SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Crackdown on child exploitation passes unanimously

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A Bill to better protect children from sexual exploitation passed its final reading in Parliament today [2 April 2015] with unanimous support.

Justice Minister Amy Adams says the Objectionable Publications and Indecency Legislation Bill sends a clear message that activities which sexually exploit children are abhorrent and will not be tolerated.

“The law changes reflect the ease with which criminals can now access, share and distribute child sexual abuse material, and address the changing ways perpetrators can communicate with children,” says Ms Adams

“The Bill increases the penalties for making, trading or possessing child exploitation material. It will work to protect children who are sadly often re-victimised by the knowledge that images of their abuse could be shared over the internet for years to come,” says Ms Adams.

The Bill also includes a new offence of ‘indecent communication with a young person’ which will apply regardless of whether perpetrators contact victims under the age of 16 online, via text messaging, verbally or by other means.

“The measures in this Bill reflect the serious nature of these crimes, and align with the Government’s pledge to protect children from sexual exploitation,” says Ms Adams.

Among the changes, the Bill:

• Increases the maximum penalties for possession, import and export of an objectionable publication from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment.
• Increases the maximum penalties for supply, distribution or making an objectionable publication from 10 to 14 years’ imprisonment.
• Creates a presumption of imprisonment for those convicted of a child exploitation material offence for a second time or later time.
• Clarifies that possession of objectionable electronic material includes intentionally viewing material without consciously downloading or saving it.
• Establishes accident compensation cover for mental injury caused by the existing sexual grooming offence, and the Bill’s new offence of indecent communication with a young person.
• Closes a gap in the law to ensure that New Zealanders who assist foreigners to commit sexual acts against children overseas, can be held liable as parties or accessories to the offence under New Zealand law.

Source:

Media Release dated 2 April 2015: Hon. Amy Adams – National MP for Selwyn.

http://www.amyadams.co.nz/index.php?/categories/2-Press-Releases

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Tougher laws on sexual exploitation of children

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Sexual exploitation of children will be punished more severely after a new law passed a final parliamentary hurdle.

Those found to have supplied, distributed or made an “objectionable material” face a maximum 14 years in prison, up from 10.

The penalty for possession, import and export also increases, from five years to 10.

And those convicted of a child exploitation material offence will almost certainly go to jail, under the Objectionable Publications and Indecency Legislation Bill.

The bill also targets paedophiles who attempt to “groom” under-16s online by establishing a new offence of “indecent communication with a young person”.

It will apply to texts, verbal and any other communications.

And it closes a legal loophole, ensuring that Kiwis who assist foreigners in sexual exploitation of children overseas can be prosecuted here. [Read more…]

SPCS revitalised campaign against gratuitous sexual violence in films – ignited censorship debate

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Prior to its application to become a registered charity with the Charities Commission, the Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc. (SPCS) engaged in a “revitalised campaign” against gratuitous sexually explicit movies screened in New Zealand cinemas, focusing on those such as Baise-Moi (French = “Rape-Me”) which was scheduled as an opening show-piece in the now defunct Beck’s Incredible Film Festival (B.I.F.F.) directed by Mr Ant Timpson. The R18 classifications issued to this morally putrid film and others like the Japanese film Visitor Q, were appealed by the Society to the Film and Literature Board of Review, to test whether or not the Chief Censor Bill Hastings and his staff had correctly applied the censorship laws to safeguard the “public good”.

Both films were effectively shut out of Timpson’s B.I.F.F. and after protracted litigation through the courts, the Court of Appeal issued decisions upholding in large part the concerns raised by SPCS. The Society contended that the Chief Censor had well passed his “use-by date” as a competent censor, having become “desensitised” by excessive exposure to the injurious, corrupting and toxic impact of so many films containing explicit sexual content and gratuitous sexual violence he had had to view. The vast bulk of publications (films, videos, DVDs and magazines etc) he had “examined” over his lengthy career as a censor involved the degradation, dehumanisation and demeaning of women and are “injurious to the public good”. The Society’s concerns about the Chief Censor and his Deputy Ms Nicola McCully, were taken up by a number of MPs in the House of Representatives and eventually Hastings left the job.

Bill Hastings served as NZ’s tenth Chief Censor from October 1999 to July 2010. Prior to that he was Deputy and Acting Chief Censor from December 1998 to October 1999. He was a member of the Indecent Publications Tribunal from 1990 to 1994 and Deputy President of the Film and Literature Board of Review from 1995 to 1998. He played a key role as Deputy of that Board in issuing a highly controversial decision that banned the “talking heads” Living Word videos. This decision was subsequently overturned  by the Court of Appeal and the videos were classified as “unrestricted”. The Board was forced to concede the obvious – the videos contained nothing that remotely came within the five censorship “jurisdictional gateways” of the censorship Act – involving “sex, horror, crime, or cruelty or violence” – the basis upon which a publication can  be classified “objectionable”.

Download a high-resolution PDF version here.

David Lane SPCS - Revitalised campaign against gratuitous sexual violence in films
David Lane SPCS Revitalised campaign against gratuitous sexual violence in films

Battle against child pornography is global fight without borders

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IN NEW ZEALAND we are well aware that we lag behind similar developed countries in rankings for child pornography.

Our abuse figures continue to shame us. Stories of neglect and cruelty are daily media events.

But another level of abhorrence was added last week with the story of a child in California bought, adopted and traded for the purposes of satisfying paedophiles across three continents.

The perpetrators of this crime were tracked and the child rescued – with credit due to investigators at the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, police, Customs officials and others. New Zealand is a leader in the global effort to combat activities such as this and its ugly cousin child pornography.

Our Department of Internal Affairs has been at the forefront of this worldwide effort to find and bring to account purveyors of activities that sexually exploit children.

The Innovative Super Squirrel Hunter software at Internal Affairs has been customised for more than 20 other countries and is hailed worldwide as a major tool in the campaign to free children from sexual exploitation.

In 2011, six men associated with what was described as the world’s biggest paedophile ring, were charged with child pornography offences committed in New Zealand.

At that time Detective Senior Sergeant John Michael said he believed it was likely to be the tip of the iceberg. “It’s rampant in New Zealand and if the public knew the scale of the offence here, they would be appalled.”

The attitudes and behaviour of consumers of child pornography around the world degrades and puts all children including our own, at risk.

It is a borderless crime.

Behind every single one of those images is a real child looking to the adult world to protect them. A report from Unicef in 2009 estimated millions of victims and stated that boys and girls of all ages and backgrounds and in every region of the world were subjected to this type of sexual abuse and exploitation.

The creators and clientele of the child pornography industry are unrelenting in their pursuit of victims. The child at the centre of last week’s case was a baby when he was purchased for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Especially concerning is that in most cases no-one knows who or where these children are and rescuing them from exploitation is deeply challenging. The expertise and experience of the investigator at Internal Affairs in New Zealand was the vital connection that led to the rescue of the little boy.

But the practice will continue until there is widespread awareness and acknowledgement that wherever such images originate, children are severely harmed.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child endorsed by every country in the world, and which New Zealand signed up to in 1993, obligates our state agencies to act always in the best interests of children. Article 34 commits us to protect children from any kind of sexual abuse.

We applaud the police, Internal Affairs and Customs for their vigilance and dedication to protecting children.

We need to continue our support and investment in these programmes to ensure that the evil industry cannot flourish here in New Zealand.

Author: Barbara Lambourn, national advocacy manager, Unicef NZ.

Source: The Dominion Post. Friday, Jukly 12, 2013, p. A9

Google MUST block access to illegal and ‘disgusting’ porn, says coalition of children’s charities

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Google MUST block access to illegal and ‘disgusting’ porn, says coalition of children’s charities. John Carr, the British government’s adviser on internet safety and secretary of the charity coalition, said the Daily Mail was right to highlight the problem.[The Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc., a New Zealand registered charity, agrees wholeheartedly with the position taken by John Carr, the Daily Mail and the Coalition].

See: Daily Mail On line Article. By Sean Poultier, Consumer Affairs Editor. 26 May 2013 (link below).

  • Charities want blocking software and on-screen warnings to deny access
  • Group include NSPCC, Barnado’s, Action for Children, Children’s Society
  • Comes after investigation by Mail columnist Amanda Platell into the issue
  • Was prompted into action by case of Stuart Hazell, killer of Tia Sharpe, 12
  • Child pornography had fuelled his murderous fantasies

Charities have demanded urgent action to prevent access to illegal and ‘disgusting’ child pornography via Google and other web browsers.

A coalition of organisations is arguing for the introduction of blocking software and on-screen warnings to deny internet users access to the material.

The group includes the NSPCC, Barnado’s, Action for Children, BAAF, Beat Bullying, Children England, Children’s Society, ECPAT UK, Kidscape, and Stop It Now.

Their call follows revelations in the Daily Mail on Saturday about the ease of finding video and photos of the sexual exploitation of young girls.

The investigation by Mail columnist Amanda Platell was prompted by the case of Stuart Hazell, killer of 12-year-old Tia Sharp, whose murderous fantasies were fuelled by online child pornography.

But the group, the UK Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety, questioned if firms like Google have the will to take action.

John Carr, government adviser on internet safety and secretary of the charity coalition, said the Mail was right to highlight the problem.

‘Google can do more and should do more,’ he said. ‘For example, whenever someone puts in a search that clearly indicates they are looking for child pornographic material, Google could flash up a warning.

‘It could say “You are trying to reach child pornographic material. This is illegal and if you persist there is a chance of arrest and prosecution”.’ Google’s web browser has three levels of filtering – ‘unfiltered’, ‘moderate’ and ‘safe’.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331245/Google-MUST-block-access-illegal-disgusting-porn-says-coalition-childrens-charities.html#ixzz2V7ZYDQsm