Sex

Our society has become increasingly sexualised and such sexualisation has become more mainstream; it has started to permeate through to younger audiences. There have been studies undertaken into the effects of such images on the development and identity of young women – and the development of young men’s attitudes towards girls – and numerous calls for media and advertising sources to cease the portrayal of women as sex objects and instead concentrate on promoting strong and confident female role models.[7]

The UK has one of the lowest rates of conviction for rape – fewer than 6% of all reported cases in 2007 resulted in a successful conviction.[8] There is evidence that many jurors continue to believe the myths of sexual assault – that women and girls are ‘asking for it’ if they wear particular clothes, are out late, or have been drinking. Lib Dems want to shatter such myths.

The sex industry remains part of life in the UK – not just for those who work in the industry or its customers, but for the public in general through their exposure to pornographic material on newsagent shelves, in the windows of adult shops and on the internet. A 2005 review[9] found that half of all children have logged on to a pornography website, whilst over 57% of children aged 9-19 had seen pornography online. There is a debate about whether pornography degrades men and women, and the effect it has on more mainstream ideas about sexuality and sexual expression.

The latest British Attitudes Survey indicated that the UK is becoming increasingly liberal in its approach to relationships and sexuality. We believe that every individual in the UK should be free to express their sexuality and choose their relationships without fear of oppression or discrimination.

  1. How does the increasing sexualisation of mainstream culture affect our lives and freedoms? How might we mitigate any negative affects of this?
  2. How can we ensure that children and young people grow up with strong, confident and successful female role models? Is there anything that can be done to make the impact of the media and advertising industries more positive?
  3. How can we better protect all members of our society from sexual abuse, both within their domestic environment and in their community?
  4. What can be done to decrease the prevalence of sexual attacks and improve conviction rates for those guilty of rape?
  5. How can we change attitudes to sex so that rape and sexual assault – under any circumstances – is not tolerated by society at large? How could this affect sex education amongst children and young people?
  6. How can we best support individuals to express their sexuality freely; eliminating oppression, fear of oppression and social stigma?
  7. Should a women’s paper be tackling the issue of prostitution and how might it approach the issues?

[7] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm
[8] http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/sexual-offences/
[9] LSE, Ofcom, NCH and ESRC

3 Responses to “Sex”

  1. Jo Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    Force taxi firms to take debit and credit cards so women aren’t deterred from taking a cab home and walking home alone instead.

  2. Amy Says:
    September 3rd, 2009 at 6:53 pm

    The burden should not be on the victim to prevent crime but on the state to enforce the law, and encouraging women to get into taxis or to avoid walking the streets at night might be practical in the short term but fails to address the real problems underlying the sorry state of rape laws and their enforcement in this country.

  3. Elzbieta Vine Says:
    June 5th, 2010 at 8:23 pm

    I like Jo’s idea of taxis taking credit/debit cards.

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