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From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.politics
Subject: Re: Child molestation and pornography
Message-ID: <704@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 11-Feb-84 19:26:06 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.704
Posted: Sat Feb 11 19:26:06 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 11-Feb-84 20:50:38 EST
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Let me add, though, that I think Martin Taylor's attribution of a decrease
in child molestation to legalization of pornography in Denmark is a perfect
example of a logical fallacy.  That  a reduction in child molestation
followed legalization of pornography says nothing about a cause-effect
relationship between the two.  Pornography, particularly in its more
erotic varieties can serve a purpose.   But the violence- and dominance-
oriented  pornography commonly available is simply anti-social and should
be eliminated  by any means consistent with civil liberties restraints.

================
Logically, you are right.  But child molestation was not the only
sex-related crime to be dramatically reduced when pornography was
legalized.  It is logically possible that the simultaneous reductions
were all due to some other cause, but rationally unlikely.  The only
crime sometimes called sex-related that did not decrease much was rape,
and many people have argued that rape is not really a sex crime anyway.

The second point is about violence in pornography.  Why is it apparently
increasing in N. American pornography (but not in countries where
pornography is legal in Europe)?  I have two suspicions about this.
One is that the illegality of pornography leaves it in the hands of
criminals to whom violence is a natural way of life.  They like what
they publish, and it sells.  Second guess is that it relates to the
general US love of violence, as expressed on TV.  It sells there, too.
I'd be very happy with a campaign to reduce the level of violence in
TV, but I suspect that there would remain a generation who think the
solution to most problems is to beat someone (some nation) up.
-- 

Martin Taylor
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