The Statement is: "A Call to Safeguard Our Children and Our Libreties",
here presented in our section Statemnts at 
< https://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Statements/a_call_to_safeguard.htm >

Here below is the context: a "Dear Friends" letter from Dr. Richard Pillard, Cathy Hoffman, Paul Shannon, Chris Tilly and others .... of  "Safeguarding Children and Liberties Network", dated 29 Jun 1998, with the title "A Call to Safeguard Our Children and Our Liberties".

Dear Friends

Last year, the brutal rape and murder of a young boy in Cambridge triggered a wave of indignation which targeted all 'pedophiles.' Supporters of the death penalty in Massachusetts used this case and almost prevailed. There were calls in public meetings to "find and kill all the pedophiles." Cardinal Bernard Law was quoted a saying, "This is the closest thing I've seen to a lynch mob since my days in Mississippi."

Some of those working against the death penalty realized that hysteria about child sex cases had to be dealt with directly. Many who work with prisoners and criminal justice had long recognized that a panic about child sex was the context in which a number of new laws about children, sex and sex offenders were passed almost unopposed despite major civil liberties and other concerns. Yet to speak about these problems was tantamount to being accused of support for child molestation.

A discussion group of about twenty people formed, hosted unofficially by a non-governmental organization. Participants included women who are incest and sex abuse survivors, boy-lovers, anti-censorship and civil liberties activists, feminists, gay and lesbian people, health-care workers, church activists, peace and social justice activists, academics, and those who work with prisoners.

We have met regularly for six months, sometimes almost as a kind of group therapy or consciousness-raising session, dealing with deep and justified angers and emotions. We continue to hold a wide range of views about children's sexuality and certainly about intergenerational sex. But we found that we all strongly condemn rape and other forms of genuine abuse against children and youth. We all believe in the possibility for redemption and rehabilitation of all people, no matter what their 'crimes.' 

Finally, we all value essential civil liberties and believe that many recent measures have dangerously increased state repressive powers. Slowly we formed a consensus on these matters. The result is the enclosed statement, "A Call to Safeguard Our Children and Our Liberties" We now hope to broaden the list of those signing the statement so that it can become a tool to encourage further dialogue. We do plan to use the statement publicly, on the internet, published in various formats, including Op Ed pieces, and in a variety of other formats.

We believe this process - dialogue between those who hold strong views about sex and children from differing perspectives - is unique. We believe it is urgently needed in the United States, and in some other societies directly affected by U.S. attitudes and policies.

We call on our counterparts in other places to form similar discussion groups and work to craft a consensus about these topics. Various non-governmental organizations, churches, colleges and civil liberties groups should be approached to host the discussions.

We hope that groups who work with children, with prisoners, with other legal issues, in areas of social justice and ethical concerns, will consider this statement, endorse it or draw up their own organizational positions.

We ask you as individuals in the Boston area, to join us in signing this statement now. We believe the time is overdue to begin a serious and humane discourse about how society should handle sex and children, and sex offenders generally. 

In Boston, it has again become immanently needed as the Jeffrey Curley murder trial is covered in the media, and as two major new laws will be on the floor of the Massachusetts State Legislature. These are 

• the Sexually Dangerous Predator Act (H5498), which includes two-strikes-and-your out provisions for life sentences without parole for many categories; and 
• the revised Sex Offender Registry Act (H5352), which adds new categories of offenders and provides for mandatory one-year sentences for unregistered offenders (who number several thousand in Massachusetts). We hope you will also consider calling your legislators to ask them to amend or oppose these bills.

Sincerely:

Dr. Richard Pillard, Cathy Hoffman, Paul Shannon, Chris Tilly and others..