Naturism and Society, Campaigns

Campaigns

There are many things that can be done, both by individuals and groups, to improve society and further naturism. Campaigning is essential because otherwise we will just be ignored or trampled on.

Causes for Concern

In Progress

Successful

Types of Campaign

There are three main types of campaign:

1. General awareness raising and public relations.

2. Trying to get something new. For example a new beach or swim.

3. Trying to stop something from happening or to right a wrong that has already occurred.

General publicity

Getting something new

Righting a wrong

When police, local authority or some other organisation acts against naturists their attempt at justification is characterised by denial, ignorance and self deception. It is worse if more than one organisation is involved because their righteous indignation feeds off each other. Their usual tactics are prevarication and obfuscation. They know that if they stone wall for long enough most complaints, not matter how well justified, will go away.

Running a successful campaign is largely about doing things correctly and getting the timing right. Doing your homework thoroughly is essential. Never trust anything that the organisation may state even if it seems plausible. Always check it and always ask them to justify it. You should also search their web site and the web site of any superior authority carefully for codes of practice, policy statements, surveys, studies and anything else that may be relevant.

As a general principle old fashioned paper is usually the best medium for correspondence about the issues. Email is fine for arranging meetings and such like but use it with caution for substantive issues. It is ephemeral and easily forged so it does not carry the same weight as ink on paper. Remember that the correspondence may end up in front of a judicial or quasi-judicial body.

1. Write an initial letter of complaint. Usually this is little more than an outline of the complaint and a request for them to justify their actions.

2. Typically the reply will be little more than a brush off and it will probably be riddled with assumptions, distortions, half truths and mistakes.

3. It is necessary to go through the reply line by line and demolish it. It is not sufficient to just state that they are wrong. You must back it up with hard facts from independent sources. "Naturism UK", the NOP Poll and press cuttings are invaluable. The author has an extensive collection of press cuttings and other research materials and will be pleased to help.

   Insist on precision. For example don't accept "complaints were made". How many complaints? Over what period of time? Who made them? Ten complaints by one person or by ten unconnected people? What was the nature of the complaints? How do the complaints about naturism compare with complaints about other issues. For example one survey showed that three times more people were annoyed by dogs on the beach than by naturists. Guess what they took action against. Another example was the local government officer who stated that complaints had been made about children. Was it that children had seen naturists? Was it that children were naturists? Was it that the children were being noisy? The statement is so vague as to be meaningless and they must not be allowed to get away with it.

   Ask for information about management structures. Who took the decision, what authority did they have and whom do they report to. Often the key to success is finding the right place to apply pressure. For example in the case of the Fenland District Council child ban it was an email to the Director of Cambridgeshire Social Services, at the correct time, that did the trick.

   Ask for information about all available complaints procedures against both the organisation and the individuals within the organisation. It will be useful information and asking for the information does help to concentrate minds.

4. At some point it may be necessary to bring in the media. They are generally very supportive but they lose interest quickly so plan it carefully to have maximum impact at the most opportune time and try to structure it so as to maintain their interest. Unless they are already involved, bringing in the media right at the start is probably a mistake. Be completely honest and open with them. Make it clear that the other side is acting unreasonably despite you trying to resolve the issue amicably. Write the press release so that the journalist can just cut and paste and provide background information. Include pithy quotes from members of the public. They will usually want to speak with someone so that they can add their personal contribution to the article so provide contact information. See the page on how to write a press release.

5. Probably in conjunction with stage 4 or perhaps before or after it, consider enlisting the support of third parties. MPs, councillors and volutary bodies such as Liberty all have a role to play.

6. Record keeping is essential because they will attempt to so complicate the issues that you lose track of what has been said and done. It is usually necessary to write repeatedly before you can obtain a full set of answers. Keep track of every point raised. Scan their letters, OCR them and then cut and paste them with extracts from your letters so that you have a complete history of each point and who said what when about it. If you can't scan them then photocopy and use old fashioned scissors and glue. Consider using a spreadsheet with topics across the top and dates down the side.

7. Rudeness never works but persistence and reasonableness usually does!

Complaints

When action is taken against naturists it is usually "in response to complaints." Often the complaints are from only one or two people but that can carry more weight than hundreds of naturists who have been using a beach for decades.

In an ideal world, people would find out the facts before acting. Sadly they often don't bother with either facts, or the real views of the people they often claim to be representing. So, why do people complain and what are the facts?

Surveys

The NOP poll is the only authoritative survey that we know of. Many surveys by newspapers, magazines and public bodies such as councils are seriously flawed. There are two very common faults:

1. A self selecting sample. "Please write and tell us your views" and to make it even worse published where only a small minority group will read it.

2. Biased questions. "Tell us what you dislike about the beach" is immediately biased and "Tell us what you like?" does not remove the bias. The construction of the questions is too simplistic. Unless the question gives more idea of the issues that need to be addressed people are most unlikely to volunteer that the naturists are not doing any harm and should be left alone.

Officials

They often act according to what they imagine public attitudes to be.

There is also the problem that one person walking along a beach and making a complaint carries more weight than hundreds walking past without concern. Many tens, hundreds, or even at some beaches thousands¹ of naturists count for even less.

What To Do?

Complain!

Join in the complaints. If there isn't a swim or official naturist beach in the area you live in or are visiting, complain.

Make the demand for facilities apparent. Visiting your local leisure centre? Ask about naturist swim/sauna sessions. When on holiday, enquire at tourist information. Even if you know the answers, still ask the questions, otherwise they won't realise that there is a demand. The results can be surprising.¹

Anti-complain!

If you see something in the media that's praiseworthy, write to congratulate them for it and not bowing to the forces of censorship and prudery. Good day at the beach? Write to the local authority and praise them for the excellent naturist beach. It's so rare for them to receive praise that it will make a difference.

Contribute

The Home Office frequently invites responses to consultation documents that are relevant to naturism. It doesn't take much effort to write a few lines. Representations that aren't made will be ignored!

Join

CCBN is changing rapidly for the better (well it couldn't have got much worse than it was even a couple of years ago!) and numbers do count. CCBN is now democratic so if the membership wants a dynamic, campaigning organisation it can be achieved. At the last election a number of people stood for office against the incumbents because they didn't think enough was being done and some were elected. There has been a perceptible shift towards being more pro-active.

How?

Writing letters to politicians, local authorities and the like can often seem like a waste of time, but it isn't. One person writing won't achieve everything all at once, but lots of people writing over a period of time will make a difference. Please choose your time, and make the effort. It does work!

The tone of the letter is important. Politeness is much more likely to gain results than rudeness. Insults are nearly always highly counter productive. Of course that does not stop you from making the strength of your feelings abundantly clear.

Complain/Complement to Who?

Paper can carry more weight than email so think about which medium to use. Addresses have been put on a separate page.

MP's are a good catch all. They will make representations on your behalf concerning any central government function, and they will often help out with local matters as well. If not, then they should at least be able to tell you who the correct person to contact is.

Beaches are the responsibility of the local authority, usually a district council, or in relatively rare cases a private owner. Any vaguely sensible address should do for a local authority. eg "District Council for Beachtown, Seashire" is probably enough but it should be easy to find on the web.

There are a large number of different newspaper, radio and TV providers and several regulators. Naturists should complain to both media and regulators about inappropriate treatment of nudity. It is probably even more important to praise the sensible programs and to complain about the stupid complaints. Even the most complained about programs only get a few tens of complaints so writing should pay off. For example Naked Jungle caused a media furore but the ITC only received 13 complaints.

Examples:

• "Naked Jungle". C5, late. There was much criticism from the press, especially the tabloids. They seem quite happy with rape, torture, murder, etc, but a few people enjoying themselves playing games is an abomination. Letters of support help counter this sort of idiocy. ITC ruling

• "Men Down Under" BBC1, 9.30pm, 14/9/00. They fuzzed out genitals when showing men using a sweat lodge. The presenters attitude was childish. Letters of complaint may help them to grow up a bit.

• Many travel shows have become very misleading although recently, early 2002, at least one has improved a bit. They manage to show beaches where toplessness is the norm without a single breast in site. They visit areas where naturism is commonplace and don't even mention it. Broadcasters are required to give balanced information in their programs and they are not doing so. The guidelines concerning the watershed only mention sexual material. I have read all that I could find and none banned nudity.

Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

Writing to politicians in the run up to elections is always a good idea. It has probably never occurred to them that naturism could be an election issue. The advent of proportional representation now makes it possible for minority views to have real impact.

Ordnance Survey

Tourist facilities are marked on OS maps but as far as I know there is not a single naturist venue marked. If nature reserves are marked then naturist beaches should be also!

Not Naturist Campaigns

Campaigns that are not naturist, but may impact on naturism.

The Freedom to be Yourself Campaign. (Vincent Bethel).

Like him or loathe him, he isn't going to go away (although things have been quieter recently)! NUFF has a page about him which links to his web site.

Sexual Freedom Coalition

Their web page contains specific proposals for changes to various laws - many of which would benefit free-range naturism if enacted - but also many others which many naturists would find offensive.

Footnotes

1. I went into our local leisure centre and asked when the naturist sessions were. I knew full well that there weren't any. The reply was "there aren't any, but we have had a few enquiries and we would like to start one, but we don't know who to contact." Once I'd got over the shock, I arranged to let them have some useful names and addresses which I did the next day. A monthly swim/sauna started in June 2002 and has proved very successful. In January 2005 sessions were also started at the neighbouring town and attendance has continued to rise.

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