- Local
-
by Julia Malunga on 12 Dec 2019by Julia Malunga on 12 Dec 2019by Tenson Mkhala on 12 Dec 2019by Ulande Nkomesha on 12 Dec 2019
- Business
-
by Natasha Sakala on 12 Dec 2019by Natasha Sakala on 11 Dec 2019by Ulande Nkomesha on 10 Dec 2019by Natasha Sakala on 10 Dec 2019
- Courts
-
by Zondiwe Mbewe on 12 Dec 2019by Zondiwe Mbewe on 11 Dec 2019by Zondiwe Mbewe on 11 Dec 2019by Zondiwe Mbewe on 11 Dec 2019
- Goal Diggers
-
by Abraham Kalito on 9 Dec 2019by Abraham Kalito on 8 Dec 2019by Abraham Kalito on 6 Dec 2019by Abraham Kalito on 5 Dec 2019
- Opinion
-
by Diggers Editor on 12 Dec 2019by Diggers Editor on 11 Dec 2019by Diggers Editor on 10 Dec 2019by Diggers Editor on 9 Dec 2019
- e-Paper
- Guest Diggers
-
by Julius Kapembwa (PhD) on 5 Dec 2019by Rueben Lifuka on 4 Dec 2019by Sishuwa Sishuwa on 22 Nov 2019by Dr Chishimba Mubanga, MSc on 22 Nov 2019
- Editor's Choice
-
by Diggers Correspondent on 24 May 2019by Diggers Reporter on 4 Mar 2019by Andyford Mayele Banda on 29 Jan 2019by Davies Mwila on 22 Jan 2019
- Lifestyle
-
by Diggers Correspondent on 9 Dec 2019by Sampa Kabwela on 23 Nov 2019by Natasha Sakala on 8 Nov 2019by Felix Kashweka on 4 Oct 2019
CLOSEHome / Guest Diggers / David Julian Wightman / Exchanging nude photos privately shouldn’t be a crimeImagine sitting in your living room watching TV and noticing someone outside looking in your window. How would you feel? What if that stranger is looking in the bedroom window at you and your lover?
What if that stranger is a police officer, a judge, a pastor? What if they are getting ready to pounce and arrest you for what you are doing in the privacy of your own home?
This is the reality that otherwise innocent, law-abiding Zambians could face if government allows police to shut down shops selling sex toys in Lusaka and target people sending private pictures of themselves.
While you may doubt police will actually show up at your house and seize your sex toys or smartphone, the fact that they have the power to do so is a serious problem for basic personal freedoms and rights in Zambia.
Let’s consider the threats that sex toys pose to public safety and health. Unless they are being used as weapons in a domestic dispute, dildos, vibrators, and other sex toys pose absolutely zero risk to public safety.
As for public health, improper use and cleaning of sex toys can indeed spread diseases. As Ndola gynaecologist Dr Misheck Hamazwanga rightly points out, sex toys can contain dangerous chemicals and may harbour harmful bacteria, especially if cheaply produced and poorly maintained. This point can and should be applied to many other consumer products and packaging, much of which contain toxic chemicals.
Consumers should be informed on how to properly use and sanitize their toys. This would ordinarily be the job of a sales clerk, but when such products are criminalized, you have no control over the right information reaching the customer.
So the solution to the insignificant public health threat posed by sex toys is to have accurate information available in a legal and professional retail setting. The solution is definitely not to allow police to interfere in people’s private sex lives.
The same can also be said for adult couples or individuals sending nude pictures via text or apps like WhatsApp. The public health and security threat posed by naughty pictures is simply none. We may not approve of people doing so, but as long as they are consenting adults, there is no good reason why government, ZICTA, or police should get involved, other than authoritarian voyeurism.
In this globalized world, anyone with a smartphone and Internet access is only a few clicks away from an ocean of pornography. Zambia’s obscenity laws were crafted before the Internet, and clearly we have not kept up to date.
What counts as “obscene” in today’s world? Are sexy bras and lingerie obscene? What’s the difference between sexy undies and sex toys? Why should sex boosters be allowed everywhere but not sex toys? Why is a photograph taken and shared by consenting adults considered obscene? Should we ban TV shows like Game of Thrones, or shut down DSTV for showing such racy entertainment?
More importantly, how are we to decide who decides what is “obscene”?
These are questions that should be asked and answered by our legislators and courts of law before we allow police to threaten and raid anyone who may sell such adult items.
Are sex toys more of a threat to public health and safety than the illegal alcohol overflowing the streets of Lusaka? Rising political tensions and police brutality concern me far more than a few lucky ladies playing with their Rabbits.
To paraphrase late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, government has no place sticking its nose in our bedrooms. The police should have even less business dictating what consenting adults can and cannot do in the privacy of their own homes.
The fact is we deserve more rights and personal freedoms in Zambia, not less.
There is simply no reasonable justification for police or government to use outdated and almost unenforceable obscenity laws to intimidating citizens and small businesses.
There will always be those sheep who bleat that sex toys, revealing lingerie, and other adult accoutrements are “immoral” and “indecent”, but why should their personal opinion or religious belief dictate what others are allowed and not allowed?
Zambia is a constitutional democracy, not a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. Whether we like it or not, the laws of Zambia are drafted under secular guidelines, not religious ones – and for bloody good reason.
Certain pastors have made noises about sex toys being against “Bible principles”, but how many of these Godmen check the genitals of their male congregants before they enter church (Deuteronomy 23:1)?
Would they also check birth certificates to make sure parishioners are not bastards, banned from entering a church even to the “tenth generation” (Deuteronomy 23:2)? How many church leaders would call for a newly-wedded bride to be stoned on her father’s doorstep if she was found not to be a virgin (Deuteronomy 22:20)?
How many “men of God” would insist that worshippers stay home and pray quietly in private as instructed by Jesus (Matthew 6:5) or force their female congregants to cover their hair (1 Corinthians 11:6) and keep their mouths shut (1 Corinthians 14:34)? How many Zambian divorcees would agree that getting married again is adultery (Luke 16:18)?
Frankly, if we followed “Bible principles” to their natural conclusions, Zambian law would have to make allowances for slavery (Exodus 21:2-11 and 20-21, Exodus 22:2-3, Leviticus 25:44-46, 1 Peter 2:18, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, Ephesians 6:5), as well as incest (Genesis 19:30-38 and 20:12, 1 Corinthians 7:36-38), rape (Deuteronomy 22: 28-29), genocide (Numbers 31:7-18, Deuteronomy 20:10-14), and even cannibalism (2 Kings 6:28-29, Ezekiel 5:7-11, Deuteronomy 28:52-57).
As long as pastors can selectively pick the verses they appreciate while ignoring the inconvenient ones, no church leaders should be allowed to impose his or her “values” on public policy.
Likewise, it is not the role of government to dictate and administer “morality” upon the public.
In Zambia, as in any other avowed democracy, our laws and public policy must uphold and encourage the personal rights and freedoms of the citizenry.
Failure to do so may lead to willful religious hypocrisy, not to mention the creeping tyranny of fanaticism.
About David Julian Wightman
David Julian Wightman is a Zambian-Canadian journalist and human rights activist.
- How much will we bare under the Threatened State of Emergency - 8 Jul 2017
- Zambia’s war on cannabis is insane, immoral - 18 Jun 2017
- Exchanging nude photos privately shouldn’t be a crime - 10 Jun 2017
- Against Cultural Conservatism - 27 May 2017
- Rastafari: Roots and repression in Zambia - 10 May 2017
Related Items-
Trending
-
Don't be used by UPND to get diplomatic jobs, Mumbi tells Diggers journalists (2,941 views)
-
Mukula smugglers are in govt, cartel members are exposing each other (2,376 views)
-
Ba Davies Mwila boss, nga imwe? How did you lose Chipili seat? (1,775 view)
-
UPND explains Mpulungu shooting incident (1,743 view)
-
Power export to Zambia dependent on our surplus production - Eskom (1,580 view)
-
Kapata to sue Diggers for publishing Mukula smuggling cartel
-
Homosexuality exists in Zambia, no one chooses to be born gay - Sacika
-
Don't be used by UPND to get diplomatic jobs, Mumbi tells Diggers journalists
-
PF blames minister for Lupososhi loss, demands his resignation
-
Power export to Zambia dependent on our surplus production - Eskom
-
Subscribe For News In Email
Archives
Jan0 PostsFeb0 PostsMar0 PostsApr0 PostsMay0 PostsJun0 PostsJul0 PostsAug0 PostsSep0 Posts-
«December 2019»
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
▼MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Latest
-
Lungu’s PF the architect of fake news – UPND
12 Dec 2019 -
Let’s take care of the clergy, urges Lungu
12 Dec 2019 -
Dora receives draft media regulation bill from MLC
12 Dec 2019 -
Explain delayed power import, Speaker orders Energy Minister
12 Dec 2019 -
EIA can’t lie Lungu involved in Mukula saga – Kalaba
12 Dec 2019 -
Mimbula, Moxico fight injunction which restrains Milingo from selling KCM mining rights
12 Dec 2019
-
The News Diggers
Contact Details
Plot No. Lus/9812/649-MC8
off Alex Chola Road
Nyumba Yanga
P.O. Box 32147
Lusaka, ZambiaTelephone or WhatsApp:
+26-097-7708285
+26-095-3424603
+26-096-5815078Email:
diggers [at] diggers [dot] news
editor [at] diggers [dot] news
Send this to a friend
-
A solid case against the marriage of convenience between “church” and state. No sane Zambian should delude themselves into thinking Zambia is a christian nation. It is downright ridiculous. Christianity did not exist until 300+ years after the supposedly death of the purported Christ.