Jack Straw, England's Secretary of Justice, wants to make it a crime to own, download or view any videos that depict bestiality, necrophilia or "severe sexual violence." The law will go into effect in January as a part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, which will affect both England and its neighbor, Scotland.
Free-speech advocates have already come out in opposition to the measure, but Dr. Sasha Rakoff of the feminist lobbying organization Object, supports it.
“We are not talking about fluffy Ann Summer's handcuffs here, we are talking about the depiction of rape, mutilation and abuse so graphic that it is impossible to tell whether or not it is real or simulated," she said.
But other feminists argue that fighting against porn – of any kind – isn't the best fight for the cause.
"To focus on porn as the primary cause of violence against women is not only reductive and simplistic but politically dangerous," said Laura Schwarz of the advocacy organization Feminist Fightback. "It prevents a more in depth analysis of the causes of sexual violence and ignores other forms of violence - police violence, state violence or the violence of the capitalist system."
Representatives from the group Feminists Against Censorship agreed.
“This legislation only has value in a police state because it does not do anything to prevent violence against women," FAC's Evedon Carol said. "It suppresses sexuality, which can only create more problems later."
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act has raised the specter of censorship as it raises the ire of free-speech advocates on the island nation.
"This is nothing more than the SNP using legislation as a sop to buy support," said a spokeswoman for Consenting Adult Action Network Scotland. "The SNP has already given way to the Catholic Church on denominational schools. This is just more in the same vein, based on the calculation that few people will risk standing up in public and arguing for pornography.
But the Scottish government argues that this legislation will "help ensure society is protected from exposure to pornography that depicts horrific images of violence."
