wowana.me
website source; use git clone git://wowana.me/wowana.me.git to clone this repository.
UNCRC.txt (7279B)
1 [This document is in plain-text format. I do not have access to a word
2 processor compatible with Microsoft Word document formats. I hope my
3 input will still be considered. If I must, I can find someone to
4 convert and redistribute this into a doc, docx, odt, pdf, or any other
5 format suitable for the convention's consumption.]
6
7
8 My comment focuses on paragraph 63 in the "DRAFT Guidelines on the
9 implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights
10 of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
11 pornography", quoted below:
12
13 > The Committee is of the view that “simulated explicit sexual
14 > activities” should be interpreted as including any material, online
15 > or offline, that depicts or otherwise represents any person appearing
16 > to be a child engaged in real or simulated sexually explicit conduct
17 > and realistic and/or virtual depictions of a child engaged in
18 > sexually explicit conduct. Such depictions contribute to normalising
19 > the sexualisation of children and fuels the demand of child sexual
20 > abuse material.
21
22 While I appreciate the efforts to combat abusive behaviour on a global
23 scale, I am sceptical of some of the approaches that would be taken, as
24 described in this draft. I will bullet point my concerns below, as a
25 summary, and go into detail shortly thereafter.
26
27 My concerns:
28 1. I am troubled by the implications of treating "simulated explicit
29 sexual activities" equally to real acts of sexual abuse,
30 molestation, rape, manufacture of pornography involving
31 unconsenting human parties, and the like.
32 2. Further, I would like to see this draft revised in order to promise
33 action against sexual abuse against parties of any age, not just
34 children.
35
36
37 To expand on my first concern, I realise there is a fear of negative
38 effect concerning society's exposure to simulated sexual content
39 involving fictional minors. I believe this fear is best addressed by
40 analogy: there are numerous fictional works addressing themes that are
41 unpleasant to many -- themes such as sex, violence, and any other
42 manner of activity that is seen as taboo if acted upon in a
43 nonfictional setting. While these themes are largely distasteful, they
44 serve purpose by being published in fictional works:
45 - Audiences can derive educational benefit from these works, as to
46 learn from history and "not repeat the past". Education is powerful
47 only when the student is exposed to all the sides of an issue,
48 including being exposed to the negative feelings associated with an
49 issue so one may understand just why an action is considered taboo.
50 - Audiences may channel their negative thoughts and emotions through
51 fictional works so as not to act on them in real life. I personally
52 find value in video games such as Grand Theft Auto that allow me to
53 explore the alluring aspects of a "thug life" without endangering
54 anyone in the real world.
55 - And for one counterpoint, of course audiences may derive outright
56 pleasure and wish to emulate the acts they see in fictional works.
57 However, this can be combated largely with education and medical
58 (psychological) assistance. These cases are generally isolated and
59 triggered by preexisting circumstances (e.g. a person who is
60 predisposed to be a criminal, loosely speaking).
61
62 These three major purposes arise equally from any artistic or
63 pornographic work involving fictional minors. As I have said publicly
64 on my blog in 2018 [1], I am against rape and abuse toward any human or
65 other sentient being, but even then am I reluctant to believe that
66 fictional works have any overall negative effect on society. Works such
67 as Lolita are infamous for addressing themes of sexuality toward
68 minors, but such works are nonetheless held in deep regard for their
69 artistic value, and dare I say they are also respected for being brave
70 enough to cover subjects seen by many as "touchy". By proposing any
71 action against simulated explicit content, the world would be robbed of
72 these literary and artistic masterpieces, we would have a narrower view
73 of the world, a lesser understanding of taboos, and a greater
74 difficulty learning more about the human psyche and the motivations
75 people have for engaging in distasteful behaviour.
76
77 As for simulated child pornography (including -- and perhaps whereupon
78 the largest debate lies on the Internet about this draft -- lolicon and
79 shotacon), many of these pornographic works still hold artistic value.
80 Many people use this type of pornography as an outlet of sexual
81 frustration rather than a gateway to committing crimes against
82 real-life people. I believe if anyone wants to place the blame on
83 fictional child pornography for causing sexual crimes, that there
84 should be a study investigating whether fictional works are the cause
85 or the effect, because I am under the impression that few people
86 (including myself) actually know the answer to this. To me it seems
87 like a knee-jerk reaction to believe that fictional works are the
88 cause, and it is a fair reaction because this is such a heavy subject
89 to debate, but I believe it is one that must be debated fairly.
90
91
92 As for my second concern, I have also mentioned in my blog post (albeit
93 in casual and blunt terms; if I were to rewrite it today I would reword
94 and restructure some of what I said, but I believe the general point
95 carries) [1] that there should be no difference in severity of sexual
96 abuse cases, based on the age of the victim alone. Sexual abuse is a
97 scarring event no matter the victim's age. Furthermore, I do not
98 believe this fits well within the scope of the United Nations to
99 decide; individual nations have long had varying ages of consent. By no
100 means do people unanimously agree what objectively defines a child and
101 when that child becomes an adult. To me, the word "child" is only
102 brought into play so that it may convince more people to be on board
103 with this drafted legislation. It seems irrelevant to the core goal of
104 this draft, which -- to my interpretation -- is to address sexual abuse
105 and trafficking.
106
107
108 I hope I have brought up some useful considerations and opinions in
109 response to this draft, and that the Convention on the Rights of the
110 Child may take these points into consideration before arriving to a
111 conclusion. I hope to see this draft revised into something beneficial
112 for all and controversial to none, something that may be passed into
113 legislation easily if not unanimously. I am willing to continue
114 participating toward this issue in any manner I can, whether this
115 involves direct input or additional resources I can follow so that I
116 know the future status of this draft.
117
118
119 All parties involved have permission to redistribute my message,
120 verbatim, either with or without attribution. See the terms of the CC0
121 licence [2] for full details. I have published a copy of this message
122 on my website [3] and would be happy to release any replies to this
123 message with the writer's permission.
124
125 [1]<https://wowana.me/blog/the-grey-area-of-paedophilia.html>
126 [2]<https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0>
127 [3]<https://wowana.me/files/UNCRC.eml>
128
129
130 Thanks for your consideration,
131 opal hart
132 --
133 wowaname <https://wowana.me/pgp>
134 Please use detailed subject lines and reply below quoted text
135 whenever possible.