UNITED NATIONS, November 21 (C-Fam) The U.S. won a key vote against child pornography and pedophilia in the General Assembly’s Third Committee today.
Sixty-eight nations sided with the United States and against the European Union in insisting that all forms of child pornography, including virtual child pornography and sexting must be prosecuted. The Trump administration said this was in line with an international treaty against child pornography launched by the U.S. government over thirty years ago.
Europeans have been trying to legalize some forms of pedophilia like virtual child pornography, sex bots, and other materials that don’t involve real children. They are also in favor of blanket decriminalization of sexting by children, including sexting between kids and adults. But their position is not popular. Only fifty-one nations sided with the European Union. Thirty abstained.
The vote took place when the U.S. proposed a hostile amendment to a resolution on technical cooperation on law enforcement against organized crime. The U.S. amendment added a focus against child pornography to ensure that all United Nations programs to protect children from sexual exploitation are in line with existing international law.
U.S. diplomats explained that the amendment was necessary to give the UN system “parameters” to combat child sexual exploitation that were in line with “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography.”
The European Union led the charge against the U.S. position. “The phrase (child pornography) is increasingly considered obsolete and potentially harmful,” said a representative of Denmark speaking on behalf of European Union member states. He said the phrase was therefore being replaced by “child sexual abuse material.” He explained that the “concept of pornography suggests a consensual practice between adults” and that this was unfair to children.
The UN system has been debating replacing the term “child pornography” with “sexual abuse material” since 2017. Europeans have systematically replaced the term in most UN resolutions. The Friday Fax has reported on itsince this debate first developed. It seemed like a debate about semantics until last year after the adoption of a new UN treaty on cybercrime.
The new treaty completely replaced the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” consistent with what Europeans have been asking for over a decade. But it also expressly allows for the production, dissemination and production virtual child pornography and sexting. This helped all UN member states realize that the debate was always about legalizing some forms of pedophilia and creating a gray zone of sexual autonomy for children.
More: https://c-fam.org/friday_fax/breaking-us-wins-un-vote-to-combat-child-prn/
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