Article from the Stuff News Archive (2009): Political activist John Minto wrote ……..

John Minto: 2014 Candidate -Mana Party

[Photo Source: http://yournz.org/tag/john-minto/]

Most people seem to think the Boobs on Bikes parade is tasteless and tacky but nothing to get steamed up about. Just harmless fun and a bit of titillation to warm up a cold winter perhaps.

Certainly we have plenty of people hung up about sex and nudity but the protest at the parade was not a bunch of prudes averting their eyes at the sight of silicon-implanted breasts. Instead it was a warning cry about the deep damage being done by the hard-core porn industry with Boobs on Bikes organiser Steve Crow at the heart of the problem.

[Note: The next Boobs on Bikes event has been announced as scheduled for 7 October 2015, – rescheduled says Crow – from August 2014, “To coincide with the shift in dates for the Erotica Lifestyles Expo“].

I’ve seen material pictured and quoted from some of Steve Crow’s publications which is quite depraved. For example men speaking about women in a way no reasonable people would speak about their neighbour’s dog.

Denise Ritchie of the [registered charity CC30599] group Stop Demand [Foundation] (the demand side of the sex-for-sale industry) points out that sex-related crimes against women and children do not take place in a vacuum but rather are underpinned by the hard-core porn industry. This is where for example videos of simulated rape, incest and all manner of sexual violation against women and children are produced and sold commercially.

I don’t have to buy his filth if I don’t want to but if Crow’s activities are making our community a less safe place for me and my family, and other women and children in particular then I have a right and a duty to object.

This is serious money. So is there a connection between Steve Crow’s promotion of hard-core porn and sexual violence against women? I have no doubt there is a strong, direct link. There can be no doubt that the abusive behaviour of some people is stimulated by this Crow-type pornography.

Denise Ritchie points out that two months ago a 60 year old Wanganui man was convicted for performing sexual acts on his severely handicapped wife after watching a pornographic video with two other men, one of whom he invited to “join in”. It would be only the deliberately naïve who refuse to see a connection in this case and more widely. I have no doubt that the glorification of rape on a pornographic video will reduce the seriousness of such behaviour in the minds of enough men so as to increase the risk to women generally.

To quote Ritchie once more, “our Chief Censor [Mr Bill Hastings at that time], our pornography investigators and global research are unanimous in reporting that hard core pornography, which makes up the bulk of Steve Crow’s commercial interests and profits, is increasingly cruel, misogynistic and degrading of women.” We should all be very concerned at the messages this material is sending to men.

Forget about the boobs on bikes. These are the entertaining sideshow to a porn industry which is making the country less safe for all of us.

Stephen Peter Crow promoting Erotica                             Lifestyles Expo

Steve Crow: ‘Long-standing identification’ with Boobs on Bikes parade. (Photo: Stuff News 27/04/11)

According to Stop Demand, a 2006 Treasury report estimated that sexual violence in 2003/2004 cost the New Zealand economy no less than $1.2 billion. $827 million of this is the loss of quality of life for victims, across an estimated 16,500 sex offences.

Source: What’s behind Boobs on Bikes by John Minto. Published 09/03/2009

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/blogs/frontline/1880536/What-s-behind-Boobs-on-Bikes

Note 1: Stop Demand Foundation is a registered charity (CC30599) that was registered with the Charities Commission on 30/06/2008. Its website is www.stopdemand.org  A message to men on its website states:

“Sexual violence, exploitation and denigration of women and children is overwhelmingly a men’s issue. We need men’s proactive support to stop it.”

To find out about the governance of Stop Demand go to: http://www.stopdemand.org/wawcs0153449/WHO-WE-ARE.html

Note 2: Stephen (Steve) Peter Crow has 33 criminal convictions for distributing objectionable material. Source: Sunday-Star Times 26 October 2003.

See: The People Vs. Steve Crow,” by John Landrigan, North & South (Issue 207, June, pages 82-90). “Besides the porn baby [controversy], collectively he, his ex-business partner Fiona Gibb and Vixen Direct [Ltd] faced 135 criminal charges last year. Crow pleaded guilty to 33 of the lesser charges – for the distribution of objectionable material … he still faces seven regulatory infringements to a law he does not agree with.”

Note: 3

Mr Crow had criminal convictions for distributing objectionable material and the inquiry was treated as an employment issue.

Police are told not to associate with people with a criminal history.

See full article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10392287