Teenage girls call out 'dangerous loophole' in new UK porn law ahead of November
On 6 November, new measures on pornographic content will come into place in the UK.
It will be illegal to ‘possess or publish’ porn that depicts strangulation or suffocation, sex between people who are related or pretending to be related, or when an adult is roleplaying as a child under 16.
“This isn’t about criminalising harmless sexual preferences. But porn can shape what people think a healthy relationship looks like, especially young people,” UK justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said in the announcement. “Content that normalises, or even glorifies, violence against women is dangerous and can blur the line with what is acceptable in real life.”
But a group of teenage girls have called out a ‘dangerous loophole’ around the roleplaying category due to the use of school uniforms.
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“The new law coming in early November covers pornography where an adult pretends to be a child under 16,” their petition explains. “Anyone wearing a school uniform could claim to be playing a 17-year-old. That’s the dangerous loophole we want closed, with a complete ban on school uniform in pornographic content.”
Writing for The Guardian, the Little Feminist Book Club say they want to ‘remove this grey area’ as: “We believe children and children’s clothing should not be associated with sexual acts.”
Rose, Mae, Aylin and Willow (aged 14 and 15) say they want to end this depiction to ensure minors aren’t viewed ‘for anything other than what they are: children’.
And they add that they had noticed at a young age that school uniforms are used in media often to ‘sexualise women’.
Citing personal impacts of the depictions and mass support for the campaign, the girls want it to be made clear that the ‘only people who should be wearing school uniform are children’.
In an update on their change.org petition, the students explained their campaign has reached parliament. And the Little Feminist Book Club say they have a meeting scheduled with Davies-Jones, as well as MP Jess Asato and peer Gabby Bertin.
They are calling on adults to get behind their campaign as they can’t make these changes ‘as a few kids in the middle of our GCSEs’.
“Things will only change when adults take responsibility for ending the disgusting practice of sexualising clothes made for children,” they write.
“Then perhaps one day young people can go to school knowing the only thing our uniforms signify is that it’s time to learn.”
A response from Davies-Jones on their page reads: “Young women and girls should not have to grow up seeing their school uniforms sexualised, and I commend these pupils for speaking out about something they feel so strongly about.
“Pornography must never normalise or glorify the sexual abuse of children. That’s why we are changing the law so possessing or sharing pornography which depicts an adult pretending to be a child under 16 will be an imprisonable offence.
“This is part of our wider crackdown on harmful pornography and tackling the attitudes that contribute to violence and abuse against women and girls.”
The LADbible Group has contacted Davies-Jones for comment.
Topics: UK News
Jess Battison