An MP has raised fears that human bones such as a “foetal skeleton posed under a glass dome” could be sold at auctions and on social media sites like Instagram, eBay and Etsy.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said she has been told about a legal loophole in the Human Tissues Act that means human remains are being auctioned, “frequently disguised as modified items or replicas”. Among them include a human thigh bone turned into a cane, a human jawbone necklace and the varnished skull of a six-year-old, with the bones “often from indigenous communities in Africa and Asia stolen during colonial expeditions”, she said.
The politician urged Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to prevent the sale of colonial-era human remains in auction houses and social media. Opening Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Ribeiro-Addy told the Commons: “I recently met with members of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology who highlighted a loophole in the Human Tissues Act which allows human remains to be auctioned, frequently disguised as modified items or replicas.
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“This is including a foetal skeleton posed under a glass dome, a human thigh bone turned into a cane, a human jawbone necklace and the varnished skull of a six-year-old, often from indigenous communities in Africa and Asia stolen during colonial expeditions. Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that it is abhorrent for human remains regardless of their origin or age to be sold by auction houses and on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, eBay, Etsy and Gumtree?”
Ms Rayner replied: “It’s absolutely horrifying to hear the account of what (Ms Ribeiro-Addy) mentions and I absolutely agree that that’s abhorrent. And while the Human Tissue Authority strictly regulates the public display of human remains, with fines or imprisonment for breaches, it does not cover sales or purchases, however, I will ensure that a meeting is made with the appropriate minister to discuss the troubling cases that she raises.”
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The Human Tissues Act 2004 features a ban on buying and selling human material, but there are some exceptions and suppliers can be reimbursed for expenses connected with transporting, preparing, preserving or storing remains. According to BABAO’s website, the organisation has a trading and sale of human remains task force which, among several aims, looks at “the use of human remains in social media associated with sale, trade and collecting”.
Many social media sites including eBay and Etsy prohibit the selling of human remains. But BABAO has warned that without moderation, some social media platforms could become “ideal hosts for a wide variety of illicit activity” with “no effort” made to block the same sellers from resurfacing on other platforms.