3 September 2011

Family First NZ is writing to the Commissioner of Police to plead that the police prevent the proposed Boobs on Bikes parade happening in the centre of Auckland city on the same day that families converge on the area for the rugby world cup game against France.

“The police and the judiciary have taken a liberal but also inconsistent interpretation of what is deemed offensive and the politicians have failed to correct the anomaly,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “Now families who are in the Auckland city centre on a Saturday and rugby families in town for the world cup games are going to be confronted by a tacky porn parade.”

Section 125 of the Crimes Act clearly states that it is a crime to ‘wilfully (do) any indecent act in any place to which the public have or are permitted to have access, or within view of any such place’.

“When Family First challenged the Auckland police on their failure to prevent a mid-week parade in 2007, they told us that ‘in the opinion of the Police, given the standards of decency observed in this day and age, a female being topless in a parade on a weekday in (a main city street) will not in itself constitute an indecent act.’ But we are now dealing with a weekend parade which presents far greater potential for offence,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“Most New Zealanders know it is indecent and inappropriate to be topless in a public place – which is why there is no acceptance of the behaviour in schools, workplaces or public gatherings. In failing to stop the porn parade, they ignore not only the law, but the standards of decency held by the wider community.”

“We cannot stop the pornography industry promoting their behaviour to a targeted private audience despite its harmful effects on women, children, and families. But for those who stand for decency, and who seek to protect families and children, a parade down a major street in NZ on a weekend when young children and families will be there will cause widespread offence,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“The Boobs on Bikes parades are simply a commercial business advertising the porn industry. The fact that the hard-core porn industry can give ‘two-fingered waves’ to local councils and the police proves that the protection of children and families is not being given priority.”

ENDS

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