rstuart, you said: If anyone forces them to do otherwise I imagine they leave themselves open to charges or rape or false imprisonment. It would seem you're "imagining" something without any actual knowledge. How about you get some facts by reading a book with true stories of real people, such as "Not for Sale" by David Batsone. Then you will realise the incredible difficulty faced by those who seek to bring to justice the people responsible for forcing girls and women to work in the sex trade. It is a complex issue without simple solutions but the reality is that it is an industry NOT without many victims.

Whilst a film of a sex scene with a gun held to a woman's head might not be able to be proved to be actual rape, it certainly cannot be denied that it is particularly honouring to the woman in that position.

Also, your apparent "logic" that rescuing girls/women from the sex industry would remove their avenue of provision for their basic needs, is simplistic and shows an unawareness of the rehabilitation work being done by organisations who actually ARE providing alternatives for these girls.

When you say "I don't think you give a rats about women in the sex industry. Your main interest seems to be banning porn because you find the thought of men looking at it offensive" you are assuming an awful lot about the original poster.

Let's focus on the real people involved in the making of pornography and the wives and girlfriends of those who watch it.

<Despite all your posturing, I don't think you give a rats about women in the sex industry. Your main interest seems to be banning porn because you find the thought of men looking at it offensive. Concern about the women is just a convenient foil for the rest of us while you busily go about forcing your prejudices down their throats.>

Posted by rstuart, Thursday, 3 April 2008 5:44:19 PM

Very good point and perhaps has more than an element of truth to it.

So what you are saying is that they only care about women in the sex industry because it is an indirect avenue to launch an attack on heterosexual men

Ryna,

My "logic" wasn't just simplistic, its wrong because the initial premises are wrong. If the original poster was correct, all you would have to do to close down the sex industry is ensure they had other avenues employment available to them that suited their lifestyle. But it doesn't work, does it? The allure is too strong.

The point Christabel was making was that the sex industry is both dangerous and obnoxious, so much so girls work in it must be being exploited. Wrong. I have no doubt that most women feel that way towards it. But women who have been working for a decade or so in the sex industry obviously don't. Maybe there are other jobs out there they would prefer - but the sex industry pays well. So they make their choice - a choice you evidently want removed because you don't like it.

A film of a girl with a gun held to her head is unpleasant. Sadly we see it all the time on prime time television - people with guns held to their head being forced to do things that don't want to do. If there was strong evidence that when people watch such scenes they felt compelled to do the same thing I would be standing beside you in wanting them banned. I don't particularly like those scenes either, as it happens. But as "The Porn Book" said, "we have numbers", and those numbers show that normal people don't go and break the law simply because they see them broken on television. Other people do apparently enjoy watching such scenes. I don't see why they should be robbed of their enjoyment simply because I disapprove of what is being depicted.

In the end, I think the word "rehabilitation" is what gives you away. Girls who work in the sex industry aren't sick. There is nothing wrong with them. They just have a different outlook on life to you. The very thought that they should be "rehabilitated" to live their life the way you want them to sends shivers down my spine.

Porn is an addictive, guilt-producing, drug. It is not liberating for any of the 3 parties (at least) involved; the porn viewer, the porn doer or the porn maker/profiteer. All 3 parties continue in shame, guilt and fear and have lives that are wrecked and ultimately hopeless. I haven't read this report, but I know from personal experience that the comments above are all true - and are true for most if not all other people caught up in porn. Porn done/watched/capitalised upon in the shadows produces less than human beings in the light.

Liam mully “I haven't read this report, but I know from personal experience that the comments above are all true”

From reading the rest of your post I can see how ignorance becomes you. You don’t need to bother to read all the report but let me relay the conclusions

Conclusions of http://www.porn-report.com/402-performers-in-pornography.htm

“The approach we propose in this area is a cautious but urgent one. Caution we believe to be required from the incomplete character of the evidence currently available. Urgency, however, arises from the extremely serious nature of the harms apparently being inflicted on many young and vulnerable people.”

NOTE “incomplete character of the evidence currently available”

However,

A Danish study, across four countries, suggests the rate of assault declined after Pornography was legalized.

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/proceedings/14/kutchinsky.pdf

And

http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=commstudies

will take you to a controlled test.

My paraphrasing of the conclusions: “no effect” between exposure to pornography and the desire to engage is a sexual assault.

Pornography, even if it were a contributory factor to rape, which it clearly is not, would not be the only or exclusive factor.

To find out the causal influences on crime is difficult , using the key words “sex crime causes” produced the following

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4463713 has “causes of sex crimes in adolescence” but it is written in German.

http://www.aardvarc.org/rape/about/whowhy.shtml makes a good attempt and notably does not mention “pornography” among the causes

An Australian paper http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/cjb54.pdf/$file/cjb54.pdf

Has a reasoned conclusion which acknowledges the multiple influences which contribute to any type of crime, which you may find useful.

So if you want to make an adult contribution to an adult topic, I would suggest you do some basic research and reading instead of bring forth with half-baked emotional opinion pieces which have no basis in fact and would better be left unsaid (in the interests of any credibility which you might cherish).

A question for you..

Why is it that child pornography is scorned and the perpetrators hated and hunted down by the media but when a pornographic model comes 'of age' pornography is suddenly not only condoned but celebrated by Australian society?

I am so glad legislation is in place to protect children from pornographic abuse and harm but what about adults? Yes, they may be adults over the age of consent but that does not mean they are in a position to make sound decisions benefiting their emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Obviously NOT! Even though our dulled consciences would say otherwise as we try desperately to justify our addiction to pornography.

Let us not stop speaking against what is so detrimental to our communities.