https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_the_law
Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time, and unlawful sexual acts are also called sex crimes.
Some laws regulating sexual activity are intended to protect one or all participants, while others are intended to proscribe behavior that has been defined as a crime. For example, a law may proscribe unprotected sex if one person knows that he or she has a sexual disease or to protect a minor; or it may proscribe non-consensual sex, or because of a relationship between the participants, etc. In general, laws may proscribe acts which are considered either sexual abuse or behavior that societies consider to be inappropriate and against the social norms. Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual contact between two or more adults or two or more minors, and, depending on laws with regard to age of consent, sexual contact between an adult and a minor.
Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time, and unlawful sexual acts are also called sex crimes.
Some laws regulating sexual activity are intended to protect one or all participants, while others are intended to proscribe behavior that has been defined as a crime. For example, a law may proscribe unprotected sex if one person knows that he or she has a sexual disease or to protect a minor; or it may proscribe non-consensual sex, or because of a relationship between the participants, etc. In general, laws may proscribe acts which are considered either sexual abuse or behavior that societies consider to be inappropriate and against the social norms. Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual contact between two or more adults or two or more minors, and, depending on laws with regard to age of consent, sexual contact between an adult and a minor.
Definitions
Sex crimes are forms of human sexual behavior that are crimes. Someone who commits one is said to be a sex offender. Some sex crimes are crimes of violence that involve sex. Others are violations of social taboos, such as incest, sodomy, indecent exposure or exhibitionism.
There is much variation among cultures as to what is considered a crime
or not, and in what ways or to what extent crimes are punished.
Western cultures are often far more tolerant of acts, such as oral sex,
that have traditionally been held to be crimes in some cultures, but
combine this with lesser tolerance for the remaining crimes. By
contrast, many cultures with a strong religious tradition consider a far
broader range of activities to be serious crimes.
As a general rule, the law in many countries often intervenes in
sexual activity involving young or adolescent children below the legal
age of consent, non-consensual deliberate displays or illicit watching
of sexual activity, sex with close relatives (incest), harm to animals, acts involving the deceased (necrophilia),
and also when there is harassment, nuisance, fear, injury, or assault
of a sexual nature, or serious risk of abuse of certain professional
relationships. Separately, the law usually regulates or controls the censorship of pornographic or obscene material as well. A rape charge can only be issued when a person(s) of any age does not provide consent for sexual activity.
Possible enforcement
The activities listed below carry a condition of illegality in some jurisdictions if acted upon, though they may be legally role-played between consenting partners of legal age:
- Rape, lust murder and other forms of sexual assault and sexual abuse
- Child sexual abuse
- Statutory rape
- Spousal rape
- Obscenity
- Human trafficking
- Frotteurism, sexual arousal through rubbing one's self against a non-consenting stranger in public
- Exhibitionism and voyeurism, if deliberate and non-consensual, called "indecent exposure" and "peeping tom" respectively in this context.
- Incest between close relatives
- Telephone scatologia, making obscene telephone calls for the purpose of sexual arousal
- Sex with animals
- Necrophilia
- Sexual harassment
- Sexual acts by people in a position of trust (such as teachers, doctors and police officers), towards people under 18 which they are involved with professionally.
- Public order crimes are crimes that interrupt the flow of daily life and business according to local community standards. Public order crimes include paraphilia (deviancies).
- Various paraphilias and sexual fetishes such as transvestitism
- Prostitution and/or pimping
- Ownership of vibrators and other sex toys
- Public urination
- Streaking
- Sodomy
- Stealing underwear, sometimes regarded as more serious when done in a sexual context.
A variety of laws aim to protect children by making various acts with
children a sex crime. For example, the "corruption of minors" by
introducing material or behaviors that are intended to groom a minor
for future sexual conduct. The materials or behavior can involve
sexual content but does not necessarily have to. Depending on the
jurisdiction, this conduct can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor.
Sometimes these laws overlap with age of consent laws, laws preventing
the exposure of children to pornography, laws making it a crime for a
child to be involved in (or exposed to) certain sexual behaviors, and
the production and ownership of child pornography
(sometimes including simulated images). In some countries such as the
UK, the age for child pornography is higher than the age of consent,
hence child pornography laws also cover images involving consenting
adults.
Sadomasochistic
conduct among adults can fall into a legal grey area. Some
jurisdictions criminalize some or all sadomasochistic acts, regardless
of legal consent and impose liability for any injuries caused. (See Consent (BDSM)) Other jurisdictions permit sadomasochistic conduct so long as the participants consent to the conduct.
Age of consent
While the phrases "age of consent" or "statutory rape" typically do not appear in legal statutes,
when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the
minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent of
consenting to engage in sexual acts. This should not be confused with
the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, or the marriageable age.
The age of consent varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
The median seems to range from 16 to 18 years, but laws stating ages
ranging from 9 to 21 do exist. In some jurisdictions, the age of consent
takes account of a mental or functional age, so that victims can be of any chronological age if their mental age is below the age of consent.
Some jurisdictions forbid sexual activity outside of legal
marriage completely. The relevant age may also vary by the type of
sexual act, the sex of the actors, or other restrictions such as abuse
of a position of trust.
Some jurisdictions may make allowances for minors engaged in sexual
acts with each other, rather than a hard and fast single age. Charges
resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a relatively
low-level misdemeanor such as "corruption of a minor", to "statutory rape" (which is considered equivalent to rape, both in severity and sentencing).
Homosexuality
In some states, sex between members of the same sex, or between men,
is illegal. In a report done in 2013, the International Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association (ILGA) indicated that
homosexuality is still criminalized in some form in 76 states, with a
high concentration of these states in the Middle East, Africa, and parts
of Asia. Scholars have found that religion plays an important role in
the legislation criminalizing sodomy. Countries that are predominately
Muslim, for example, are less likely to decriminalize acts of sodomy as
these acts are in direct contradiction with Islamic traditions. While
quantitative research has not proven a link between the continued
criminalization of sodomy and Christianity, there are many Protestant
denominations, as well as the Catholic Church,
that oppose the practice of homosexuality. While one might expect that
the decriminalization of sodomy laws would support the mobilization of
lesbian and gay rights, this is not necessarily the case, as there is
debate on whether or a direct link exists between the two. In
legislation regarding sodomy, there is typically no explicit statements
given in the support of gay and lesbian rights since the reforms
generally the result of a large emendation to penal code. There is some
evidence in support of the opposite effect, as the re-criminalization of
sodomy in India in 2013 caused a resurgence of gay rights activism.
In studying the changes of sodomy statutes, Frank et al. (2009)
found that between 1945 and 2005, "90 percent of all modifications
involved liberalization in some way" of non-heterosexual acts. This was
seen as evidence of a "sodomy-law reform wave." During the same period,
however, eight countries expanded their laws regarding sodomy. In
January 2014, Nigeria expanded their criminalization of homosexuality by
passing legislation to enforce more severe penalties including a ban
against same-sex marriage and participation in any gay organizations.
Sodomy laws, however, are rarely used to penalize consensual acts,
involving adults, that occur in private. In the 1970s, the only arrests
(in the US) involving consensual, non-heterosexual acts were in public
or quasi-public. While many sodomy laws are concerned with sexual acts
as opposed to sexual orientations, the legislation is often interpreted
as if being gay or lesbian is sufficient enough evidence to deem someone
guilty as to having engaged in criminal acts. This led US judges to
deny parents' custody of their children, student groups were not granted
recognition by university officials, and many legislators were opposed
to civil rights bills that included sexual orientation.
Many revisions to sodomy laws were not a part of large government
transitions, but rather included as a part of other general revisions
of criminal legislation. There are two main pathways in which sodomy
laws have been decriminalized: judicial invalidation and repeal of the
law by vote of legislation. The United States did not decriminalize
sodomy nationwide until 2003; however, many states, based on the council
of judges and lawyers, did decriminalize sodomy as early as 1961.
During the rise of Putin, Russia has seen a resurgence in
"religious conservatism" which has resulted in the indirect
re-criminalizing homosexuality. An amendment was made to Russian
legislation in 2013 that emphasizes the protection of children from
information that could be deemed as damaging to their mental health and
development. In the amendment to the Federal Law of Russian Federation
no. 436-FZ, "propaganda" of non-traditional sexual relationships were
classified as harmful, and while the law does not criminalize
homosexuality directly, it has created a hostile environment for LGBT
activism. The US and Europe have condemned Russia's actions, but despite
the domestic and international pushback, the Russian anti-LGBT
propaganda law still stands.
Incest
Sexual activity between family members or close relatives is often
considered incest, which is illegal in many jurisdictions, though what
constitutes an "incestuous relationship" varies by jurisdiction, and may
depend on the type of sexual activity and whether the relationship is
one of consanguinity, affinity or other relationship, such as by adoption. In law, the proscribed sexual activity is usually limited to sexual intercourse,
though terminology varies, and which in some jurisdictions is limited
to penile-vaginal sexual intercourse. Incestuous sexual activity, as
defined by each jurisdiction, is usually unlawful irrespective of the
consent of the parties and irrespective of their age. This prohibition
usually also extends to the marriage of people in the proscribed
incestuous relationships.
One author argued that use of particular language devices and
rhetoric in the legislation surrounding these laws manipulates the
viewer to automatically deem such sexual acts to be immoral and
criminal. In this view, the law is attempting to morally control
society, which is not one of the purposes of the law. This means that
people will condemn those who partake in familial sexual activities,
even if all parties are consenting adults.
Extramarital sex
Adultery is a crime in many Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Oman, Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sudan, and Yemen.
Incels,
an abbreviation of involuntary celibates, are a mostly online community
who lament their lack of romantic or sexual relationships. However the violence committed by some incels has on occasion been labelled as "gender-based terrorism" or terrorism in general.
Female genital mutilation
Custom and tradition are the most frequently cited reasons for female
genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is the removal of the genitals in
cultures perpetuating male domination. Approximately 125 million girls
and women are victims of female genital mutilation throughout the world. With the practices often being performed to exert control over the sexual behavior of girls and women or as a perceived aesthetic improvement to the appearance of their genitalia. The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of many health organizations that have campaigned against the procedures on behalf of human rights,
stating that "FGM has no health benefits" and that it is "a violation
of the human rights of girls and women" and "reflects deep-rooted
inequality between the sexes".
Most countries prohibit female genital mutilation, including prohibiting the procedure to be performed on its citizens and residents while outside their jurisdictions, and the New York State Penal Law lists female genital mutilation as a sexual offense.
