BAN ON PORNOGRAPHY; A SOLUTION TO THE CRIMES OF

RAPE?

-RUSHI SREEDHAR KUNKUPUDI.

The history of pornography is nearly if not, completely difficult to conceive. Pornography

comes in many forms around the world. In the 18th century pornography came in the form of
books or pictorials that were secretly sold and by the 19th century pornography evolved to
films which were widely available. After the internet was invented, the pornography industry
prospered and became a multi-million dollar business.

In a country where technology has reached the most remote places and societies have
accepted major changes in the new world, India still struggles to accept changes that
challenge the morals of the Indian society. The Supreme Court passed extraordinary
judgements that changed the future of the Indian society, like issuing a Ban on Triple Talaq1
and repealing Section 377 IPC, hence legalising gay courtship. These judgements set a
prospective outlook for the future generations of our country. It was a sign for the youth that
the traditional and patriarchal society of India could be reformed into a developed and gender
equal society, where everyone’s rights are respected.

But, a judgement was passed by the Uttarakhand High court in October 2018 that ordered the
Internet Service License Holders to ban on pornography arose doubts in the minds of the
people. The judgement in relation to the gang rape case in Dehradun, said:

“there shall be a direction to all the Internet Service License Holders to punctually obey the
Notification dates 31st July, 2015 and to block the publication or transmission of obscene
material in any electronic form, transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act or
conduct and also publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually
explicit act or conduct forthwith.”

In 2013, Kamlesh Vaswani, filed a PIL before the supreme court and petitioned for a separate
law that would govern online pornography since the existing cyber laws were inadequate to
curb the circulation of porn. The PIL also petitioned on the ban on access to such
pornographic websites. Vaswani argued that porn induces violence against women and
threatens the social security of the country. Though he was first mocked at, the court did

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The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017
come to a decision and banned around 857 porn websites. But the judgement was taken back
after there was a public outrage and resistance to the judgement.

Corey price, Vice president of PornHub stated, “There are no laws against pornography in
India and watching adult content privately. It is evident that the Indian government does not
have a solution to a very serious and systematic problem in the country, and is using adult
sites like ours as a scapegoat. For the government to ban sites like ours that have complaint
parental controls, non-consensual take down page, and strict terms of service is a disservice
to the people of India, who have become the ;largest connoisseurs of adult content.2”

Another fear he had for pornography viewers in India was that they would try and acess the
black market for illegal pornography and the increase in use of VPN’s to access these illegeal
sites.

The main reasons for the ban on porn were, that Porn is the reason that rape is predominant in
the Indian society and that it supports violence against women. And another point being
pornography being a threat to the social security of India. The reason why rape is still
prevalent and is a common crime in India is because the Indian judiciary does not take care of
cases properly and the rape victim is shamed by the society for losing her virtue. There has
been any substantial evidence that proved porn increases rape crimes and induces violence
against women. Richa Kaul Padte recites in her book: “Several studies across the world have
tried to find links between media and action, and all of them have reached the same
conclusion: there is absolutely no straight line we can draw from a piece of media to
particular action, we cannot say that porn causes rape just because it has been revealed that
some rapists had hard core on their mobile phones. Data from across the world indicate that
incidents of rape have been steadily declining over the past few decades- decades during
which access to sexy content has been exponentially increasing.”3

Even in the Dehradun gang rape case which drove the Uttarakhand High Court, it could not
be proved that the group of boys had actually watched an adult film before committing the
crime. So it would be wrong to blame pornography for the crime of rape. Objectifying a
woman and thinking of her as a sexual object is not always rooted to porn but uproots from
mind-sets of patriarchal society. And the main point to be noted from adult films is that the
actors performing are resorting to consensual intercourse and not by force. It is true that there
are many adult films that depict rape and child abuse, but that does not hold pornography
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The Indian Express
3
Cyber Sexy- Richa Kaul Padte
responsible for rape crimes. Whether or not porn is banned, rape would still be a problem in
our country.

So it is justified to say that rape crimes cannot completely be blamed on pornography. The
crimes of rape and sexually harassment are to be blamed solely on the perpetrator and
government officials who do so little to prevent it. How do we solve the problem of rape or
sexual harassment in India?

1. Do not ban pornography. Even though official websites that showcase adult films
have been blocked, they are still available in black markets and is every easy to attain
so there is no use.
2. But child pornography and violent adult films need to be blocked or for that matter
such films that have been recorded or films should be criminalised.
3. Sex education to be introduced into schools. Most of the customers of the
pornographic industry are school boys who are curious about that subject leading to
them illegally obtaining them. Even the case where the Uttarakhand court passed the
judgement of banning pornography was because a gang rape case done by high school
boys. So sex education during the puberty phase of their life exposes them to what
actions are right and the meaning of consent. It would also educate children as to what
a good touch is and a perverted touch in terms of sexual harassment.
4. The government has to set up a stronger defence force for women who get raped. The
government needs to take such cases seriously and not pass on the entire
responsibility to the judiciary.

To conclude, banning pornography is not the answer to solving rape and sexual harassment
crimes. In a patriarchal society such as ours, rape is still blamed on women, for how they
dress and how they behave. And sexual harassment towards children is not also a problem of
pornography but the mind-set of people. Adult films are created on the genre that people
fantasise. Hence, child pornography and violent adult films needs to be banned and
criminalised. This gives another reason to make it a priority to introduce sex education into
school curriculums, so that children can understand what sexual harassment is and whether
they are being exploited for pornography.

Pornography is not a taboo and shouldn’t be considered as one. It’s the right of an Indian
citizen to watch adult films and he owns no one an explanation as to why he is watching it.
For some people pornography is an escape from their stressful lives and for some it’s a virtual
pleasure they enjoy and fantasise. Pornography is part of an individual’s private life as to
what he watches and fantasises. So banning pornography is infringing the right of privacy of
those people who enjoy it. And under the constitution of India, right to privacy is a
fundamental right. So banning pornography is not going to stop rape and sexual harassment
crimes and it is not a taboo that needs to be shunned in a society. It is a pleasure many people
enjoy and hence no one can interfere with an individual’s choice of their pleasures they want
to enjoy.