Theresa May – and her entire government – has promised to introduce a law against “upskirting”, after a Private Members’ Bill seeking to criminalise the offence last week failed.
“Upskirting”, for those who are not familiar with the neologism, is the rude and unpleasant action of a man (usually a man) secretly taking a photograph of a woman at such an angle that the picture peers up the lady’s skirt.
The campaigner Gina Martin – who herself had been “upskirted” – succeeded in getting a Lib Dem MP to propose the bill, but it failed when the Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope shouted “Object”.
Sir Christopher has been called, among other things, a “knuckle-dragging” reactionary, though he subsequently explained that his objection was procedural, not substantial. And Mrs May, as well as the minister for women Victoria Atkins, are resolved to use Government time to criminalise upskirting.
Personally, I think a rush to legislate is highly questionable. Upskirting is vulgar, intrusive and even odious, but it seems to me inappropriate, and disproportionate, to make it a criminal offence, for which a man could serve two years in prison.
Not every reprehensible human act can, or should, be regulated by yet another law, backed by the imposition of a prison sentence. Sometimes a wrongful or injurious action should be met with a reprimand, a public shaming or even social stigma. We don’t always need more legislation to deal with every social or moral offence.
Aggressive upskirting, anyway, surely comes into the category of threatening behaviour or stalking, already punishable by law.
But no doubt a new – possibly unworkable – law will be enacted, because it is fashionably considered by politicians to be “progressive”, and there is no longer any way of signalling that something is reprehensible except by passing more laws. The law cannot, nor should it, be invoked to regulate every single aspect of right and wrong behaviour.
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Prompted by the 462 priests who wrote to the Catholic Herald endorsing the encyclical Humanae Vitae – issued 50 years ago in July – I re-read Pope Paul VI’s original text.
It is indeed a sensitive and thoughtful document. It speaks of the “dignity of woman” and signals that rape, or coercive sex acts, within marriage are wholly unacceptable. “To force the use of marriage [acts] on one’s partner … offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife.”
“Bodily autonomy” is lauded today, but Humanae Vitae warns readers that “man does not have unlimited dominion over his body”, and that a person should never see their spouse in an “instrumental” manner. It upholds sensitive and loving conjugal relations, and underlines that children are a gift from God, within the context of “responsible parenthood”. But it famously rules out any method other than using the “natural cycle” in spacing births.
Yet the encyclical could have paid more attention to health – particularly the health of mothers. Although there is a passing reference to therapy for organic disease, there isn’t enough focus on maintaining maternal wellness. We know that too much and too rapid childbearing can have a detrimental effect on a woman’s health. Many acute cases of prolapse of the womb, caused by multiple pregnancies, came to light in 1948 as the NHS facilitated more free medical care.
Theologians may, however, be interested to peruse the current issue of Vogue magazine, where, on page 139, we are told about the technology now revolutionising women’s health: that is, apps such as Natural Cycles and Glow that track reproductive health, digitally highlighting phases of fertility and infertility – which was basically what Humanae Vitae recommended.
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The Argentine-born Queen Máxima of the Netherlands is a popular figure in her adopted country. She was recently photographed radiantly celebrating her husband’s 50th birthday. So it’s sad to learn that her 33-year-old sister Inés Zorreguieta has apparently taken her own life. In a tragic coincidence, Queen Letizia of Spain lost her sister, Erika, to suicide some years ago.
Depression has been suggested as a factor. But sisters nearly always feel a sense of guilt, as well as sorrow, for a sibling’s suicide. And for some, the sorrow never goes away, especially, perhaps, where the surviving sibling feels they have been so much more fortunate in life.
Máxima has been active in charity work for the homeless, but it would be unsurprising if she involved herself now in a mission to deter and prevent suicide by young people vulnerable to depression.
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