response to the backlash: International bans Many nations, including Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and West Germany, banned the film altogether, claiming that it "glorified violence against women". Canada initially banned the film, but in the 1990s decided to allow its individual provinces to decide whether to permit its release. Since 1998, some provinces (such as Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Quebec) have released the film, with a rating that reflects its content. The censored American version of the film was released in Australia in 1982 with an R 18+ rating. In 1987, the film survived an appeal to ban it. It continued to be sold until 1997, when another reclassification caused its ban in Australia. In 2004, the full uncut version was awarded an R 18+, lifting the seven-year ban. The Office of Film and Literature Classification justified this decision by reasoning that castration is not sexual violence (Australian censorship law forbids the release of films that depict scenes of sexual violence as acceptable or justified). In the United Kingdom, the film was refused a cinema certificate by the British censors. However, since films on video did not need censor's certificates at the time, it was released on home video, where it was branded a "video nasty" by the press. It appeared on the Director of Public Prosecutions' list of prosecutable films until 2001 when a heavily cut version that extensively edited the rape scenes was released with an 18 certificate. The cuts were reduced considerably from 7 minutes 2 seconds in the 2001 release to 2 minutes 54 seconds in the 2011 release so that only the scenes of rape that focus on Jennifer's nudity have been banned since the 2011 release. In New Zealand, the uncut version of the film (102 minutes) was classified in 1984 as R20 with the descriptive note, "Contains graphic violence, content may disturb". Other versions with shorter running times (96 minutes) were also classified in 1984 and 1985 and received the same classification. The Irish Film Classification Office has again banned the film from sale. Having been banned for many years in the country, the new Blu-ray and DVD uncensored edition have been prohibited from purchase by retailers due to the nature of the film. Zarchi's inspiration and responses to criticism In the commentary for the Millennium Edition, Zarchi said he was inspired to produce the film after helping a young woman who had been