Extreme Porn Loophole Must Be Closed, PM Told

Campaigners have called on the Prime Minister to close a loophole in extreme pornography laws which they say has allowed the likes of childkillers Mark Bridger and Stuart Hazell to view images portraying rape.

Rape Crisis South London and 100 other organisations have written to David Cameron calling for an urgent change to legislation.

Research has shown that of the top 50 accessible "rape porn" sites - found through a simple Google search - more than three-quarters advertise content portraying staged attacks on girls under 18.

It has been illegal to publish pornographic "portrayals of rape" in the UK since 1959, but such images are legally available online because they are uploaded abroad, outside UK jurisdiction.

Extreme pornography laws that were brought into force in 2008 after a campaign fought by the mother of a woman murdered by a porn-obsessive aimed to close this loophole.

However, the final legislation did not extend to rape depictions.

The issue has been tackled in Scotland, where anyone in possession of such images would be committing an offence and the offending websites can be blocked.

Rape Crisis South London campaigner Fiona Elvines said: "It is a serious omission not to have included images depicting rape and other non-consensual acts as they did in Scotland.

"Permitting the possession of depictions of sexual violence as entertainment glorifies, trivialises and normalises such abuse - at a time when Government statistics estimate that 85,000 women and girls are raped each year."

Bridger, who was jailed last month for murdering five-year-old April Jones, had cartoon pornographic images depicting bound and gagged youngsters being sexually abused.

Hazell, jailed for murdering 12-year-old Tia Sharp, had searched for child porn on the internet using terms such as "violent forced rape" and "incest".

Rape Crisis South London has conducted research that found of the top 10 Google search results for "free porn", half the websites host free rape pornography.

Sites include terms like "brutal rape", "real rape" and "savage rape" in their web addresses, the research found.

The letter to Mr Cameron, also signed by Deputy Children's Commissioner Sue Berelowitz, urges him to consider reform so that other Government work on tackling violence against women and girls is not undermined.

Liz Longhurst, whose daughter Jane was murdered by extreme-pornography obsessive Graham Coutts in 2003, last week said companies such as Google must "get their act together".

Mrs Longhurst, who fought for a ban on violent online pornography after her daughter's murder said the changes to the law have only been implemented a handful of times.

Professor Clare McGlynn of Durham University, an expert in this area of law, said: "The extreme pornography legislation is in urgent need of reform."

A Government spokeswoman said: "We share the public's concern about the availability of harmful content on the internet and have already taken steps to ensure there are better online filters to protect children.

"But we want to look at what more can be done and so the Culture Secretary has invited internet providers to a summit this month. We will look closely at the issues raised in this letter."