Bob McCoskrie: Topless parade is destined to offend

It is disappointing the police will turn a blind eye to the Erotica Parade today. In doing so, they are ignoring not only the law, but the standards of decency held by the wider community.

Auckland City Councillors have received almost 10 times more emails objecting to this parade than over the planned rates increase.

This is how strongly families feel about the planned display of nudity and the promotion of the pornography industry in a public place, namely Queen St during the busy lunch hour.

Interestingly, in other recent cases, police decisions have reflected the fact that topless stunts are still deemed unacceptable in public. These include:

* Bare-breasted protesters who disrupted Prince Charles' walkabout in central Wellington last year and were covered up by the police and charged with disorderly behaviour.

* A dash across Hamilton's Waikato Stadium during the All Blacks' test against Ireland this year resulted in a bikini-clad streaker being charged with disorderly behaviour.

* A Nelson teenager was stood down from school after she streaked across a field during a 1st XV rugby match - an acknowledged copycat of the Waikato Stadium dash.

* A woman who was against a church's anti-abortion stance was charged with offensive behaviour when she protested topless.

It's not just a New Zealand issue. Supermodel Kate Moss upset hundreds of Muslims in New York when a huge Calvin Klein advertising poster - showing the supermodel topless and grabbing a shirtless man - was put up opposite a mosque in the East Village district.

Worshippers were upset by the image because under Islamic law, Muslim men are not meant to look at naked or scantily-clad women aside from their wives.

Section 125 of the Crimes Act clearly states it is a crime to wilfully (do) any indecent act in any place to which the public have or are permitted to have access, or within view of any such place.

In response to a letter asking police for their interpretation of the law, the area commander, Inspector Rob Abbott, said the Court of Appeal, in 1973, held that the question was whether the conduct offended against a reasonable and recognised standard of decency which ordinary and reasonable members of the community ought to impose and observe in this day and age on entertainment of a public nature.

The question of indecency must be considered by reference to the time, place and circumstances of the conduct and the impropriety must be more than trifling and be sufficient to warrant the sanction of the law.

In the opinion of the police, given the standards of decency observed today, a female being topless in a parade on a weekday in Queen St will not in itself constitute an indecent act.

We disagree entirely with this interpretation.

Most New Zealanders know it is indecent and inappropriate to be topless in a public place, which is why there is no acceptance of the behaviour in schools, workplaces or public gatherings.

After turning a blind eye to this parade, will the police also fail to prosecute a surf lifesaving guard who decides to patrol topless on a beach filled with families, a worker at McDonalds who serves topless or school students who wish to do PE classes topless?

It is a little ironic that this parade is taking place at the same time the taxpayer has just paid out more than $163,000 for seminars run by Rape Crisis and adult sexual offending and internet safety organisations, for police staff caught with pornographic emails.

The Advertising Standards Authority has also acknowledged public concern by upholding a 2003 complaint about a billboard for the Erotica Adult Lifestyle Expo which showed the upper torsos of a man and a woman, with the woman's naked breasts clearly visible. In its ruling, the complaints board stated the advertisement would be likely to cause both serious and widespread offence and offend against generally prevailing community standards of decency, breaching the code of ethics of advertising.

Furthermore, the complaints board was of the view that it had not been prepared with a due sense of social responsibility.

This is the exact argument being used by concerned members of our community.

We cannot stop the pornography industry promoting their behaviour to a targeted audience - those who will not be offended.

But for those who stand for decency, and who seek to protect families and children, a parade during lunchtime down a major street will cause widespread offence.

And the police should act.

* Bob McCoskrie is National Director, Family First Lobby