UNITED KINGDOM – The rape and strangulation of a UK special education teacher after her attacker viewed violent porn online has spurred the British government to promise to take a stronger stance against the extreme form of sexual entertainment.Liz Longhurst, mother of the murdered woman, recently met with UK Home Security Charles Clarke to discuss a petition for legal reforms against violent erotic content on the internet. Longhurst had circulated the petition, which the BBC claims contained 32,000 signatures. The government has assured Longhurst and her supporters that it will soon announce plans to toughen laws regarding the content that is already illegal for publication in the country, although at this point it remains legal to view.
A male acquaintance of 31-year-old Jane Longhurst raped and strangled the woman in 2003 after indulging what has been called in the press an “apparent obsession with necrophilia and asphyxial sex.” Graham Coutts, an amateur musician, then kept her body for more than a month prior to burning it in the woods. Convicted in February of 2004, Coutts was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
As matters stand now, websites with content featuring bestiality, rape, torture, or necrophilia are covered under the UK’s Obscene Publications Act, made law in 1959 and designed to penalize publication of material deemed likely to “deprave and corrupt” viewers. Under the Act, ISPs in the UK can be forced to remove such websites – but those outside of the UK are not affected.
Since the UK government has made progress in dealing with child pornography, it hopes to use some of the lessons it learned in order to strengthen its suppression of violent content such as Coutts preferred. A Home Office spokesman indicated that assistance from outside of the country would be required and would require adequate liaisons with international bodies in order to be successful.
Not ready to confirm that new laws would make access to such sites illegal, the Home Office also refused to comment on whether there were plans afoot to change UK’s Data Protection Act, as well. Such a change was suggested by The Herald and would allow credit card companies to provide information about card holders who use their services in order to procure offensive materials hosted out of country.
