UK porn laws

Explicit content warning

09/16/16 • 42 min

This week we are talking about the UK porn laws, what they are and how they affect you in suprising ways. This is based on our article this week written by Screw Taboo.

Where to start

One of the biggest problems with our laws is that no one can be totally sure what is legal and what isn't until it is judged in a court. That opinion can even change from case to case based on the jury who judges it.

"The law is an ass" - Charles Dickens

So when does something become illegal?

There is a very broard range of things a pair of adults can do together including bondage, breath play, water sports. All these things are perfectly legal until you commit them to film.

Or more worringly until you write about them in some cases. That isn't just writting about them in the form of a story, but writting them in a text message you send from your phone or on Facebook is deemed as publishing them, and that can make them illegal to posses.

It is worth understanding "The obscene publication act comes into effect when something becomes published". Publised in this case means commited to a medium of any kind.

Shooting a film on a video camera is publishing
Shooting images on your phone is publishing
Writting a sexy story in a chat window to a friend is publishing

Corrupting poeple

The of the quesitons is if people are afraid of the public becoming corrupted then why don't half the films out there get taken down by the same law?

"Start from a position of freedom not a position of repression"

One of the most interest aspects of this is how something becomes published (recorded into any form). Imagine you take a pcture with your phone, if you later delete that image but the phone keeps a copy. You can still be prosecuted even if you don't know the phone is keeping it.

Guilty without knowing it

The most scrary part of these laws for us is that you can be guilty of a very serious crime without ever knowing it has happened.

An image in your twitter feed could be breaking the law. You might not even see it come in, you went straight past it. The browser can keep a copy of that image and that can later be used to prosecute you.

Of course we understand why these laws have come about. We just hope that a judge or CPS would be understanding in their approach to prosecuting someone. But they don't have to be understanding.

This week we are talking about the UK porn laws, what they are and how they affect you in suprising ways. This is based on our article this week written by Screw Taboo.

Where to start

"The law is an ass" - Charles Dickens

So when does something become illegal?

There is a very broard range of things a pair of adults can do together including bondage, breath play, water sports. All these things are perfectly legal until you commit them to film.

It is worth understanding "The obscene publication act comes into effect when something becomes published". Publised in this case means commited to a medium of any kind.

Shooting a film on a video camera is publishing
Shooting images on your phone is publishing
Writting a sexy story in a chat window to a friend is publishing

Corrupting poeple

The of the quesitons is if people are afraid of the public becoming corrupted then why don't half the films out there get taken down by the same law?

"Start from a position of freedom not a position of repression"

Guilty without knowing it

The most scrary part of these laws for us is that you can be guilty of a very serious crime without ever knowing it has happened.

Of course we understand why these laws have come about. We just hope that a judge or CPS would be understanding in their approach to prosecuting someone. But they don't have to be understanding.

Previous Episode

What is feminism?

This week we are talking about the our article called "What is Feminism?". Where Girl on the Net walks us through her thoughts on Feminism, what it means to her, and why if you stand up for equality between the sexes you are a feminist.

This is one of those articles where Andrew wasn't sure if it should be written for us where as Pixie was really interested in Girl on the Nets thoughts.

It's not about being a man hater

This is of course how it is sometimes portrayed on TV, that is what gets ratings and makes for good TV. But that really isn't what it is about and isn't the part you should to focus on.

In many ways we have both been very lucky in that we have both been brought up to believe than men and women can do anything they like. There are no limits on where they can work or what they can do. Even coming from IT backgrounds (which are very male dominated) isn't as chauvinistic as it might appear.

Is "Feminism" a problematic term

This is a discussion we have had on twitter this week since the article came out. While we can see why some people have a problem with the term there is a really good reason why the term "feminism" is important.

When you are in a privilaged position it can be hard to see why other people feel oppressed and hurt by society at large. It is why you must be sensitive to why they want to use that term.

Patriarchal society

Something we don't see is how even our language reinforces the stero types and maintains that male dominance.

When a man sleeps around he is a "real man", when a women does it she is a "slut".

When someone is strong they are manly, when they cry they are a sissy or acting like a girl.

Whether you mean it or not women are portrayed as weak and needing help, even by the language we use. These are not always conscious decision.

The aftershow

As we were wrapping up we started talking about the news and how in France women and being told what they can and can't wear on the beach. Something we just can't understand in a country that values personal liberty.

Next Episode

FGM, Piercing, and the law

This week we are talking about Female Genital Mutilation, piercings, and the law. This is based on the article we had written for us this week by Trojan Princess.

If you are sensitive to this topic please don't listen to it. We don't go into graphic details but we do understand it can be hard to listen to.

This question came about because there was a lot of news last year about whether it was legal for a woman in the UK to have their genitals pierced. It seems like a strange question but because of the FGM laws there isn't a simple answer.

It turns out that getting a genital piercing is done by about 2% of the UK population (1.2 million people). So it isn't uncommon.

What is FGM and what is the law trying to stop

The UK law is based on the World Health Organisations (WHO) definitions of FGM.

Four types of FGM:

Type I: Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris;
Type II: Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora;
Type III: Infibulation: narrowing of the virginal opening through the creation of a covering seal:
Type IV: Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area. As you can see Type IV specifically mentions piercing. Bummer for piercing fans.

It is the last type that makes piercing problematic.

Where does it come from

This isn't a normal practice in the UK, and from what I understand it isn't something that is actually carried out in the UK. It really springs from religious ideas of keeping young girls pure in places like Africa and the middle east.

Unfortuately it still goes on now and the biggest problem the UK faces is parents taking their young girls out of the country to have this done to them and then brought back.

The UK law specifically targets people who knowingly allow this to happen or plan it.

The damage

The damage this causes is incredible. Putting aside the horrific pain this causes, both immediate but also for the rest of that girls life.

The mental damage this causes is horrific and will psychologically damage that person for their entire life. Those problems could manifest in many ways and a lot of them very serious.

The law

The law is there to protect these girls from this happening to them. Not only by making it illegal to do it, but also making it illegal to plan it. This law is essential to protecting these girls.

The problem arrises because it the law draws no distinction between a girl being forced into having FGM done too them and someone who chooses to have piercings for cosmetic effect.

In the eyes of the law any piercing of the genitals is classed and FGM. If you do have itk done and end up going to the hospital, the doctors and nurses are duty bound to report those piercings as FGM.