Articles
A commentary of the progress of the Domestic Abuse Bill (2020) and the proposed non-fatal strangulation legislation
Domestic violence and abuse are pervasive and ubiquitous social issues which plague our society, causing direct harm (occasionally resulting in death) to the individuals and a range of indirect harms to both victims and their families. In the year ending March 2019 ‘an estimated 2.4 million adults aged 16 to […]
Efforts in Inefficacy: Reflections on the Digital Economy Act and the looming spectre of the Online Harms Bill
The current landscape of pornography legislation in the UK is an ever-shifting entity, struggling to both accurately represent the plethora of sexualities that exist in our society and to effectively and fairly govern the ways in which these sexualities are portrayed. Since the advent of the internet, the public has […]
Age verification: Where do things stand?
After the Digital Economy Act passed in July 2017, implementation of age verification has been repeatedly delayed. We were initially told it would start being enforced in April 2018, but it was put back till the end of 2018. In November the Minister for Digital, Margot James, claimed that it will come into effect by […]
Contacting Backlash
Backlash is a volunteer organisation, that acts in several capacities to support communities and individuals in expressing consensual sexual freedoms. We have a presence on several social media platforms, which serve slightly different purposes, and consequently, are run and monitored by different members of the backlash team. Whilst we strive […]
Chris Ashford on the popper ban in the Guardian
The forthcoming ban on so-called ‘legal highs’ and its impact on minority communities seems to be passing almost without notice, and only ceremonial opposition in Parliament. Chris Ashford offers an important corrective in the Guardian. He explains how merely sharing amongst friends and partners a drug that poses no harm to the vast majority of users could see […]
Millian Liberalism and Extreme Pornography
My article, just published online by the American Journal of Political Science, argues that the ‘extreme pornography’ ban violates liberal tenets of free expression and privacy. I draw a parallel between what we might call a ‘traditional’ Millian defence of liberal rights and contemporary queer accounts of the value of […]
Itziar Urrutia, aka Ms Tytania: Sexual Freedom Award winner
“One person sticking out in the crowd is a lone, ranting lunatic; two are a movement.” – Anon. On November 9th, I was presented with the Sex Worker of the Year Award, at the 2015 Sexual Freedom Awards ceremony. You can find out more abut the Awards’ history and also, […]
Myles Jackman: Don’t criminalise the selfie-generation
Cross-posted from Myles Jackman By criminalising young people between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, our political and justice systems show how disconnected they are from technological change and social values, which is especially worrying so close to an election where politicians have been exploiting selfie culture. After an NSPCC […]
Major political parties fail to halt mass criminalisation of young people
Civil liberties campaign opposes labelling teen ‘sexters’ as sex offenders A politically charged moral panic over young people’s attitudes to sexuality is leading to Internet censorship and the labelling of ordinary young people as sex offenders, civil liberties campaign Backlash warns today. Backlash will campaign for a change in the […]
Lord Chief Justice Thomas mistaken: Internet porn does not turn people into murderers
Lord Thomas has claimed that Internet pornography was ‘a contributing factor in one of the most gruesome murder cases he had to rule on last year’ (see also the Daily Telegraph). As someone who has to sit in judgement over some of the worst offences committed in the United Kingdom, […]