Last March, a symposium was held at Durham University, Positions on the Politics of Porn: a Debate on Government Plans to Criminalise the Possession of Extreme Pornography.

The report has now been posted in .pdf form, with submissions from Backlash and from Avedon Carol of FAC.

The F Word interviews Anna Span

"No porn is good porn?"

Anna Span creates pornography that ignores conventional porn's demands, and says her work is porn "from a woman's perspective". Anna joined FAC several years ago and has since become reasonably successful as an erotic filmmaker.

The article also mentions FAC.

Feminist Fightback

Feminist Fightback II - Saturday 20 October ‘07

To register, click here.

English Collective of Prostitutes - "Safety First"

The ECP is holding an event on Wednesday, 11 July at 4:00-5:30 PM at the House of commons called Safety First:

The tragic murders of five young women in Ipswich have brought us together as individuals and organisations concerned with women´s and children´s safety in the area and elsewhere. There is an unprecedented outcry of never again from many who have understood that women are made vulnerable by legislation which criminalizes them, by lack of support, resources and appropriate health treatment, by lack of viable economic alternatives, by violent men being allowed to get away with attacks so they attack again and again.

We are determined that value judgements over the way women live their lives – either because they are sex workers, addicted to drugs, or for any other reason – must never again be an excuse to deny protection. Everyone in our community deserves to be safe from attack, regardless of their occupation, sexual preference, race, age, nationality or lifestyle

Contact: ecp@allwomencount.net

"Extreme" porn clause from the new bill

The clause relating to so-called extreme pornography can be found here.

Women and Pornography at Sunderland

We've been alerted to this conference:

May 31, 2007
Women and Pornography
I thought colleagues might also be interested in another event the Centre is hosting, again places are free but you need to email me to reserve a place.

MeCCSA Women’s Media Studies Network presents…

Women and Pornography
An afternoon seminar examining women’s production and consumption of porn in film and on the net.

Venue
University of Sunderland
The Sony Media Building, Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peters

Date and Time
Wednesday 13 June 2007, 1.00pm – 5.15pm

This event is organized by the Centre for Research in Media & Cultural Studies, University of Sunderland. All women working in media, communication and cultural studies welcome. The event is free, but please register before 2nd June 2007 by emailing Clarissa Smith on clarissa.smith@sunderland.ac.uk

For full programme please download file below:

Programme: Download file

(Links in original post.)

Home Office consultation on more child porn laws

We now go beyond the claims that pictures should be banned because people were harmed to make them, or because they are harmed by having pictures of their own abuse in circulation:

Consultation on the possession of non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse

This consultation paper outlines the concerns about non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse, i.e. computer generated images (CGIs), drawings, animation, etc, and seeks views on proposals to make its possession an offence.

Under current law it is an offence to possess indecent photographs (including videos) and pseudo-photographs of children. However, it is not an offence to possess non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse. The police and children’s welfare groups report a growing increase in interest in these images, including an increase in websites advertising this sort of explicit material.

Police and children’s welfare groups are concerned that these images could fuel the abuse of real children by reinforcing abusers’ inappropriate feelings towards children. These images, particularly as they are often in a cartoon or fantasy style format, could be used in 'grooming' or preparing children for sexual abuse.

Under current law owners of these explicit images could not be prosecuted for their possession, nor could the images be forfeited by the authorities.

The purpose of this paper is to seek a wide range of views on the issues set out in the document and in particular the proposal to make the possession of these images an offence.

The closing date for responses to the consultation is 22 June 2007.

Responses should be sent to:

Consultation On The Possession of Non-Photographic Visual Depictions of Child Sexual Abuse
Criminal Law Policy Unit
2nd Floor, Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

Tel: 020 7035 6981
Fax 0870 336 9141
Email: npvdcsaconsultation@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk


Date: Mon Apr 02 09:56:41 BST 2007

Full Document
Consultation on the possession of non-photographic visual depictions of child sexual abuse | Download PDF file (336 K )

Woman's Hour misleads on "extreme porn"

If you want to see how dishonest the debate in Britain about "extreme pornography" is, here's your chance with this episode of Woman's Hour.

Let's be clear: It's just a bit dishonest to say that the search for evidence that this material causes harm is "inconclusive"; the evidence is that people have tried for decades to establish any link between pornography and harm, and have been unable to find support for it. There is a point at which the consistent failure to find that link is pretty strong evidence that this line of enquiry is a waste of time that deflects resources from more fruitful and promising courses.

Moreover, the casual assurances of these guests that the police would take civil liberties concerns on board are at best naive; that's not how it works in the real world, as history has repeatedly shown. You may want to ask Women's Hour why this show had no speaker who understood the concerns of people who oppose this legislation.

Deborah Hyde's speech from the Durham conference

Deborah Hyde of Backlash and Avedon Carol of Feminists Against Censorship were both invited to speak at the Positions on the Politics of Porn conference at Durham University on Thursday, 15 March 2007. The Times wrote an article on it, here.

Deborah has also posted her speech on the Backlash site.

Lets's go back to the start of the discussion.

The government says there is no evidence but ...

Substitute any word you like for the word pornography in that sentence and then see whether you would still support the government's plans to criminalise people who have done nothing wrong.

Abortion Rights March

We have received the following message from Femininist Fightback:

Dear sisters and brothers,

We need your help in building the protest for abortion rights due to take place on Saturday 3 March.

On 21 October, more than 220 people attended the Feminist Fightback conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London to discuss issues including feminism and sexual expression, women's movements in the Middle East, women workers organising against low and unequal pay, men's role in the fight against sexism, sex workers' struggles - and abortion rights. To mark the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act which legalised abortion in Britain, the organising session of the conference agreed to hold a torch-lit march for abortion rights in central London a day close to International Women's Day (which is Thursday 8 March). With anti-choice right-wingers currently on the offensive, we believe that this protest is very important indeed.

We will be meeting on Saturday 3 March from 6.30pm at University of London Union on Malet Street (Goodge Street, Euston, Euston Square or Russell Square tube), to march followed by a rally. This event is open to all, men and women. Our demands are:

- No reduction in the 24-week time limit for access to abortion.
- The right to abortion on demand (this means an end to having to get the consent of two doctors) up to the legal time limit.
- The extension of abortion rights to women in Northern Ireland.
- Abortion to be integrated into the NHS as an ordinary medical service.
- An end to privatisation, marketisation and fragmentation in the NHS; increased public funding to guarantee free and equal access to abortion.
- Improved access to and increased choice of publicly funded contraception.
- Clear, honest, comprehensive and confidential sexuality and relationship education for all children which addresses issues of consent and domestic violence.
- A real 'right to choose' which also means the right to have a child free from economic and social pressure. This requires a real living wage for all workers, benefits which can be lived on and rise with earnings, universal publicly funded childcare and an end to the stigmatisation of single mothers.

What you can do:

- Officially support the march. If you, your women's group or other organisation would like to do so, just get in touch.
- Advertise the march as widely as possible by putting the information on websites, email lists etc, putting up posters, distributing leaflets (both of which can be downloaded for copying online here).
- Bring a delegation on the march (if you can let us know in advance, that would be helpful for planning, but of course you can just turn up on the day - the more, the merrier!)
- Invite a speaker to your women's group etc to tell you more about the march, Feminist Fightback, ENS Women or feminist activism generally!

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on 3 March!

In solidarity,

Debbie Hollingsworth and Laura Schwartz
Feminist Fightback organising team

Sofie Buckland
National Union of Students National Executive

- www.fightback.org.uk / www.socialistfeminist.org.uk
- team@fightback.org.uk

Update on Scotsgay

Scotsgay magazine is still trying to fight the ban on their magazine at the LGBT Centre in Dixon Street, and would welcome a bit of help from supporters. Go to the link for more information.