2003.001 Sexual Ethics and Criminal Law, Lester ... - Francis Bennion

More documents

Recommendations

Info

incomplete without awareness of its sexuality. Usually nature is not permit such ignorance. We should respect nature, in this as does A typical current attitude to child sex is that shown in the following 25. by the American academic John Pesciallo ± comment siblings close to the same age, incest may merely be sexual For that is a part of normal development but socially un- exploration or undesired. However, when there is coercion or a acceptable age di€erence, then it is considered abuse. Generally, signi®cant di€erence of ®ve or more years would constitute abuse by the the child (even if the younger child were willing). Anytime an older sibling manipulates a younger child into sexual behavior that older not age appropriate or socially acceptable, it is sexual abuse. 19 is This is confused, even contradictory, ± and that is symptomatic of 26. chaotic attitudes to this vexed topic. The italicised words suggest the something that is part of normal development can nevertheless that socially unacceptable or undesired. Yet if conduct is part of be development it obviously should not be socially unacceptable normal or undesired. If nevertheless it is socially unacceptable or then obviously society has got things wrong, and its undesired attitudes should not be re¯ected in legislation enacting mistaken The Bill shows many signs that the Government is being by driven 27. unbalanced, indeed uncivilised, attitudes to human sexuality by held today by the British public. Yet the Government widely and disregards similar inhuman attitudes widely held on dismisses such as capital punishment, homosexuality, racism, matters punishment, immigration and asylum. Surely it should in corporal same way insist on enlightened attitudes to sex when it frames the legislation concerning that di cult topic. It should be sex new other spheres. criminal o€ences. positive, but it is not. 19 ``Understanding Sibling Incest'' at http://www.bmi.net/jgp/USI.htm. Emphasis added. 15
A further element is that much public agitation in the sex ®eld is 28. by hysteria, and is therefore unreliable as a basis for driven In this connection I cite as just one example facing pages legislation. the Daily Telegraph for 15 January 2003. On page 22 Andrew in can't be the only one completely bemused by the paedophilia I sweeping the country. It cannot surely be that paedophilia is mania new thing. So either it has always been going on . . . or we are in a grip of something like mass hysteria. Talking to older the . . . you hear of a Britain in which child sex abuse ± what people call `mucking about' ± went on all the time . . . but was simply they'd ignored and certainly not publicly discussed . . . but are repressed, so many serious paedophiles about? I simply do not believe it. there Andrew Marr writes opposite, paedophilia mania is sweeping the As . . . This mania prompted the ludicrous recent decision by land City Council to ban parents from making video Edinburgh of their children's Nativity plays without the consent of recordings parents of the whole cast. It inspired the disgraceful campaign by the Wade . . . to `name and shame' convicted paedophiles in Rebekah pages of the News of theWorld ± a campaign that moved some of the more moronic readers to attack the home of a paediatrician in her It has led some councils to insist that any parent who Newport. to help out at a school fete must ®rst be vetted by the police. o€ers These Government proposals raise the question what lawful sexual 30. is it supposed that pubescents in the age range eleven to ®fteen outlets have? If these borderline creatures are, as must be admitted, should sexual beings'', 20 they obviously require suitable opportu- ``highly to ful®l their sexuality. 21 This could be called one of their nities rights, if that topic had been fully developed in the region of human See above, p. 13. 20 See para. 15 in Annex Two to this report. 21 Marr wrote ± 29. On the facing page 23 the editorial said ± sexuality. While many girls may, if unawakened sexually, happily 16
Page 1 and 2: SEXUAL ETHICS AND CRIMINAL LAW A Cr
Page 3 and 4: y Published Publishing Lester PEGAS
Page 5 and 6: and Politics Ethics Sex Code: Moral
Page 7 and 8: The Sex Hate Bill? This report sets
Page 9 and 10: children ± with the intention of m
Page 11 and 12: e clear about its ethical foundatio
Page 13 and 14: ce group on reforming sex o€ences
Page 15: ``Sexual activity between minors''
Page 19 and 20: Nor in such cases is it ``appropria
Page 21 and 22: only arise ``where it is clear that
Page 23 and 24: to be proved by the prosecution bey
Page 25 and 26: act in question, though exhypothesi
Page 27 and 28: Sexual interference with human rema
Page 29 and 30: Bill's elaborate de®nition gets us
Page 31 and 32: the disabled? 49 When dealing with
Page 33 and 34: The Bill's proposals relating to se
Page 35 and 36: Obviously in this report I have onl
Page 37 and 38: . . . the ®rst guide to secular se
Page 39 and 40: natures, abortion and pornography.
Page 41 and 42: far the best section of Bennion's w
Page 43 and 44: We should comply with the ethical c
Page 45 and 46: It is immoral, as contravening the
Page 47 and 48: Where it is known or suspected by e

2003.001 Sexual Ethics and Criminal Law, Lester ... - Francis Bennion

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?