4. Other topics

- Legal developments in the European Union 
- Circumcision of boys 
- Self criticism, organisational matters 
- The American group Reform Sex Offender Laws  

Legal developments in the European Union

The meeting also discussed legal developments in the European Union, especially in Germany. Concerns were raised over a bill in Germany which, if enacted, will firstly filter child pornography, but which civil libertarians fear, could be used to block any other websites which offend the German state. 

We then discussed an EU proposal to criminalise "the providers of paedophile chat rooms and fora". The language of the proposal is dubious, hence a discussion about various possible interpretations.

Circumcision of boys 

The meeting had no papers on this topic. The discussion focused on the question whether anybody should be allowed to cut a boy without a valid medical reason. It seems to the members to be an act of violence, forced upon a child who can’t decide for himself, for entrenched traditional reasons which are no longer valid, if they indeed they ever were valid. Opposing opinion said that circumcision in the societies where it is normal practice is no big deal, and most men do not feel mutilated. 

Self criticism, organizational matters

Due to its status as a non-public workgroup, Ipce needs to ask what purpose it serves. What is our cause, and what should it be? In what way are our activities bettering our cause? What can be done to improve this work? 

See our Mission Statement. Note that Ipce is neither an action group nor a political movement. Ipce informs people. 

What does Ipce have to offer young, intelligent people who are interested in our topics? What should we be teaching them, and what strategies and beliefs of the next generation should we use to adapt the role of Ipce? How do we attract these young people? 

After discussion the meeting feels that by enabling young people with paedophile feelings to accept themselves, we will be able to win their support in the continuing work of Ipce.

The American group Reform Sex Offender Laws

There was a discussion regarding the American group Reform Sex Offender Laws. 

In brief, the discussion concerned whether we should work with sex offenders on their single-issue campaign to eliminate the (wrong kind of) "special" treatment they receive in the US. 

There was advocated that we do discreetly influence this kind of group and help them with their (hardly radical) preliminary aims. This will help us achieve these (undoubtedly preliminary, and thus important) goals, and influence other movements towards a position that assesses underpinning factors and challenges laws against sex acts.

Another argued against this approach, stating that the absurdity of treating sex offenders unlike other offender groups should be self evident, should be debunked through logical/evidence based reasoning/argument and not by providing people with a "greedy" argument that feeds off their self interest, as with RSO activism's appeal to "family values" and "you may be next".