From: Free Beach Action Date: Sunday, 4 December 2005 4:55 PM Subject: Free Beach Letters III The Sunday Telegraph Talkback, 4 December 2005 SOMEONE please tell Susan Cohen (ST, 27/11) that sexual assaults and other sex-related crimes have absolutely nothing to do with naturism. In the real world, none of these crimes happen on free beaches. I would be very surprised to hear of a genuine naturist becoming a sex offender, as we cherish healthy values for body and mind. On the contrary, these crimes take place in the privacy of homes, in dark alleys, train stations and so forth, and the victims are usually fully clothed. According to Susan Cohen's logic, all these other places would need to be fenced off so nude beaches could be our last peaceful sanctuaries. Gerald Ganglbauer Free Beach Action Group SUSAN Cohen asks whether Gerald Ganglbauer lives in the real world. Naturists have heard arguments such as hers before; it's like listening to a broken record. Pedophiles and perving voyeurs are to be found at every metropolitan beach in Australia. Voyeurs, although annoying, are fairly harmless, but the same is not true of pedophiles. They cause harm not merely by existing; they manipulate children by instilling a sense of guilt. In this way, they prevent a child revealing the escalating abuse. Our children learn there is a boundary that defines the extent to which body exposure is acceptable; that boundary is fuzzy, and constantly changing. It's too easy for a pedophile to get a child to cross it, then use that fact to create a sense of guilt. By contrast, the boundary represented by nudity is clear-cut. If we bring a child up to be comfortable with nudity in the presence of strangers, we eliminate a psychological lever that can be used against them. Giving families access to more nude beaches would reduce, not increase, the risk of sexual abuse. Sylvia Else Naturist Lifestyle Party ANOTHER important factor is that Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, so it's both wise and healthy to cover up. The human body may well be divine, but it sure looks better covered. Violet Griffiths Cobar