Two major items dealing with pollution were in the news recently.
I am writing about pollution in its wider sense, not just that our air quality is being brought to the fore by the MEPs of both parties representing us in the EU Parliament.
I will also be referring to the pollution of morals – the condition of being tainted or corrupted – as in the hardly covert corruption of children through videos, games, the Internet and fashion.
I have always been disturbed by little girls, in full make-up and dressed up as sex kittens, taking part in all kinds of competitions.
A distinction has to be made between children dressing up and children acting sexy. Many of us – certainly I and my siblings – used to muck about with make-up and mum’s high heels, etc., when left to our own devices. But there were no sexual connotations.
The TV programmes and movies to which we were exposed did not put such ideas into our heads and, of course, we had no home computers, console games, Internet, MTV or mobile phones.
But today, girls emulate what they see on their screens and know how to pout and pose provocatively to help them win competitions, or to get their own way. The boys are getting the message that girls are sex objects and both are being subliminally influenced by the violence in which they take part in their on-screen games.
Then, of course, there is the fashion industry, which wants children to look like miniature adults. Little boys in suits and ties, looking more like little clowns than daddy, and little girls in glittering, strappy gowns and furry capes, sometimes looking more like call girls than mummy.
As for the teenage girls, they are encouraged to wear pussy pelmets and see-through tops, when they are not yet morally equipped to deal with male lust.
With the advent of mobile phones, the Internet, computer games and sexy music videos, children have become more and more exposed to material that is just too adult.
Teen and fashion magazines make young girls think that the models they see on the pages are what they should emulate – wafer thin and flawless. However, there is a growing movement introducing normal sized models, maybe because some of the models and celebrities themselves have been through the agony of bulimia, anorexia and all kinds of plastic surgery.
A push is finally being made to protect children from being introduced to sexuality at too early a stage. In the UK, the Home Office has released a report by Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist, which states that children are being increasingly exposed to sexual imagery and that there is a clear link between this and violence towards females.
The study forms part of the Home Office’s attempts to have a broader public debate about how to combat violence against women and girls. Both the images we consume and the way we consume them are lending credence to the idea that women are there to be used and that men are there to use them, says the report.
The evidence gathered in the review suggests a clear link between consumption of sexualised images and the tendency to view women as objects and the acceptance of aggressive attitudes and behaviour as the norm, said the report.
“The sexual imagery distorts young people’s perceptions of themselves, encouraging boys to become fixated on being macho and dominant, while girls in turn presented themselves as sexually available and permissive,” said Dr Papadopoulos.
One outcome had been the rise of sexual bullying, the report added. The latter statement brought to mind a recent sexual bullying case in a Gozo school. Children today are finding it difficult to determine what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour, because of all the dubious material to which they are exposed.
As Dr Papadopoulos pointed out: “Unless sexualisation is accepted as harmful, we will miss an important opportunity… to broaden young people’s beliefs about where their values lie.”
The report recommendations include:
• calling for games consoles, mobile phones and some computers to be sold with parental controls already switched on to enable them to automatically filter which on-demand services and online material their children can use;
• giving the Advertising Standards Authority the power to act against sexualised imagery appearing on commercial websites, such as provocative photo-shoots used by clothing chains targeting teenagers;
• a ban on ‘sexualised’ music videos before the TV watershed;
• Internet service providers to block access to pro-bulimia and pro-anorexia websites and the creation of a website where parents can report any “irresponsible marketing” they believe sexualises young children.
Dr Papadopoulos also said there should be symbols to show when a published photograph had been digitally altered – such as pictures of celebrities manipulated to make them appear thinner.
Both main parties in the UK are taking the subject very seriously.
Tory leader David Cameron was quoted as saying that he “would clamp down on irresponsible advertising targeted at children”.
He also said that there was a need to stop children being “bombarded” with inappropriate material.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that the government had already responded to parents’ concern “about the pressures their children are under at a much younger age, which is why we have already committed to a number of the recommendations in this report”.
One is a UK Home Office cross-government plan: Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls – is a strategy. It sets out a coordinated approach to tackling the problem and includes a range of actions for the police, councils, the NHS and government departments across three areas: prevention, provision and protection. It was produced with public consultation, which ran over three months between March and May 2009.
The prevention work addresses social attitudes and myths about violence, changing attitudes over the long-term and stopping violence happening in the first place. Part of this work will include an awareness-raising campaign for teenagers aged 13 to 18.
The provision work focuses on ensuring that women and girls have access to the right help and support, for example counselling and access to specialist services, when violence does occur.
Having been involved in victim support in the past, and having liaised with the police on the matter, I know how important such a holistic strategy is to combat the problem. Locally, Carm Mifsud Bonnici, our Home Affairs’ Minister, has moved the first reading of a Bill to amend various laws, among them ones that will extend protection to minors and vulnerable people.
The penalties inflicted by the criminal courts with regard to sexual offences, including child exploitation, are being increased.
The amendments will tackle indecent material involving minors on the Internet, mobile phones and other communication technologies.
I was surprised to read that the use of the Internet to entice a minor to meet an adult for the purpose of child prostitution, the participation in pornographic exhibitions or sexual activities with minors and the advertising of sexual tourism is only now going through the process of being established as a crime.
Better late then never, I guess! Amending the criminal law to ensure that we keep up is very important. However, we also need to look beyond the law and work to prevent such crimes and provide fail-safe strategies to make sure that victims receive the proper attention.
Now to dust
Belatedly, I am afraid, as I did rather get caught up with the previous item.
It is encouraging to see MEPs from both political parties trying to get the government to get its act together on air pollution by putting on EU pressure.
Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil is calling on the European Parliament to formally investigate the problem of dust pollution from construction choking up certain areas of the Island, and Labour’s head of delegation in Brussels, Louis Grech, has called on the Commission to investigate the black dust issue.
Dr Busuttil said that Malta was in breach of the EU’s air quality directives and asked the EP Petitions Committee to investigate the complaint.
He and Mr Grech have called on the EP to take the necessary measures to ensure EU law and limits on air quality are upheld in Malta.
They both claim that the European Commission was not taking any action, despite admitting Malta was breaching its directives.
Well done, Simon and Louis. It is encouraging to see people who represent the community doing their job. It is interesting that Simon Busuttil did not get the same barrage from PN diehards, at least not publicly, as did the complaining government backbenchers.
The European Commission warned that it would take legal action if Malta continued to drag its feet over drawing up an air quality plan and complying with the EU’s strict directives.
Brussels was still waiting for Malta to provide it with more up-to-date information, particularly for 2008, and also to implement an air quality plan. The Commission warned that it would start infringement procedures if no progress were made in the coming weeks.
Let’s hope that we shall see some action and improvement in our air quality. Then perhaps our MEPs can do the same for noise pollution – especially since the bombi season will soon be upon us. As for the latter, maybe they could use the petition presented to both sides of the House over a decade ago.
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