I call Bullshit – Australia’s Anti-Porn Customs Policy & Female Genital Mutilation
I am normally Pretty Proud to be Australian. Australians are pretty laid back, down to earth and usually pretty open (Of course there are millions of exceptions). We May not be as outspoken about our love of our own country and culture as Americans are, but that’s just the way Australia is… Laid back and Down to Earth.
On Form Spring I was recently Asked Me “What is your favourite thing about living in Australia?”
I love that where I currently Live – Which is in the country, Not a city – we get Koalas In the tree in our backyard. Trust me, although I regularly see Kangaroos about, they certainly don’t exist in the main streets of the city nor even in country towns. I have also never once in 31years ‘Thrown a Shrimp on the Barbie”. One – we call them Prawns, two we don’t bbq them!
I Love the laid back culture, I love that the majority of people I’ve met & known are open about sexuality and being gay/lesbian/bi/trans or any other alternative to heterosexually monogamous is rarely an issue. Sydney hosts the amazing Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, Since People of every sexual persuasion have been able to loudly & proudly Celebrate their sexuality whilst Marching down Oxford Street. It is the largest Gay Pride celebration in the world. And the sleaze ball…Just another event during Mardi Gras, wear as much or as little as you like and party like there’s no tomorrow. (During Mardi Gras some glittery body paint counts as clothing!
Australia Is also, for the Majority, Pro-Choice. A woman has not only the right, but the resources available to terminate an un-wanted Pregnancy. RU486 - or Mifepristone which is also known as ‘The Abortion Pill’- is legal, easily acceptable & affordable with a prescription from an authorised prescriber. Surgical Abortions are also legal (or in the case of Queensland they are ‘de-criminalised’) accessible and affordable. In Southern Australia you can have an abortion bulk billed to Medicare, costing the patient nothing. In other states costs differ depending on the clinic and length of gestation, yet are all easily accessible before 20 weeks.
Visit Family Planning In NSW or Abortion Access for further information regarding Abortions in Australia.
But now I have to scream ‘Hypocrisy’
A couple in Queensland are facing imprisonment after using a drug from Overseas to induce an abortion. – Such Bullshit
Then there’s the new Customs Rule that allows Australian Customs Officials to search through your luggage as well as Digital Media devices such as Lap tops and phones looking for Pornography. Even Violet Blue has chimed in on this stupid and ridiculous new Policy.
As you arrive in the Country Custom’s are now asking if you have any Pornography with you on the ticket you are required to fill out to enter the country. Apparently they are only looking for Illegal pornography, that which includes images of children and such. A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the change was because the term “pornography” was more recognisable to travellers than the term “objectionable material”.
But it’s Bullshit and a complete Invasion of people’s privacy. There’s no stated definition of Pornography mentioned, so pictures of your wife or girlfriend skinny dipping on your honeymoon – pictures obviously only taken for your own viewing pleasure could land you a fine if you fail to tick yes to the question asking if you have any pornography with you. Where does the Government get off – are we not allowed to have any privacy. Having your belongings searched by a stranger is bad enough let alone your computer or phone!
Pornography Is legal in Australia, Of course there are limits to what is legal (such as performer’s having to be over 18 etc), but it is Legal none the less. What makes this hypocrisy worse is that the Country’s Capital, Canberra is the place to go to buy the edgier, harder core porn. It also just happens to be where our Politicians congregate. All I have to say is BullShit!
But that’s not the Worst of it…
AUSTRALIAN doctors are considering a controversial form of genital mutilation on baby girls.
The practice involving cutting a girl’s genitals, sometimes with razors or pieces of glass, could be allowed in a clinical setting to stem illegal backyard procedures which are leaving young girls scarred for life.
The Royal Australian New Zealand College of Obstetricians will next month discuss backing “ritual nicks”, a modified form of genital mutilation.
But experts are divided on whether to allow the practice, given that in some cultures it is used to remove the sexual feelings of women.
Female genital mutilation has been outlawed in Australia since the 1990s but is common among African, Asian and Middle Eastern communities.
With the rise in Somali and Sudanese numbers in Australia, doctors are seeing more cases of young girls, and women, needing surgery after illegal operations. Backers of “ritual nick” said it was a superficial procedure leaving no long-term damage.
RANZCOG secretary Gino Pecoraro said the policy would be discussed at next month’s Women’s Health Committee meeting.
“We will need to start to think about [its introduction] but we would have to speak to community leaders from Australia,” Dr Pecoraro said.
“If a nick could meet the cultural needs of a particular woman, then it might save her from going through what can really be drastic surgery.
“But we need to make sure we do not legitimise the ritualistic maiming of children.”
But many are outraged, some saying a “ritual nick” is still child abuse and legitimises female mutilation.
University of Newcastle’s professor of perinatal and infant psychiatry Dr Louise Newman said some doctors were being approached to perform the procedure.
“We know it is happening here . . . but [the] majority are done in the home in a traditional way,” she said.
Reasons given by practising populations include religion, despite the Koran not requiring it, and that it can help maintain cleanliness and health.
“The problem is some people see it similar to male circumcision but the reasons for both are very different as well as the impact,” Dr Newman said.
“The actual procedure can be pretty devastating.”
source News.com.au
I get that it is happening, It is disgusting, but it is still happening in Australia. Young girls having their genitals mutilated in gross, un-hygenic backyard ceremonies. But is allowing Doctors to perform ANY form of genital mutilation in any way acceptable? My Answer is no.
I wouldn’t even have my son circumcised, I don’t think any parent or person for that matter has the right to alter the body of another, be it your child or not, without their expressed permission. If my son would like to be circumcised I want that choice to be his. It is his body who the fuck am I to have parts of his anatomy cut off without his informed consent.
Female circumcision, although it can be compared to male circumcision it really is a whole other game. It truly is genital mutilation. No matter how little you remove from a females genitals you are still doing damage to her future sexual health. It’s just despicable.
There is an issue, an important issue that needs to be addressed here. But I seriously doubt that having Doctors ‘nick” female genitalia will satisfy those who are seeking to destroy their daughters sexual organs. I think that Education and stronger Laws threatening more severe penalties would be something worth considering.
I simply just can’t agree with it in any way shape or form.
Here endeth my Anti Australia Rant.
Violet xx
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