Valida Davila

CSC Nusletter

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Childhood Sensuality Circle (CSC) was an American lobby for the liberation of children and youth. Its main figure was Valida Davila of San Diego, California. During the 70’s and early 80’s she published the CSC Nusletter, a bi-monthly publication presenting topical issues and the political opinions of the CSC. Twenty issues of this publication are made available on the internet for the first time.

CSC Nusletter II.2Vol.II 2 – June 1976
(10 pages) 		CSC Nusletter II.3Vol.II 3 – August 1976
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter II.4 Vol.II 4 – October 1976
(10 pages)
CSC Nusletter II.5 Vol.II 5 – December 1976
(10 pages) 		CSC Nusletter II.6 Vol.II 6 – February 1977
(10 pages) 		CSC Nusletter III.1 Vol.III 1 – April 1977
(12 pages)
CSC Nusletter III.3 Vol.III 3 – August 1977
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter III.5 Vol.III 5 – December 1977
(10 pages) 		CSC Nusletter III.6 Vol.III 6 – February 1978
(12 pages)
CSC Nusletter IV.1 Vol.IV 1 – April 1978
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter IV.3 Vol.IV 3 – August 1978
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter IV.4 Vol.IV 4 – October 1978
(10 pages)
CSC Nusletter V.3 Vol.V 3 – August 1979
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter V.4 Vol.V 4 – October 1979
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter V.5 Vol.V 5 – December 1979
(12 pages)
CSC Nusletter V.6 Vol.V 6 – February 1980
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter VI.1 Vol.VI 1 – April 1980
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter VI.2 Vol.VI 2 – June 1980
(12 pages)
CSC Nusletter VI.3 Vol.VI 3 – August 1980
(12 pages) 		CSC Nusletter VI.4 Vol.VI 4 – October 1980
(12 pages)

 

Here are some links to important articles:

  • Why family sex? Reconsidering incest with the important quote on page 7: «Emotionally, sexual contact for a child is as good or as bad in its results as the total experience was pleasant or unpleasant for the child.»
  • Body Pleasure and the Origins of Violence is a 1976 comment of the classic study made by James W. Prescott shortly after it was published.
  • The Erotic Minorities is a 1977 comment of the book by Lars Ullerstam.
  • Metamorphosis of a cop is an insight into sexual politics made by a former law enforcement officer.
  • Infant and Child Sexuality is a 1977 comment on the book by Floyd M. Martinson.
  • The child in pornography is a 1978 reflection of the then new crackdown on any kind of sensual-sexual recording of children.
  • The politics of childhood is an interesting comparison between the rights of children and the rights of women written by a woman.
  • The CSC Policy Statement outlines what the Childhood Sensuality Circle stood for politically.
  • Consciousness-Raising speaks for the necessity of a political consciousness and contains the warning «some members join CSC for personal gain only».
  • You are not alone is a review of the Danish movie when it appeared in 1980.
  • Ageism discusses discrimination based on age.
  • The death dancer’s cult is a witty but nevertheless serious account of why so many liberal movements of the 60’s disintegrated.

Two accounts of sexual activity have been edited out, one in the article Ritual mutilation, who’s main topic is the negative effects of circumcision, and the second in the article I screwed the generation gap. No true pornography was ever printed in the Nusletter.

Not much is known about Valida Davila. According to this record (new link) she was born in 1901. This source (dead link, source no longer retrievable) says she had at least one son. Another source (NAFP-Bulletin 3-1978) says she was both a mother and a grandmother, and had worked as a teacher and social worker. Her involvement with CSC started in 1971 after her retirement. She had wide political interests, including health food, physical exercise and the rights of the elderly, in addition to her political involvement with children’s rights, from corporeal punishment to circumcision and sexual education. She was one of the founding members of Black’s Nude Beach in La Jolla. As a lobbyist, most of Valida Davila’s political activity consisted of her correspondence with people around the world. She worked incessantly to influence politicians and people in key positions within the juridical and health care systems. CSC was not a pedophile organization, even if it did argue for the right to consensual sexual relationships between ages.

In June 1984, based on an unfounded suspicion, the police conducted a search of the premises of the CSC (Valida Davila’s home), confiscating an archive of correspondence, a considerable collection of scientific documents, the entire library and above all the membership list of the CSC, which was held to be ‘an international sex-ring of child molesters’. In February 1985 the prosecutor dismissed the case after having considered the evidence insufficient for prosecution. By that time Valida Davila had suffered so much, both from the financial cost of the lawyers, the burden of the proceedings and her advancing age (she was by then 84 years old) that she was no longer in a position to continue political work. CSC was likely dissolved in 1987. Valida Davila died in 1995.

Childhood Sensuality Circle was in many ways unique. Unlike other organizations born out of its time, it had a broader approach to the issue of children’s rights. Valida Davila worked for the liberation of all people from ageism and she was dedicated to the well-being of children in all its aspects. She belonged to a rare class of people: educated, open-minded and politically conscious, and was one of the few true sexual-political activists that emerged out of the liberal 60’s in the US.