Can virtual sex reduce instances of rape?
Human beings have an innate desire to have sex and this is a biological imperative for most species in general. Human beings unlike most species have the capability to remove the risk from sexual activities. Sexual activities are a high risk endeavors for all sides. The risk of being raped, the risk of contracting an STD, the risk of being falsely accused of rape, are just some examples of why sexual activity is so high risk. What is the wise thing to do?
Risk reduction strategies currently exist and these include "safe sex" in the form of birth control, condoms, and other STD prevention technologies. These also include celibacy and asexuality which probably deserve categories of their own as they entail lack of interest in sexual activities or an identity directed toward not having sexual relations.
Primarily safe sex focuses on the STD/STI aspects where the goal is to prevent infection by a sexually transmitted disease. The HIV scare in the 80s produced a hysteria which resulted in a change in sexual norms to the point where wearing a condom became the norm. Prior to this while there were some who decided that wearing a condom made sense there were others who determined that no sex before marriage (abstinence) was the solution.
What is the safest form of sex in 2018?
This is a question to be asked in light of #metoo and the highlighted risk of sexual assault. This question of what is the safest form of sex ultimately leads to the topic of virtual sex. Virtual sex may in fact be the safest form of sex possible by humans. In a virtual atmosphere rape and sexual assault become impossible because as long as both sides have the capability to shut off the experience they maintain the right to disconnect from any unpleasant and or undesired sexual experience. This in my opinion allows for greater levels of autonomy, control, and freedom to explore sexuality without the risk of sexual assault. This also removes the risk of STD/STI, the risk of unwanted pregnancy, and more.
Virtual sex workers and virtual sex
One of the main industries which will be impacted in my opinion by virtual reality is the sex work industry. The problem with the sex work industry is that as it currently is set up it is very difficult to determine if there is coercion taking place or if there is sex trafficking. The point being that the most dangerous forms of prostitution are the forms which involve a human being having direct physical sex with another human being. There is the risk that the sex worker could get murdered as there are serial killers who prey on sex workers and this is why sex workers have to carefully filter who they interact with on that level. There is also the risk of abuse, of sexual assault, of being arrested, that sex workers must always live with.
In a virtual environment these risks are gone. The sex worker need not deliver their real identity in order to provide their services to paying customers. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology actually take this a step further by allowing sex workers to get paid in pseudo-anonymous fashion (this is a use case for private transactions). Even the technology behind Steem could facilitate sex work in a far safer manner than there has ever been by utilizing rating systems for reputation, pseudo-anonymity, and VR. These technologies can both reduce harm and empower the disenfranchised.
Some questions for debate:
- Is virtual sex actually sex? A case can be made that it's not actually anything more than masturbation. Whether or not it is sex is something for discussion.
- Can AI participate in the sex trade and what will the impact of AI sex workers be?
- Will virtual sex become popular over time?
I don't have the answers to these questions yet but looking at the trend I would predict this is an industry which has a chance to grow. First, sex workers who are intellectually inclined will seek to earn as much money as possible from the sex trade while taking on the least amount of risk necessary. It is true that sex workers who are willing to go all the way and have physical sex may always make more money if they have the skill and talent for physical sex but this high pay will also likely come with increased risk. For the sex workers who don't want to take on the risks, or put their image on display, the virtual sex opportunity might be of the greatest reward for the least risk.
Conclusion
I'm currently in favor of virtual sex as a means of reducing the level of risk in sexual interactions. I do not know whether it will reduce sexual assaults because I do not know the exact cause of sexual assaults but it will in my opinion reduce the risk sex workers take on. It will also reduce the risk of STD/STI for all involved. It will reduce the risk for men who want casual encounters and it will reduce the risk for women who want casual encounters. The question of sexual assault is more complex because sexual predators may still choose to seek to harm others depending on what motivates their actions but this will in my opinion provide more options for people who do not want to harm others.
UPDATE:
VR or Virtual Sex as defined in my post does not include current unnecessarily high risk forms of digitized sexuality such as sexting. Sexting introduces risk because anything which attaches flesh and blood identity to the sexual interaction brings with it risks. The risk of being blackmailed in the case of sexting, or the risk of being stalked in the case where a person includes their real name and address. For these specific reasons virtual sex done safely need not include the personally identifiable information currently trendy on social media platforms like Facebook, or personally identifiable image information. Absent this information, the risks reduce dramatically and if we look at Second Life we can find examples (although crude) of virtual sex with almost zero risk. Examples 1 2. 3.