Ban on extreme internet porn

The Times
Aug. 31, 2005

VIOLENT sexual pornography on the internet is to be banned by the Government.

Ministers are proposing a new offence of possessing violent and abusive pornography, which would criminalise anyone who acquires such an image through the internet or on a mobile phone.

Material involving adults in illegal acts is increasingly being sought out, according to a Home Office consultation paper published today. Hundreds of sites cater to this demand, offering material that depicts the torture of women in sexual contexts, including rape.

The proposed law would mirror existing legislation that makes it an offence to possess an indecent image of a child, giving police an extra power to monitor known sex offenders.

Anyone who downloads or watches such material runs the risk of being caught when taking their computer for servicing because all machines bear traces of the sites that they have accessed.

It would be illegal to possess images including those of actual or realistic intercourse or oral sex with an animal, sexual interference with a human corpse, serious violence in a sexual context and serious sexual violence. “There is some evidence that the boundaries are being pushed back and that even more extremist images are now being sought and provided,” the Home Office consultation paper said.

At present it is illegal to publish, sell or import such material but not to possess it. The proposed offence would not cover text or cartoons.

Under the proposals anyone convicted of possessing such material would face a maximum three-year prison sentence. Those who had seen the material accidentally, or had a reason for possessing it, such as being part of a prosecuting authority, would have a legitimate defence.

The consultative document said: “The material under consideration does not depict consensual sexual activity, nor even the milder forms of bondage and humiliation which are commonplace in pornographic material. It depicts suffering, pain, torture and degradation which we believe most people would find abhorrent. The fact that it is widely available on the internet does not legitimise it.”

The paper said that by “extreme”, the Government means material that is violent or abusive, featuring activities that are illegal in themselves and in which, in some cases, participants may have been the victims of criminal offences.

It said there were now hundreds of internet sites offering material featuring the torture of women who are tied to some kind of apparatus or restrained and stabbed with knives, hooks and other implements. “These acts are usually presented in a sexually explicit context so that it is clear that the purpose of the material is sexual gratification, although the violence itself may not be sexual,” the report said. Paul Goggins, a junior Home Office Minister, said that the Government was aiming to break the cycle of demand and supply and discourage interest in the material, which it fears encourages or reinforces interest in violent or aberrant sexual activity. The consultation period ends on December 2.

The family of Jane Longhurst, 31, who was murdered in 2003 by a man obsessed by violent sexual pornography, welcomed the proposals.

Commander Dave Johnston, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “The investigation into such matters is very difficult due to the fact that many of the sites are abroad and outside the jurisdiction of UK law enforcement agencies.”