Oct 2015 28 – 29
Porn. Panic. Ban: A Conversation on Sexual Expression, Pornography, Sexual Exploitation, Consent
Abstract
Point of View and the Internet Democracy Project are organising a conference in order to hold and facilitate an informed conversation on sexual expression, pornography, sexual exploitation and consent. This conference is a first attempt to have an indepth civil society conversation – among activists, lawyers, researchers working on either gender, sexuality or internet rights, or at their intersections.
Background #
Many believe it is the right time to have a national conversation on the related issues of sexual expression, pornography, sexual exploitation and consent, given recent and emerging policy trends.
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The Indian government, which blocked 857 porn sites in early August, is currently considering two petitions to ban online porn. The last Supreme Court hearing on this took place on 10 August.
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The legal definition of ‘sexual exploitation’ may be expanded to include sexualized images of women offline and online and to re-interpret sexual trafficking. The Supreme Court has asked the Indian government to detail its stand on this by 13 October.
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In 2013, a parliamentary committee discussed the need to enlarge the scope of the Indecent Representation Act, 1986 to bring new forms of communication like the internet and mobile etc within the ambit of the Act.
Gender, sexuality or digital rights activists have been discussing these issues in smaller groups. Some have made submissions to the Rajya Sabha against banning online pornography while some are conducting research to better understand these issues.
But we have yet to have a cross-movement dialogue around these issues. We have yet to develop a collective voice that articulates our realities, positions and concerns. We may aspire to change the conversation around these issues, but our voice is missing, invisible or not adequately heard in the public, policy and legal discourses surrounding them.
This conference intends to bring such relevant voices to this conversation on sexual expression, pornography, sexual exploitation and consent.
Agenda #
Day 1 — Wednesday 28th October 2015
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| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 0900 — 0930 | Who Why What Why now? (Introductions, Objectives, Agenda) |
| 0930 — 1030 | Keynote: Porn Again! The Thrills and Threats of a Fugitive Genre Shohini Ghosh, Sajjad Zaheer Professor of Media AJK Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia Millia Islamia |
| 1030 — 1100 | Tea & Coffee |
| 1100 — 1200 | ‘Memory dekhna hai kya?’: Sexual Expression in the Digital Age Panel: 30 Minutes — 5 Minutes Each Shals Mahajan, LABIA, queer feminist & writer Prabha Nagaraja, TARSHI, sexual & reproductive rights activist Nidhi Goyal, POV/CREA, gender & disability rights activist Meena Seshu, SANGRAM, sex workers’ rights activist Avantika Mehta, The Hindustan Times, journalist Jaya Sharma, Kinky Collective, queer feminist & BDSM community member Discussion |
| 1200 — 1315 | The Legit and the Illegit: The Contours of Sexual Expression Panel: 35 Minutes — 5 Minutes Each Kalki Subramaniam, Sahodari, on transbodies, programmed images, sexual exploitation Nayantara Ranganathan, Internet Democracy Project, on private censorship Smita Vanniyar, Point of View, on how platforms treat sex ex as gendered Siddharth Narain, SARAI, on online hate speech related to gender/sexuality Rohini Lakshane, Centre for Internet & Society, on amateur porn Discussion |
| 1315 — 1415 | Lunch |
| 1415 — 1500 | The Faultlines of Consent Real Net Natives, a 15-min video by Aritra Bhattacharya for CCDS A Short History of Consent, a 10-min visual walkthrough by Bishakha Datta, POV Discussion |
| 1500 — 1530 | The Imagined, the Perceived and the Real: Where is the harm? Group work (30 minutes) |
| 1530 — 1600 | Tea & Coffee (In Groups, If Needed) |
| 1600 — 1645 | Report Back (30 minutes) Discussion |
| 1645 — 1730 | Sexual Expression in the Law: What does it mean? MS Nappinai, Technology Law Forum/Supreme Court Bar Association Responses: Namita Malhotra, Alternative Law Forum/Amba Salelkar, Inclusive Planet |
Day 2 — Thursday 29th October 2015
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| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 0900 — 0930 | Recap refresh: key points from yesterday, flagging unfinished agendas |
| 0930 — 1015 | Keynote: Digital Manipulation: Selves, Selfies and Sunny Leone Paromita Vohra, ParoDevi Pictures, filmmaker, writer and columnist Discussion |
| 1015 — 1100 | Children, Sexuality, Abuse and Expression Panel: 30 minutes – 15 minutes each Vidya Reddy, Tulir Centre for the Prevention & Healing of Child Sexual Abuse Anuja Gupta, Recovering and Healing from Incest Discussion |
| 1100 — 1130 | Tea & Coffee |
| 1130 — 1330 | Laws, Lives and Expression Panel: 15 – 20 minutes per speaker with questions after each Anja Kovacs, Internet Democracy Project, on summary of objections to porn ban Debarati Halder, CCVCC, on Indecent Representation of Women Act Aarthi Pai, CASAM, on bid to define sexual exploitation Flavia Agnes, Majlis, on related legislative and judicial patterns |
| 1330 — 1430 | Lunch |
| 1430 — 1500 | Video: It’s Time For Porn To Change (TEDx Talk by Erika Lust, 12 mins) Video: Krutch (Experimental short film by Clark Matthews, 4 mins) Video: Make Love, Not Porn (TEDx Talk by Cindy Gallop, 4 mins) |
| 1500 — 1545 | Defrocking the Law Namita Malhotra, ALF, on defining/understanding obscenity – 5 minutes The Prurient, the Explicit, and the Private An exploratory study on Section 67, 67A and 66E of the IT Act – 20 minutes Bishakha Datta, Jasmine Lovely George, Smita Vanniyar, Arpita Bhagat (POV) Discussion |
| 1545 — 1600 | Tea & Coffee |
| 1600 — 1645 | Group Work on Key Takeaways/Principles |
| 1645 — 1700 | Report Back |
| 1700 — 1730 | Next Steps, Way Forward, Wrap Up |