Cybersex

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Cybersex, also called computer sex, Internet sex, netsex, e-sex and, colloquially, cyber or cybering, is a virtual sex encounter in which two or more people have long distance sex via electronic video communication (webcams, VR headsets, etc.) and other electronics (such as teledildonics [1] ) connected to a computer network. [2] [3]

Contents

Cybersex can also mean sending each other sexually explicit messages without having sex, and simply describing a sexual experience (also known as "sexting"). [4] Cybersex is a sub-type of technology-mediated sexual interactions. [5] In one form, this is accomplished by the participants describing their actions and responding to their chat partners in a mostly written form designed to stimulate their own sexual feelings and fantasies. [6] Cybersex often includes real life masturbation. [7] Environments in which cybersex takes place are not necessarily exclusively devoted to that subject, and participants in any Internet chat may suddenly receive a message of invitation.

Non-marital, adult, consensual paid cybersex counts as illegal solicitation of prostitution and illegal prostitution in multiple US states. [8] Non-consensual cybersex sometimes occurs in cybersex trafficking crimes. [9] [10] [11] There also has been at least one rape conviction for purely virtual sexual encounters. [12]

Environments

Cybersex is commonly performed in Internet chat rooms (such as IRC, talkers or web chats) and on instant messaging systems. It can also be performed using webcams, voice chat, or online games and/or virtual worlds like Second Life or VRChat .

The exact definition of cybersex—specifically, whether real-life masturbation must be taking place for the online sex act to count as cybersex—is up for debate. [13] It is also fairly frequent in online role-playing games, such as MUDs and MMORPGs, though community attitudes toward this activity vary greatly from game to game. Some online social games like Red Light Center are dedicated to cybersex and other adult behaviors. These online games are often called AMMORPGs.

Cybersex may also be accomplished through the use of avatars in a multiuser software environment. It is often called mudsex or netsex in MUDs. In TinyMUD variants, particularly MUCKs, the term TinySex (TS) is very common. [14] [15]

Though text-based cybersex has been in practice for decades, [16] the increased popularity of webcams has raised the number of online partners using two-way video connections to "expose" themselves to each other online—giving the act of cybersex a more visual aspect. There are a number of popular, commercial webcam sites that allow people to openly masturbate on camera while others watch them. [17] Using similar sites, couples can also perform on camera for the enjoyment of others.

In online worlds like Second Life and via webcam-focused chat services, however, Internet sex workers engage in cybersex in exchange for both virtual and real-life currency. [18]

Advantages

Cybersex provides various advantages:

Research reviews and surveys call for a balanced view of online sexual activities in general and cybersex in particular that acknowledges both advantages and disadvantages, positive and negative effects. [21] [22]

Legality of consensual, paid cybersex

United States

Several US states use very broad language in their criminal code for prostitution and prostitution related crimes. For example, the criminal code in multiple US states does not necessitate physical presence to be an element of prostitution. The role of physical presence in states with broad prostitution definitions has at times been debated in court. [8]

California

California has one such broad law about prostitution, and the California supreme court ruled in Wooten v. Superior Court that physical contact is necessary for a prostitution conviction. However, this only protects long distance buyers of cybersex in that state and may not apply to all sellers of cybersex services. [8]

Sellers of cybersex in California may still be convicted under existing prostitution laws. Court cases such as Pryor v. Municipal Court and People v. Hill determined that touching of genitals, buttocks, or the female breast is essential to a prostitution conviction. As a result, physical touching between two sellers of during a live cybersex service "for the purpose of sexual arousal", and coupled with "money or other considerations", may in fact qualify as prostitution. [8]

Wisconsin

Buyers of cybersex services have more criminal liability under solicitation of prostitution laws than act-of-prostitution laws. For example, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that illegal solicitation of prostitution can occur with a lack of physical contact. Wisconsin v. Kittilstad ruled that simply offering money to view people having in-person sex, even from a distance, counts as solicitation of prostitution.

Wisconsin also explicitly criminalizes offers or requests of non-marital sexual intercourse for anything of value. This allows for criminal prosecution of non-marital, paid cybersex acts where at least one party resides in Wisconsin and at least one party has physical sex as part of the cybersex act. [8]

Measures undertaken by cybersex sites to avoid criminal liability

To reduce the potential of criminal liability in cybersex selling, VoyeurDorm.com, implemented a "no sex on camera" policy. [23]

Non-consensual cybersex

Cybersex trafficking

Cybersex trafficking is the live streaming of coerced sexual acts and or rape. [9] [10] [11] Victims are abducted, threatened, or deceived and transferred to 'cybersex dens.' [24] [25] [26] The dens can be in any location where the cybersex traffickers have a computer, tablet, or phone with internet connection. [10] Perpetrators use social media networks, videoconferences, pornographic video sharing websites, dating pages, online chat rooms, apps, dark web sites, [27] and other platforms. [28] They use online payment systems [27] [29] [30] and cryptocurrencies to hide their identities. [31] Millions of reports of its occurrence are sent to authorities annually. [32] South China Morning Post has stated that new laws and police procedures are needed to combat this type of cybercrime. [33]

Cyber-rape

A man named Bjorn was the first person ever charged with rape-via-the-internet. This was because Bjorn blackmailed minors into performing sexual acts for him over a computer network, which would normally be prosecuted under other laws. He was charged by Swedish authorities and Swedish laws notably do not require physical penetration for a rape conviction. [12]

Criticism

Cybersex often attracts ridicule because the partners frequently have little verifiable knowledge about each other. [34] For many the primary point of cybersex is the plausible simulation of sexual activity, and this knowledge of the other is not always desired, but this is also criticized as the emptying out of embodied relations. [35]

In the words of Carkeek and James:

Without continuing to draw off our historically ambivalent faith in embodied relations, techno-sex quickly becomes hollow, unsatisfying, no more erotic than collecting answers to what-are-your-measurements questions. And herein lies the rub, or so we will argue. By continuing to draw off that ambivalent faith, techno-sex and the many other practices of disembodying interaction contribute to a changing and increasingly abstracted dominant ontology of embodiment. [36]

Privacy concerns are a difficulty with cybersex, since participants may log or record the interaction without the other's knowledge, and possibly disclose it to others or the public. [37]

There is disagreement over whether cybersex is a form of infidelity. While it does not involve physical contact, critics claim that the powerful emotions involved can cause marital stress, especially when cybersex culminates in an Internet romance. In several known cases, Internet adultery became the grounds for which a couple divorced. [38] Therapists report a growing number of patients addicted to this activity, [39] a form of both Internet addiction and sexual addiction, with the standard problems associated with addictive behavior. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

An internet relationship is a relationship between people who have met online, and in many cases know each other only via the Internet. Online relationships are similar in many ways to pen pal relationships. This relationship can be romantic, platonic, or even based on business affairs. An internet relationship is generally sustained for a certain amount of time before being titled a relationship, just as in-person relationships. The major difference here is that an internet relationship is sustained via computer or online service, and the individuals in the relationship may or may not ever meet each other in person. Otherwise, the term is quite broad and can include relationships based upon text, video, audio, or even virtual character. This relationship can be between people in different regions, different countries, different sides of the world, or even people who reside in the same area but do not communicate in person.

Teledildonics is the name coined for virtual sex encounters using networked electronic sex toys to mimic and extend human sexual interaction. The term became known after technology critic and writer Howard Rheingold used it in his 1991 book Virtual Reality. In the publication, Rheingold made futuristic conclusions and summaries surrounding technology and used the term 'teledildonics' to refer to remote sexual activity using technology. Nowadays, the term is commonly used to describe remote sex, where tactile sensations are communicated over a remote connection between the participants. The term can also refer to the integration of telepresence with sexual activity that these interfaces make possible and can be used in conjunction or interchangeably with sex-technology. The term has also been used less accurately to refer to robotic sex, i.e., computer-controlled sex toys that aim to substitute for or improve upon sex with a human partner. Nowadays, it is commonly used to refer to Bluetooth-enabled sex toys.

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is defined as any human communication that occurs through the use of two or more electronic devices. While the term has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated formats, it has also been applied to other forms of text-based interaction such as text messaging. Research on CMC focuses largely on the social effects of different computer-supported communication technologies. Many recent studies involve Internet-based social networking supported by social software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybercrime</span> Type of crime based in computer networks

Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or networks. These crimes involve the use of technology to commit fraud, identity theft, data breaches, computer viruses, scams, and expanded upon in other malicious acts. Cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks to gain unauthorized access, steal sensitive information, disrupt services, and cause financial or reputational harm to individuals, organizations, and governments.

Virtual sex is sexual activity where two or more people gather together via some form of communications equipment to arouse each other, often by the means of transmitting sexually explicit messages. Virtual sex describes the phenomenon, no matter the communications equipment used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child prostitution</span> Prostitution involving a child

Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of general prohibition on prostitution.

Rape pornography is a subgenre of pornography involving the description or depiction of rape. Such pornography either involves simulated rape, wherein sexually consenting adults feign rape, or it involves actual rape. Victims of actual rape may be coerced to feign consent such that the pornography produced deceptively appears as simulated rape or non-rape pornography. The depiction of rape in non-pornographic media is not considered rape pornography. Simulated scenes of rape and other forms of sexual violence have appeared in mainstream cinema, including rape and revenge films, almost since its advent.

Sexual grooming is the action or behavior used to establish an emotional connection with a minor, and sometimes the child's family, to lower the child's inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse. It can occur in various settings, including online, in person, and through other means of communication. Children who are groomed may experience mental health issues, including "anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and suicidal thoughts."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commercial sexual exploitation of children</span> Commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a child

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) defines the “umbrella” of crimes and activities that involve inflicting sexual abuse on to a child as a financial or personal opportunity. Commercial Sexual Exploitation consists of forcing a child into prostitution, sex trafficking, early marriage, child sex tourism and any other venture of exploiting children into sexual activities. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the lack of reporting the crime and “the difficulties associated with identifying and measuring victims and perpetrators” has made it almost impossible to create a national estimate of the prevalence of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the United States. There is an estimated one million children that are exploited for commercial sex globally; of the one million children that are exploited, the majority are girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking</span> Trade of sexual slaves

Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).

Internet sex addiction, also known as cybersex addiction, has been proposed as a sexual addiction characterized by virtual Internet sexual activity that causes serious negative consequences to one's physical, mental, social, and/or financial well-being. It may also be considered a subset of the theorized Internet addiction disorder. Internet sex addiction manifests various behaviours: reading erotic stories; viewing, downloading or trading online pornography; online activity in adult fantasy chat rooms; cybersex relationships; masturbation while engaged in online activity that contributes to one's sexual arousal; the search for offline sexual partners and information about sexual activity.

Internet safety, also known as online safety, cyber safety and electronic safety (e-safety), refers to the policies, practices and processes that reduce the harms to people that are enabled by the (mis)use of information technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webcam model</span> Livestream video performer

A webcam model is a video performer who streams on the Internet with a live webcam broadcast. A webcam model often performs erotic acts online, such as stripping, masturbation, or sex acts in exchange for money, goods, or attention. They may also sell videos of their performances. Once viewed as a small niche in the world of adult entertainment, camming became "the engine of the porn industry," according to Alec Helmy, the publisher of XBIZ, a sex-trade industry journal.

Child pornography is erotic material that depicts persons under the age of 18. The precise characteristics of what constitutes child pornography varies by criminal jurisdiction.

CAM4.com, is a live streaming website featuring live performances by primarily amateur performers. Streams on CAM4 often feature nudity and sexual activity. In 2020, Wired reported that CAM4's production server did not have a password set in their ElasticSearch instance, a common security mistake, which may have exposed user information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in Cambodia</span>

Sex trafficking in Cambodia is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Cambodia is a country of origin, destination and transit for sex trafficked persons.

Sex trafficking in the Philippines is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of the Philippines. The Philippines is a country of origin and, to a lesser extent, a destination and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

Sex trafficking in Japan is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the country. Japan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in South Korea</span> Overview of sex trafficking in South Korea

Sex trafficking in South Korea is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of Korea. South Korea is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons. Sex trafficking victims in the country are from South Korea and foreigners.

Cybersex trafficking, live streaming sexual abuse, webcam sex tourism/abuse or ICTs -facilitated sexual exploitation is a cybercrime involving sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual acts and/or rape on webcam.

References

  1. ↑ "Where Did the Word Teledildonics Come From?". Future of Sex. 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  2. ↑ Bologna, Caroline (2 June 2021). "19 Expert-Backed Tips For Keeping Your Long-Distance Sex Life Hot" . Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Steele, James. "Pandemic Causes Boom in Virtual Reality Cybersex Tech". Audacy FM 101.9. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 Döring, Nicola (2000). "Feminist Views of Cybersex: Victimization, Liberation, and Empowerment". CyberPsychology & Behavior. 3 (5): 863–884. doi:10.1089/10949310050191845.
  5. ↑ Courtice, Erin Leigh; Shaughnessy, Krystelle (2017). "Technology-mediated sexual interaction and relationships: a systematic review of the literature". Sexual and Relationship Therapy . 32 (3–4): 269–290. doi:10.1080/14681994.2017.1397948. S2CID   149040678.
  6. ↑ Hahn, Harley (1996). The Internet Complete Reference (2nd ed.). Osborne McGraw-Hill. p.  570. ISBN   0-07-882138-X. The goal of mud sex is the same as the goal of regular sex (without the babies): to bond temporarily in a way that is physically and emotionally satisfying. To do so, two people will exchange messages so as to lead one another into a high level of sexual arousal, culminating in a well-defined resolution.
  7. ↑ Hahn, Harley (1996). The Internet Complete Reference (2nd ed.). Osborne McGraw-Hill. p.  570. ISBN   0-07-882138-X. To be blunt, most mud sex is also accompanied by the people sexually gratifying themselves in real life at the same time.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Green, Matthew (2002). "Sex on the Internet: A Legal Click or an Illicit Trick?". California Western Law Review. 38. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  9. 1 2 "IJM Seeks to End Cybersex Trafficking of Children and #RestartFreedom this Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday". PR Newswire. November 28, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 "Cybersex Trafficking". IJM. 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Cyber-sex trafficking: A 21st century scourge". CNN. July 18, 2013.
  12. 1 2 Cole, Samantha. "In a First, a Man Is Charged for Rape Over the Internet" . Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  13. ↑ Ruberg, Bonnie (2007-05-18). "What Counts as Cybersex?". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  14. ↑ Hahn, Harley (1996). The Internet Complete Reference (2nd ed.). Osborne McGraw-Hill. p.  570. ISBN   0-07-882138-X. MUD SEX refers to the acting out of erotic feelings by two people while typing a series of sexually explicit messages. (Mud sex is also referred to as NET SEX or—on a TinyMud—TINYSEX.)
  15. ↑ Busey, Andrew (1995). Secrets of the MUD Wizards. SAMS Publishing. p. 95. ISBN   0-672-30723-5. MUD sex is another MUD item that may seem a bit shocking to some. MUD sex (sometimes called TinySex—usually on TinyMUDs, MUCKs, and MUSHes) is a lot like phone sex. As you know, most MUDs have a high degree of flexibility when it comes to expressing oneself and communicating—and if you're a little creative, you can use these commands (such as say and emote discussed in Chapter 5) to have MUD sex (or TinySex, depending on the type of MUD it is).
  16. ↑ Dibbell, Julian (1998). My Tiny Life. Henry Holt. ISBN   0-8050-3626-1 . Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  17. ↑ Ruberg, Bonnie (2007-07-27). "Do You Like to Watch?". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  18. ↑ Ruberg, Bonnie (2007-08-31). "Peeking Up the Skirt of Online Sex Work". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  19. 1 2 3 Grov, Christian, Brian Joseph Gillespie, Tracy Royce, and Janet Lever. 2011. “Perceived Consequences of Casual Online Sexual Activities on Heterosexual Relationships: A U.S. Online Survey.” Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(2): 429-39.
  20. ↑ Ito, Mizuko (1997). "Virtually Embodied: The Reality of Fantasy in a Multi-User Dungeon". In Porter, David (ed.). Internet Culture (paperback ed.). Routledge. pp. 95–96. ISBN   0-415-91684-4. She describes virtual sex as akin to an interactive romance novel. The metaphor is crucial. The fantasy "text" is paramount, the real bodies nonexistent. She explains: "It is how you describe yourself and how you act (on the Internet) that makes up the 'real you'.... real life persons' looks mean so little to me..."
  21. ↑ Döring, Nicola (2009). "The Internet's Impact on Sexuality. A Critical Review of 15 Years of Research". Computers in Human Behavior . 25 (5): 1089–1101. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2009.04.003.
  22. ↑ Döring, Nicola; Mohseni, Rohangis (2018). "Are Online Sexual Activities and Sexting Good for Adults' Sexual Well-Being? Results from a National Online Survey". International Journal of Sexual Health . 30 (3): 250–263. doi:10.1080/19317611.2018.1491921. S2CID   149940163.
  23. ↑ Deane, Joel (October 1998). "Cyberporn King's Latest Headline Grabber". ZDNet.
  24. ↑ "Senator warns of possible surge in child cybersex traffic". The Philippine Star. April 13, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Duterte's drug war and child cybersex trafficking". The ASEAN Post. October 18, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Norwegian national, partner nabbed; 4 rescued from cybersex den". Manila Bulletin. May 1, 2020. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  27. 1 2 "Cheap tech and widespread internet access fuel rise in cybersex trafficking". NBC News. June 30, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Senate to probe rise in child cybersex trafficking". The Philippine Star. November 11, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Global taskforce tackles cybersex child trafficking in the Philippines". Reuters. April 15, 2019.
  30. ↑ "Webcam slavery: tech turns Filipino families into cybersex child traffickers". Reuters. June 17, 2018.
  31. ↑ "How the internet fuels sexual exploitation and forced labour in Asia". South China Morning Post. May 2, 2019.
  32. ↑ "Philippines Makes More Child Cybersex Crime Arrests, Rescues". VOA. May 12, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Cybersex trafficking spreads across Southeast Asia, fuelled by internet boom. And the law lags behind". South China Morning Post. September 11, 2019.
  34. ↑ Hahn, Harley (1996). The Internet Complete Reference (2nd ed.). Osborne McGraw-Hill. p.  571. ISBN   0-07-882138-X. Finally, don't forget that the characters on a mud will not correspond exactly to the people in real life. In particular, what looks like a woman may really be a man. HINT: If you are a guy, and you go up to a female character on a mud and say, "Hi, wanna have sex?", and she says yes right away, chances are she is another guy playing a female role.
  35. ↑ Carkeek, Freya; James, Paul (1992). "This Abstract Body". Arena (99–100): 66–85.
  36. ↑ Carkeek, Freya; James, Paul (1992). "This Abstract Body". Arena (99–100): 68.
  37. ↑ Carton, Sean (1995). Internet Virtual Worlds Quick Tour. Ventana Press. p. 180. ISBN   1-56604-222-4. TinySex Simulated sexual activity done on a virtual world. Like the text equivalent of phone sex. It should be entered into with caution because you never know who's who online, and some people love enticing a person into an extended TinySex session and then posting a log of the activity to various newsgroups.
  38. ↑ Siemaszko, Corky (2006-02-02). "Cybersplit Online Affair Spurs Off-Line Divorce". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  39. ↑ Godson, Suzi (2002). The Sex Book. Cassell Illustrated. p. 258. ISBN   0-304-35991-2.

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