“Pornography is at the intersection of all hatred”, affirms the High Council for Equality
In a shocking report submitted to the government on Wednesday, the High Council for Equality between Women and Men denounces the illegalities committed by the pornography industry and points out the inaction of the authorities.
The High Council for Equality (HEC), an independent consultative body reporting to the Prime Minister, published Wednesday September 27 a report entitled “PORNOCRIMINALITY: let’s put an end to the impunity of the pornography industry!”.
A few months after the resolution adopted by the Senate, which called on the government to fight against pornography “a public policy priority”, this report draws up a clear observation on the illegalities committed by the porn industry.
Women victims of “treatment contrary to human dignity”
The body estimates that “90% of pornographic content presents unsimulated acts of physical, sexual or verbal violence against women”. She denounces videos where women appear "caricatured with the worst sexist and racist stereotypes" and are "humiliated, objectified, dehumanized, violated, tortured, undergoing treatment contrary to human dignity and... French law".
“Pornography is not cinema”, insists the report, recalling that the women on the screen are “real” and that “sexual acts and violence”, as well as the suffering, sometimes visible, are just as real. “Violent” content which for some meets “the legal definition of acts of torture and barbarity”.
“Rape culture, dehumanization of women, apology for incest, racism, child crime, LGBTphobia… Pornography is at the intersection of all hatreds and is part of the continuum of violence.”
Government inaction
The High Council also points to "the inactions of the authorities in the face of the illegalities of pornography" and explains having tested Pharos, the government platform for reporting illegal content on the internet, without results. Indeed, of the 35 videos reported by the HEC, none have been deleted to date.
Beyond the inaction of the authorities, the body denounces a general blindness through what it describes as "misleading semantics", "intense" lobbying which passes off an offense as "freedom of expression", of "artistic freedom" or even "sexual liberation".
Faced with this observation, the HEC issues concrete recommendations to develop the law and to ensure that the legal framework that already exists is respected.
“Solutions exist for the pornography industry to escape from the lawless zone in which it finds itself. This is the ambition of this report: to put an end to the impunity of the pornography industry.”
It calls in particular for strengthening the protection of sex workers by putting in place appropriate prevention and support measures. It also makes several recommendations such as banning the distribution of pornographic content depicting sexual violence, strengthening sanctions for perpetrators of pornographic violence, raising awareness among young people about the issues of pornography and promoting education. to sexuality based on respect and equality.
Our colleagues from Europe 1 report that following the submission of this report, the Minister responsible for Equality, Bérangere Couillard, announced the creation of an interministerial working group on the subject. “I want to tackle the issue of violence in the porn industry head-on,” she said.
The CNEF committed to the fight against pornographic violence
In early March, the Senate adopted a resolution calling on the government to combat pornography. A decision which received the support of the National Council of Evangelicals of France (CNEF).
"Anxious to fight against human trafficking caused directly and indirectly by pornography, and to avoid the exposure of children to pornographic violence, evangelical Protestants welcome the proposed resolution calling for the fight against pornographic violence a public policy priority."
The opportunity for evangelical Protestants to recall that "pornographic violence is a distortion of sexuality as the Bible encourages it: healthy and respectful between a man and a woman consenting and committed to each other".
Camille Westphal Perrier
