Skirting real issues in the anti-porn Bill

Ladies dressed in short dresses in Kampala. A girl who believes in thigh power is one with esteem issues. File photo

What you need to know:

Moral decadence: Pornography is a ravenous cancer destroying modern society. It is Satan’s corruption of God’s design for us as sexual beings. It is one of the most wicked and powerful weapons in Satan’s arsenal.

Last year, Ugandan Parliament hit international headlines for passing the Anti-Pornography Bill, 2011.
In disparaging the proposed legislation, the people who love miniskirts and other incendiary outfits expressed outrage on social media, saying the Bill evokes the grim memories of Idi Amin’s reign of terror.
Although some Ugandans oppose the proposed ban on wearing miniskirts and other inflammatory outfits, there is support for the protection of children from the horrible dangers of pornography. In the absence of a tougher law, grasping vendors in town have exploited vulnerable children, exposing them to a harsh world of sexual and physical abuse before they even reach adolescence.

What the Bill is about
The Bill, which is awaiting President’s signature, is not all about miniskirts and skintight slacks—the infamous leggings. It’s also about “morality” and “decency,”.
It’s also about fighting back in the face of the disguised dangers of pornography-- the most alluring trap of all for our children. In the draft Bill, the much touted miniskirt is just part of a vague definition of pornography; it’s not the heart of the Bill.
The legislation seeks to protect children from the naughtiness of porn vendors. Researchers have found that children exposed to pornography cannot remove the traumatic images from their memories, and often delve into a cycle of addiction- the most dangerous disease. However, realising that even the ‘forbidden fruit’ was pleasing to the eyes; it becomes appropriate to establish a legal framework to regulate the vice and further clarify the offence of pornography in our laws.
Although delving into the miniskirt debate will be skirting the real issues, it should also be clearly understood that even if President Museveni assented to the Bill in its current form, Uganda will not be the first and the last country to ban miniskirts.

Police in Swaziland last year banned women from wearing miniskirts and midriff-revealing tops, saying they provoke rape and defilement. The law was enforced after a march by women and young girls calling for tougher laws to protect them against a spate of rapes.
As responsible citizens, we have a moral obligation to do everything we can to protect our sons and daughters - the future generation - from this provocative snare.

This flood of porn should terrify us all. What’s happening inside the fashionable city internet cafes is beyond the pale. For our children as young as seven years old to surf porn sites with impunity, is totally intolerable. How about the so-called street porn dealers selling CDs to minors with impunity? If we are not feeding a monster, then, what exactly are we doing? What kind of social order are we trying to mould?
Precautions

Precautions can be taken to protect children from the dangers on the Internet. It is very important that we tighten our laws to protect children from the dangers of streaming pornography materials. The enforcement will be another matter.
Child pornography is an all-inclusive problem that needs collective efforts. For instance, the available data show that in the US, child pornography is the fastest growing crime in the country, increasing an average of 150 per cent per year. This is because of the proliferation of pornography and inadequate tools to track down a racket of pedophiles and porn vendors that prey on children.

The Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Bill, 2011 that seeks to fight online child pornography, is already before the Senate in the US.
What this means is that in the face of this ravenous cancer destroying the social order, developed countries like US are fighting back. This is the exact reason why developing nations like Uganda cannot sit back and watch her children turn into freaks because we have allowed our love for min-skirts to cloud our judgment. Happy New Year

ABOUT THE BILL
The proposed legislation, it defines pornography as any cultural practice, form of behaviour or form of communication or speech or information or literature or publication in whole or publication in part or news story or entertainment or stage play or broadcast or music or dance or art or graphic or picture or photography or video recording or leisure activity or show or exhibition.

It also prohibits any combination of the preceding that depicts unclothed or under clothed parts of the human body such as breasts, thighs, buttocks and genitalia, a person engaged in explicit sexual activities or conduct; erotic behaviour intended to cause sexual excitement and any indecent act or behaviour tending to corrupt morals.