Li Yinhe on the recent porn crackdowns

In a recent blog entry, leading sexologist-sociologist Li Yinhe (李银河) has voiced her thoughts on recent porn crackdowns [h/t to Global Voices, translation by Shanghaiist]:

今天在中央12台看到打击淫秽网站的报道，不像看到破获谋杀、盗窃或性侵害的报道那样觉得毫无问题。
Today I saw reports on CCTV-12 related to the crackdown on porn sites. And unlike other reports on murder, theft, and sexual crimes, I thought there was a problem with these reports.

公安人员的侦破非常努力，法律部门的审判严肃认真，他们执法的依据也非常明确：刑法关于打击淫秽品的传播和禁止组织色情表演的条款。
The public security guys work very hard on the crackdown, and the justice department has issued tough judgements. They also have a clear goal in their enforcements: to crackdown on the dissemination of pornographic materials and the display of sexual performances.

那么我的问题从何而来呢？问题就在所有的“涉案人员”全都是自愿的参与者，没有被胁迫的人，没有受到身体和财产损失的人。这与前面提到的那些种类的犯罪有区别，这个区别显而易见。
So where is my problem then? It is that all your "defendants" were consenting participants. Nobody was forced into anything, and nobody suffered any harm to body or property. This is how these activities are distinct from the afore-mentioned crimes.

在这桩没有“苦主”的案件里，法律惩罚的究竟是什么呢？是违反社会道德规范的行为：按照我们社会大多数人的道德标准，淫秽影象作品和色情表演是不允许的，是堕落的，是损害人的崇高道德观念的，是败坏人的道德的。问题在于，道德的问题应当由教育部门、宗教部门来加以劝导，而不是由法律部门用法律的手段加以惩罚。法律部门在这个问题上实际上是越俎代庖了。虽然他们的做法符合现行的刑法，但是淫秽品法本身就是有问题的，是值得检讨的。
With no "plaintiffs" in this case, what is the basis for all the legal punishments? It is to crack down on behaviours that go against society's moral values. According to the moral standards upheld by most in our society, pornographic products and sexual displays are not permissible, they are decadent, they are not in line with moral norms, they are degenerate and depraved. However, the problem is that moral issues should be the jurisdiction of education and religion, not of law, and certainly they should not be handled with legal tactics and punishments. In truth, the legal establishment's authority in this area is misplaced. Although they are acting in accordance with the law, the premise that there is a problem with pornographic products needs to be re-examined.

世界各国对淫秽品法的设立与否一直有激烈的争论，除了我前面提到的理由，还有很多理由。这个问题在我国为什么就不可以争论？
Laws on obscene materials have evoked fiery debates all over the world. Apart from the reasons I have mentioned earlier, there are many other reasons. But why can't we discuss these issues in China?

Li Yinhe is also a leading gay rights activist. She made her way to the National People's Congress to submit proposals for same-sex marriages three times in 2003, 2005 and 2006. In her early professional life, she was an editor with the state-owned Guangming Daily. She subsequently joined the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and married the late writer, Wang Xiaobo (王小波). More on her on Wikipedia.