Child porn is a heinous violation

Tuesday, 18 November 2014
TheNewAgeNewspaper
@The_New_Age
+27 76 894 2847
opinion & analysis 19
Child porn is a heinous violation
Courts in SA must get far tougher on child sexual offenders because of its devastating effects on kids
Analysis
IYAVAR CHETTY
THE recent arrest of a father for the sexual
brutalisation of his two daughters and seventeen other preteen girls for “manufacturing,
distributing and possessing child pornography” confirms the opinions of many experts on
the stark reality of child pornography – that
the creation, production, distribution and possession of child pornography is a heinous, horrendous and malicious sexual crime against
children that happens every second of every
day around the world.
It is also depressing that the exponential
growth of online child sexual abuse and
exploitation is moving South Africa’s social
environment towards being nothing more than
a catalogue of the sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
In fact, given that children are struggling to
live normally in an emotionally, physically and
psychologically toxic social environment in a
society where social consensus against intergenerational sex is fast disappearing from its
culture, South Africa seems to have moved
from being an apartheid state for segregation
and discrimination on the grounds of race to
a child apartheid state on the grounds of the
sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
The suspended sentences of convicted child
pornography offenders by South African
courts are nothing more than a “slap on the
wrist” and suggest that there is confusion and
a lack of proper understanding regarding the
reality of child pornography.
Given that the online sexual abuse and
exploitation of children is a global problem and
not just a national phenomenon, the lack of
harmonised sentencing policies is a betrayal of
all children and not just the child victims.
A South African court’s suspended sentence handed to a person convicted of a child
pornography crime stands in chilling contrast
to the sentencing policies in the US where,
recently, Patricia Ayers was sentenced to 1 590
years in prison after pleading guilty to 53
counts of producing child pornography. Her
husband, Matthew Ayers, pleaded guilty to
25 counts of producing child pornography and
was sentenced to 750 years in prison. Both
received maximum penalties.
In order to ensure the appropriate sentencing of those convicted of involvement in child
pornography acts, the crime should be seen
not simply as the possession or distribution
images of child abuse, but as the sexual abuse,
exploitation, degradation and impairment of
the dignity of all children and the promotion of
the use of child pornography for sexual gratification through the portrayal of children as
acceptable sexual objects.
Child pornographers who collect, distribute
and share abusive images of children bear
LETTER
[email protected]
Apathy of Kuruman
fails hamstrung pupils
DEPRAVED: Child pornography compact discs are loaded up, destined for a shredder during a rally about child pornography. PICTURE: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
KEY POINTS
» The creation, production, distribution
and possession of child pornography is a
heinous, horrendous and malicious sexual
crime against children that happens every
second of every day around the world.
It is depressing that the exponential
growth of online child sexual abuse and
exploitation is moving South Africa’s social
environment towards being nothing more
than a catalogue of the sexual abuse and
exploitation of children
» South Africa seems to have moved from
being an apartheid state for segregation
and discrimination on the grounds of race
to a child apartheid state on the grounds
of the sexual abuse and exploitation of
children
» Online sexual abuse and exploitation of
children is a global problem and not just a
national phenomenon
a responsibility not only for the use of such
images for sexual gratification and grooming
but also for encouraging the further creation
of child pornography through the sexual abuse
and brutalisation of children. Child pornography offenders should therefore be treated
as being directly or indirectly complicit in the
original sexual brutalisation of children in the
creation of such images.
The possession of child pornography should,
in fact, be seen as not far from falling within
the scope of what is defined as depraved
indifference recklessness or reckless endangerment in the US. Depraved indifference or
reckless endangerment describes conduct
which is “so wanton, so deficient in a moral
sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the
life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as
to warrant the same criminal liability as that
which the law imposes upon a person who
intentionally causes a crime”.
Depraved indifference refers to a person’s
state of mind in recklessly engaging in conduct
which creates a grave risk of harm – conduct
that shows utter disregard for the value of
human life not because such a person means
to cause harm but because he or she simply
does not care whether or not such conduct will
lead to harm.
Depraved indifference to human life reflects
a wicked, evil or inhuman state of mind.
Child sexual abuse and exploitation investigators and prosecutors have expressed deep
frustration with the sentencing policies of
South African courts. At least one prosecutor with valuable prosecution experience who,
frustrated and disappointed with some of the
sentences handed down in child pornography
cases, moved out of prosecution into administration and management.
“Sentencing policies in our courts are a
betrayal not only of children but of the hard
work put in by police and prosecutors in cases
which also have a psychologically-traumatising
effect on us.” he said.
South African courts should see that the
subject matter of section 24(b) of the Films
and Publications Act is child pornography –
and is a direct response to the protection of
the constitutional rights of children. It should
protect them from what child pornography is
all about – maltreatment, neglect, abuse and
degradation as enshrined in section 28(1)(d) of
the Constitution.
Courts must know that fundamental to
appropriate and effective legal and social
responses to the online sexual abuse and
exploitation of children is a proper understanding of the complexities involved in not
just the creation but also the dissemination
and sinister use of child pornography.
The devastating effects of the implications
of offenders who operate in cyberspace are
most keenly felt at the local level and within
communities throughout the country.
Iyavar Chetty is the director of Kids Internet
Safety Alliance (Kinsa) Africa
We need the right food, not more food
Analysis
JOSÉ GRAZIANO DA SILVA
AND MARGARET CHAN
THE scourge of malnutrition affects the most
vulnerable in society, and it hurts most in the
earliest stages of life. Today, more than 800
million people are chronically hungry, about
11% of the global population.
Undernutrition is the underlying cause of
almost half of all child deaths, and a quarter of
living children are stunted due to inadequate
nutrition.
Micronutrient deficiencies due to diets lacking in vitamins and minerals, also known as
“hidden hunger”, affects two billion people.
Another worrying form of malnutrition,
obesity, is on the rise. More than 500 million
adults are obese as a result of diets containing
excess fat, sugars and salt.
This exposes people to a greater risk of
noncommunicable diseases like heart disease,
stroke, diabetes and cancer, now the top
causes of death in the world. Poor diet and
physical inactivity also account for 10% of the
global burden of disease.
Many developing countries now face multiple burdens of malnutrition with people living
in the same communities, sometimes even the
same households, suffering from undernutrition, hidden hunger and obesity.
These numbers are shocking and must
serve as a global call to action.
Besides the terrible human suffering,
unhealthy diets also have a detrimental impact
on the ability of countries to develop and prosper. The cost of malnutrition, in all its forms, is
estimated between 4% and 5% of global GDP.
Government leaders, scientists, nutritionists, farmers, civil society and private sector
representatives from around the world will
gather in Rome from November 19 to 21 for the
Second International Conference on Nutrition
(ICN2). It is an opportunity they cannot afford
to miss: making peoples’ right to a healthy diet
a global reality.
Creating healthy and sustainable food systems is key to overcoming malnutrition in all
KEY POINTS
TWEETS
@The_New_Age
» The scourge of malnutrition affects the
most vulnerable in society, and it hurts
most in the earliest stages of life
» Today, more than 800 million people are
chronically hungry, about 11% of the global
population
» Undernutrition is the underlying cause
of almost half of all child deaths, and a
quarter of living children are stunted due to
inadequate nutrition
» Micronutrient deficiencies – due to diets
lacking in vitamins and minerals, also
known as ‘hidden hunger’ – affects 2 billion
people
» Another worrying form of malnutrition
– obesity – is on the rise. More than 500
million adults are obese as a result of diets
containing excess fat, sugar and salt
its forms, from hunger to obesity.
Food production has tripled since 1945,
while average food availability per person has
risen by only 40%. Our food systems have succeeded in increasing production, however, this
has come at a high environmental cost and has
not been enough to end hunger.
Meanwhile, food systems have continued to
evolve with an even greater proportion of food
being processed and traded, leading to greater
availability of foods with high energy, fats,
sugars and salt.
Our food systems are simply not sustainable
or healthy today, let alone in 2050, when we
will have to feed more than nine billion people.
We need to produce more food, but also
nutritious food, and to do so in ways that
safeguard the capacity of future generations to
feed themselves.
Put simply; we need healthy and sustainable
food systems that produce the right balance
of foods, in sufficient quantity and quality,
and that is accessible to all if we want to lead
healthy, productive and sustainable lives.
In preparation for ICN2, countries have
agreed to a political declaration and a framework for action on nutrition containing concrete recommendations to develop coherent
public policies in agriculture, trade, social
THE department of basic education in the
Northern Cape announced in September
that pupils in Kuruman will repeat their
grades in 2015, except for matriculants.
The reason cited by the department is
that teaching and learning didn’t take place
in the area for a period of three months.
Spokesperson for the Northern Cape
department of education, Sydney Stander,
said: “Despite numerous appeals to parents and communities, schooling came to a
standstill for the past three months.
“We are at a stage where it is not realistically possible to do anything with Grades
R to 11, except to allow them to return to
repeat the full year in 2015.”
For those who are not familiar with
the politics there, this is what happened.
Residents prevented children from going
to school, protesting for the government to
build a tarred road. This was just history
repeating itself; residents protested for the
same thing the previous year.
Back to the department of education’s
announcement. I expected the nation to
make a noise about or oppose the department’s decision to make Kuruman pupils
repeat their grades. My expectation was
obviously wrong. Clearly we don’t subscribe
to the notion “an injury to one is an injury
to all”.
According to media reports, pupils in the
area didn’t turn up for their final examinations. They felt it was a futile exercise.
They’ll be repeating their grades anyway.
So that means schools are closed already
for pupils and teachers are twiddling their
thumbs doing nothing during this period.
It seems the department of education
didn’t even bother implementing the recovery programme.
Pupils could have used the September
school holidays and weekends to cover the
work they couldn’t do due to the disruptive
protest. But, clearly, the department had
other ideas.
Thabile Mange
Gauteng
HIDDEN HUNGER: Diets lacking in vitamins and minerals, also known as ‘hidden hunger’,
affect 2 billion people worldwide. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES
protection, education and health that promote
healthy diets and better nutrition at all stages
of life.
The framework for action gives governments a plan for developing and implementing
national policies and investments throughout
the food chain to ensure healthy, diverse and
balanced diets for all.
This can include strengthening local food
production and processing, especially by family farmers and small-scale producers, and
linking it to school meals; reducing fat, sugars
and salt in processed food; having schools
and other public institutions offer healthy
diets; protecting children from marketing
of unhealthy foods and drinks; and allowing
people to make informed choices regarding
what they eat.
While government health, agriculture, and
education ministries should take the lead, this
task includes all involved in producing, distributing and selling food.
The ICN2 framework for action also sug-
gests greater investments to guarantee
universal access to effective nutrition interventions, such as protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding, and increasing nutrients
available to mothers.
Countries can start implementing these
actions now.
The first step is to establish national nutrition targets to implement already agreed-upon
global targets, as set out in the Framework
for Action. ICN2 is the time and place to make
these commitments.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
and World Health Organisation (WHO) are
ready to assist countries in this effort. By
transforming commitment into action and
cooperating more effectively with one another
and with other stakeholders, the world has a
real chance of ending the multiple burdens of
malnutrition in all its forms within a generation.
José Graziano da Silva is FAO director-general
and Margaret Chan is WHO director-general.
Parliament not the ANC’s playground:
Zille
Randima alusani
@doubleepresso: Aand it’s not DA and
EFF creche!
RootsB
@Bongani89699288: Zille, Is it playground for opposition parties?
Palestinian driver found hanged in
Jerusalem bus
sabelo simon mdepha
@sabelosimonmdep: Will it ever end
there?
Taxi strike could affect matric
sinethemba msutu
@SinethembaMsutu: They must use
train, bus and private vehicles bcz some
people don’t care abt education in this
country
Ramaphosa to meet political parties
in Parliament
Adi das
@adidudet: Hope Parliamentarians sing
the World Famous Song for Cyril. Happy
Birthday Mr Deputy President. Hip Hip
Hooray! Party today
Cannabis chemicals slows down brain
cancer tumour – British scientists
Brian dempsey
@Sauchoooo: We are all going to be trees
Where to for Nkandla?
Hajra Omarjee
@HajraOmarjee: Should President Zuma
pay the state back for the R215 government
spend on his private residence #Nkandla ?
#PoliticalEdge 8pm @ANN7tv
Mandla Mkhwananzi
@mandlamkwa: Even if he has to pay
back that money, he’s still going to pay it
back with the taxman’s money
Sabata William Booi
@IamSabataBooi: People this is our
President you are talking about, after all we
all make mistakes
South Africa is bad
@notproudlysa: hey wena, of course we
make mistakes! But we don’t keep on lying.

Download Report