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

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

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The Bill's proposals relating to sexual activity with a young person<br />

65.<br />

the age of sixteen demonstrate the great danger involved in<br />

under<br />

up legislative proposals about sex without ®rst laying down<br />

drawing<br />

governing moral principles. It insists that for a child to engage in<br />

the<br />

sexual activity with an age mate, even though consensual, is to be<br />

any<br />

crime punishable with up to ®ve years imprisonment. So when two<br />

a<br />

children in the age range eleven to ®fteen explore each<br />

pubescent<br />

bodies, in the way we have all done in our time, they are to be<br />

other's<br />

as criminals ± however trivial their behaviour. The fact that<br />

br<strong>and</strong>ed<br />

behaviour is unlikely to be prosecuted, or even to attract the<br />

trivial<br />

of the social services, is irrelevant. If the law br<strong>and</strong>s what<br />

attention<br />

innocently do as criminal there is a risk of the law being<br />

they<br />

The white paper shows many signs that the Home O ce is here<br />

66.<br />

driven by unbalanced, indeed uncivilised, attitudes to human<br />

being<br />

widely held today by the British public. Yet the<br />

sexuality<br />

dismisses <strong>and</strong> disregards similar inhuman attitudes<br />

Government<br />

held on matters such as capital punishment, homosexuality,<br />

widely<br />

corporal punishment, immigration <strong>and</strong> asylum. Surely it<br />

racism,<br />

in the same way insist on enlightened attitudes to sex when it<br />

should<br />

new legislation concerning that di cult topic. It should be<br />

frames<br />

These Government proposals raise the question what lawful sexual<br />

67.<br />

pubescents in the age range eleven to ®fteen should have? If<br />

outlets<br />

borderline creatures are, as must be admitted, highly sexual<br />

these<br />

they obviously need suitable opportunities to ful®l their<br />

beings<br />

This could be called one of their human rights, if that<br />

sexuality.<br />

had been fully developed in the region of sexuality. Yet the<br />

topic<br />

paper ignores this aspect. It sets the st<strong>and</strong>ard as that of the<br />

white<br />

person. We all know that most people are unreasonable<br />

reasonable<br />

The Bill forbids what it calls grooming of children. Here we have yet<br />

68.<br />

indication of the vicious trend of these proposals. The<br />

another<br />

grooming scenario is well on the way to inhibiting, even<br />

whole<br />

that wide social intercourse between adults <strong>and</strong> children<br />

destroying,<br />

activated ± even if only by a spiteful private prosecutor.<br />

sex positive, but it is not.<br />

when it comes to sex.<br />

32

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