Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site dciem.UUCP Path: utzoo!dciem!mmt From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) Newsgroups: net.women,net.politics Subject: Child molestation and pornography Message-ID: <676@dciem.UUCP> Date: Mon, 6-Feb-84 18:05:08 EST Article-I.D.: dciem.676 Posted: Mon Feb 6 18:05:08 1984 Date-Received: Mon, 6-Feb-84 18:51:12 EST Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada Lines: 25 In today's Globe and Mail there is a report of a "researcher" telling a church group that they must oppose pornography in order to reduce child molestation (among other things). To buttress his case, he showed some pictures that apparently were calculated to shock the audience. It seems a pity that people should be misled by zealots of this kind. One of the most dramatic results of Denmark's complete legalization of pornography was a reduction of 67% in the rate of child molestation. (Other sex crimes were apparently reduced sharply, but perhaps not to as large an extent, whereas rape was hardly affected at all). Some writers have claimed that the reduction in sex crime statistics is the result of a reduction in reporting sex crimes. It seems unlikely that a reduction of 2/3 in child molestation could be attributed to sudden under-reporting. I have sent this to net.women and net.politics because it seems to me to be a political issue, but one that women's groups (in Canada, anyway) have been making their own. Women in particular should be fighting for full legalization of pornography, to reduce the incidence of crimes against women. Instead, the official women's groups seem to be arguing the other way, which I have never understood. -- Martin Taylor {allegra,linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt