorship_
(http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/FAC/) , and a former member of the executive committee of the
_National Council for Civil Liberties_
(http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/) (Liberty). Over the past 25 years, she has carried out extensive research
on sex crime.
Main publications:
Carol, A. Nudes, Prudes and Attitudes: Pornography and Censorship.
Cheltenham, _New Clarion Press_ (http://www.newclarionpress.co.uk/nudes.html) .
(1994).
Carol, A. & Assiter, A. (eds.). Bad Girls and Dirty Pictures: The Challenge
to Reclaim Feminism. London, Pluto Press. (1993).
Summary of Carol Avedon's speech on 'Porn & the Net: An explosion of
fantasy, a new danger, or just more of the same old same old?' ( Someone who knows
what they are talking about, please see PS)
* Police resources are being removed from the places where they
actually do good. What they do not do is stopping children from being abused or
raped and in some cases they may cause it because the more you promote negative
messages about sex the more you create the conditions to encourage people to
harm others.
* Sex crimes are generally committed by
* people who come from very repressive families, strongly opposite to
sex
* people frequently punished for looking at sexual imagery.
* The last thing we want is
* to promote the attitudes that cause those feelings 'Why do we spend
so much time talking about the evils of pornography?'
* We hear some very odd arguments against sex.
* No documentary case of anyone being harmed at any age by seeing
sexual imagery.
* The entertainment industry - we always have stories about killing
and lying. For example, if you take the nasty stuff out of Shakespeare's work,
very little left.
* Technology is no more dangerous than it has ever been. The printing
press, movies, and video were all thought to pose the same dangers as the
Internet.
* The Internet connects each other, and is another excuse for leaders
to find reasons why we don't have the right to talk.
* Police are always needed. Watch and see who is talking and maybe
they could find out about real criminals.
* Questions raised:
* Do the police have any more reason to read our mail then they did
before?
* Do the police have the right to care what kind of erotic material we
look at?
* _ Audio File (73Kb)_
(http://www.hcu.ox.ac.uk/beyond/control/mp3/Carol1.mp3)
* Criticism about the Internet is not new:
* better when these criticisms are applied to newspapers
* critical stories are not checked for accuracy. For example, a false
story about an Internet provider accused of child pornography appeared on the
front page of a newspaper.
* Laws should protect people, and should focus on, for example,
fighting bad working conditions. For example, research carried out by the US
government many years ago was ignored by President Nixon as the results were not
what he wanted to hear. It was found that people who were rapist had seen less
pornography than normal
P.S Very interesting the last paragraph. Wonder if our lot are
suppressing similar information?
My idea with this and other research is that our
solicitor and other supporters should present HO with a
file following their next meeting containing a selection
of these items plus Rabinder Singh and the
Durex survey showing a majority into kinky sex. Sent
the last two with my response to Consultation
and no doubt they already had them but repetition may
get it into their heads.
As I see it we should press the view that porn is
cathartic (outlet of emotion) as some researchers
understand, and we do from our actual real experience.
Obviously this means that if they suppress
it and users are deprived they are more likely to
offend due to the severe frustration caused.
Therefor proposed legislation would be the cause of an
increase in sex crime rather than the cure
or curbing that is intended.
deno
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demolitionred, 11 May 2006 22:18:18
FAC are a founding member group of backlash.
while we submitted hundreds of documents and will continue to do so, any government that concedes it ahs no evidence but wants to send a message anyway is unlikely to be won over by logic and/or evidence.
What we need is to recruit more support and build the pressure.
I ahve repeatedly asked for sugestions on where, how we can srwad the word..andhave been in contact with press, made speeches, contacted fora but don't know what else other people are doing and wonder whether there should be a more co-ordinated approach.