Pornography is a Civil Rights Issue for Women

• NCJ Number: 115849
• Journal: Journal of Law Reform Volume: 21 Issue: 1 and 2 Dated: (Fall 1987, Winter 1988) Pages: 55-67
• Author(s): A Dworkin
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Presentation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This article is a transcript of the author's testimony before the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography during its hearings at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City, January 22, 1986.

Annotation

Pornography is a civil right rather than an obscenity issue for women, because it is the systematic exploitation of a group of people due to a condition of birth. Civil rights legislation is required to counter such exploitation.

Abstract

Pornography sexualizes female inequality and turns women into subhuman creatures; Obscenity laws are ineffective and inappropriate for countering this exploitation. Such laws become the structure for the making of pornography, and they fail to address what is happening to women in and through pornography. Also, community standards as a measure for obscenity mean nothing in a society where violence against women is pandemic. The basic presumption of obscenity laws is that women's bodies are 'dirty.' These laws do not address the use of pornography among men in private. Recommendations are that law enforcement agencies keep records of the use of pornography in violent crimes, pornography be prohibited in Federal prisons, laws against pimping and pandering be enforced against pornographers, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act be used against the pornography industry, and Federal civil rights legislation recognize pornography as a form of sex discrimination. Pornography should be given priority as an international human rights issue under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.