AUCCRO opposes legalisation of pornography industry in Ukraine

Religious figures have spoken out against the bill to legalise the porn industry. Photo: pravoslavie.ru

On September 29, 2023, representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations issued a statement opposing the legalization of the pornography industry in Ukraine.

Religious leaders expressed their strong disapproval of the adoption of bill No. 9623, which aims to legalise the pornography industry in Ukraine and was initiated by Yaroslav Zhelezniak and other parliamentarians.

"It is particularly disgraceful when the initiators of the bill justify their initiative by claiming it will allow women to legally sell their bodies for volunteer contributions to support the Ukrainian army," they noted in their statement.

The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations is convinced that "speculating on war and a willingness to view women as commodities testifies to the moral depravity of the bill’s authors, who are ready to lobby for harmful and immoral initiatives and involve women in the sex industry for the sake of excessive profits from this amoral business."

According to the representatives of the Council, "This bill should be withdrawn from consideration or rejected because it poses a significant threat to public health, morality, and the dignity of Ukrainian society, as it legalises the import and production of pornographic materials in Ukraine".

Furthermore, they state that "the commercial pornographic industry creates visual content that causes addiction and is one of the largest sources of addiction, portraying unhealthy, misogynistic, violent, and coercive behaviour in sexual relationships".

The document also points out that "pornography contributes to the early and negative sexualization of young people, causing significant harm to children and adolescents, as it distorts their perception of healthy sexual relationships within marriage".

Moreover, according to the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, "pornography promotes the spread of stereotypes about women's roles, objectifying and exploiting them, presenting women as objects of pleasure. This can lead to an increase in violence against women".

Religious leaders warn that if the production of pornography is legalized in Ukraine, "there will be a significant increase in the risk of forcibly involving women in the sex industry, producing and distributing illegal pornography, including child pornography".

Therefore, they believe that "bill No. 9623 should be rejected, considering the enormous threat it poses to public health, morality, and the dignity of Ukrainian women and men, brought about by this destructive initiative".

Earlier, the UOJ explained the reasons why lawmakers took on pornography.

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