Violent sex, assault, rape, degrading sexual practices: A GP’s plea to Aus Gov to protect kids from porn
Dr Johanna Lynch, GP, Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland and President of Australian Society for Psychological Medicine has sent a desperate plea to Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.
Read moreCampaign for age verification pilot attracts significant media attention
Australian experts, academics, women’s safety organisations, child protection advocates and prominent Australians have called on the Federal Government to reverse its recent decision against implementing an age verification system to help protect children from exposure to p*rnography.
In their letter to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, the 43 signatories urge the Government to roll out a pilot program as soon as possible.
Media Release: Women’s Safety, Child Protection Groups Call on Gov to Trial Age Verification P*rn Protection for Children
Media Release
Women’s Safety, Child Protection groups call on Federal Gov to roll out age verification p*rn protection for children
Australian experts, academics, women’s safety organisations, child protection advocates and prominent Australians have called on the Federal Government to reverse its recent decision against implementing an age verification system to help protect children from exposure to p*rnography.
In their letter to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, the 43 signatories urge the Government to roll out a pilot program as soon as possible.
Signatories include Robert Fitzgerald AM, Commissioner and Member of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, well-known authors and anti-violence campaigners Jess Hill, Chanel Contos and Grace Tame, leading child sexual exploitation investigator Jon Rouse, White Ribbon CEO Allan Ball, Professor Michael Salter, Katherine Berney, Executive Director of the National Women's Safety Alliance, Madonna King, author 'Saving Our Kids', internationally renowned author and psychologist Steve Biddulph and community leader Tim Costello.
The letter reads:
Dear Minister,
We the undersigned are writing to request a re-think of the Federal Government’s decision not to proceed with an age verification system to help protect children from exposure to p*rnography, as recently announced by yourself on behalf of the Government.
Early porn exposure harms developing s*xual templates, contributes to damaging stereotypes, the development of sexist ideas, the normalisation of violence against women and a rise in child-on-child s*xual abuse. These harms were placed on the record by academics, educators, child safeguarding NGOs, and experts in child development and welfare in submissions to the Inquiry into Age Verification for Online Wagering and Online P*rnography conducted by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs.
In its final report, Protecting the Age of Innocence (February 2020), the bipartisan committee recommended adoption of an age verification system as one obstacle in the way of children being able to access p*rnography. The Committee concluded:
that age verification can create a significant barrier to prevent young people - and particularly young children - from exposure to harmful online content. The Committee’s recommendations therefore seek to support the implementation of online age verification in Australia.
The Committee recommended that the eSafety Commissioner lead the development of a roadmap for implementation of a mandatory Age Verification system for online p*rnography as part of a broader approach. The previous Government accepted this recommendation and eSafety provided its report in March.
In its response, your Government stated it would not implement an age verification system, preferring industry self-regulation. It deferred to the development of industry codes which are likely years away from finalisation. In the meantime, millions more children will be exposed to p*rnography which frequently depicts and eroticises extreme violence against women.
Online p*rnography is recognised as a threat to children in General Comment 25 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ('On children's rights in relation to the digital environment'). The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also recommended “implementing age verification technologies with a view to limiting the access of children to p*rnographic websites.”
The Federal Government acknowledges the role p*rnography plays in violence against women, in its National Plan to Address Violence Against Women and Children (2022-2023).
With p*rnography now overwhelmingly consumed online and via mobile devices, it is both prevalent and pervasive, perpetuating sexist, misogynistic and degrading views about women. This is a serious concern in addressing the drivers of violence against women and children. (p.49)
Our Watch - the lead national organisation for the primary prevention of VAW - also identified the role of p*rnography in contributing to violence in its 2020 report P*rnography, young people and preventing violence against women.
The influence of p*rnography is of concern to those working to prevent violence against women and promote respectful relationships and gender equality, because the bulk of evidence identifies both frequent depictions of violence and typically stereotypical representations of men and women in p*rnography. For example, studies have highlighted the high frequency of specific violent behaviours, largely directed at women, including gagging and verbally abusive language, and the more generally prevalent portrayal of male dominance and female submission. (p.4)
…content analyses have revealed frequent aggression, non-consensual behaviour and multiple forms of violence towards women in p*rnography. These include physical aggression (eg. hitting, slapping, gagging) and verbal aggression (eg. name-calling). The frequency and eroticisation of such depictions may normalise and condone violence against women, in sexual relationships and more generally. P*rnography may encourage these views and/or reinforce them where they already exist. (p.12)
It is our strong view that the Government has allowed itself to be swayed by industry resistance to an age verification system. Vested interests should not have been put before the wellbeing of children.
The Government’s initiatives regarding respectful relationships and consent education, while welcome, cannot compete with the world’s largest department of education – the global p*rnography industry.
The Government claims that age verification technologies are immature. However, age verification providers are already successfully utilised in many parts of the world. Age verification systems can be independently assessed by a formally accredited third-party certifier. We note that the Age Check Certification Scheme has robust criteria, including criteria approved by the UK’s Information Commissioner's Office, for independent assessment and certification of age verification providers.
In regard to privacy concerns, providing age verification does not require a record of the purpose for which an age check is carried out. A double-blind approach is applied to age checks, where the age-restricted website is not given any information about the identity of the user, and the age verification provider records no data about the identity of the website seeking to confirm a user's age.
According to eSafety research, more than three in four Australian adults support government implementation of age assurance for online p*rnography. In its report, eSafety recommended (p.8): “Trial a pilot before seeking to prescribe and mandate age assurance technology.”
We request that at minimum, this recommendation be adopted.
In its response to eSafety’s roadmap report, the Government concluded: “The first duty of any Government is to protect its citizens from harm.” Actioning eSafety’s recommendation regarding a pilot program would demonstrate your Government is sincere in its stated concerns about the protection and safeguarding of our most vulnerable citizens.
We urge the Government to re-evaluate its decision and proceed with a pilot program.
September 19, 2023
Contact: Melinda Tankard Reist: [email protected];
Global Allies Urge Fed Gov to Trial Pilot Program to Help Protect Kids From Porn
Australian children cannot wait years for protection
“There is imminent danger facing Australian children who lack sufficient protection from exposure to pornography, including increased risks of mental health problems, sexual development, and even child on-child sexual abuse, including rape and other harmful sexual behaviors. We implore the minister to expedite the rollout of a trial and pilot program to safeguard the nation's youth.”
A large group of global allies fighting the sexual exploitation of children, including sex industry survivors, have signed a joint letter calling on the Australian Federal Government to reconsider its position on age verification and roll out a pilot program urgently, to help protect children from exposure to pornography. The letter from 41 signatories representing 15 countries is welcomed by Collective Shout. We are part of a line-up of Australian experts, academics, women’s safety organisations, child safeguarding agencies and prominent Australians who have joined in also calling on the Government to reverse its recent dismissal and implement a pilot program as soon as possible. See here.
Read moreOpen Letter: Women’s safety and child protection experts call for age verification pilot
The Hon Michelle Rowland MP
Minister for Communications
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Re Pilot program for age verification in Australia
Dear Minister,
We the undersigned are writing to request a re-think of the Federal Government’s decision not to proceed with an age verification system to help protect children from exposure to pornography, as recently announced by yourself on behalf of the Government.
Early porn exposure harms developing sexual templates, contributes to damaging stereotypes, the development of sexist ideas, the normalisation of violence against women and a rise in child-on-child sexual abuse. These harms were placed on the record by academics, educators, child safeguarding NGOs, and experts in child development and welfare in submissions to the Inquiry into Age Verification for Online Wagering and Online Pornography conducted by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs.
Read more"A political not a technical decision". Age Verification Providers on Fed Gov Refusal to Adopt System to Help Protect Kids From Porn
On Thursday August 31st the Australian Government responded to the eSafety Roadmap for Age Verification. In its response the Government called age verification technology "immature".
Alannah & Madeline statement - Keeping pornography away from children: where to from here?
Collective Shout stands with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation calling for more protections for children from online pornography.
Read moreWhy was criminal enterprise P*rnhub consulted on kids safety online?
eSafety has come under fire from advocates and survivors after it published its Roadmap for Age Verification on Thursday which reveals it met with Pornhub's parent company MindGeek to discuss age verification.
Australia's National Children's Commissioner speaks out on age verification
Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner, Anne Hollonds, has spoken out on the government's decision to dismiss age verification for porn sites.
"If child wellbeing was a national priority, we would act on e-Safety’s plan to trial ways to protect young kids from online porn. This would help to reduce child sex abuse, youth crime, domestic and family violence. We seem to rely on kids getting education at school or having parents able to protect them. Too many kids have neither, & would greatly benefit from safeguards against online porn that are still to be developed. We need to start now."
Last Thursday Collective Shout condemned the Federal Government for refusing to adopt an age verification system as one obstacle to help protect children from exposure to pornography.
Read the Media Release here.
See also:
Submission to Inquiry into Age Verification for Online Wagering and Online Pornography