Summary: Sexual intercourse with a dead body is still legal in several states. One politician in Massachusetts is trying to outlaw it.
Necrophilia turns the stomach and haunts the mind—for most people. But some individuals are sexually attracted to cadavers. According to a study by psychiatrists Rosman and Resnick, necrophiliacs blame their behavior on the following:
- a desire to possess a non-resisting and non-rejecting partner (68%);
- wanting to reunite with a romantic partner (21%);
- a straight-up attraction to corpses (15%);
- overcoming feelings of isolation (15%); and
- seeking self-esteem by expressing power over a homicide victim (12%).
See the full study here: Sexual Attraction to Corpses: A Psychiatric Review of Necrophilia for more information.
While necrophilia has been outlawed in many states, New Mexico, Nebraska, Vermont, and others still allow it.
One 45-year-old state representative from Massachusetts, Aaron Vega, is currently fighting to close “loopholes in the law” and ban necrophilia in his state. Massachusetts currently outlaws adultery, sodomy, blasphemy, and the act of displaying an albino in public for hire. But sex with a dead body is technically OK.
Vega is co-sponsoring a bill to criminalize necrophilia under the “Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order” section of the Massachusetts code. He says no specific event sparked his interest in the bill. However, some suspect a 2006 event in Wisconsin may have brought attention to the issue and led to recent legislative activity. That fall police in Wisconsin arrested three men for digging up the grave of a recently deceased woman. When police questioned one of the men, Alexander Gunke, he explained they wanted to exhume the body to have sex with it.
Representative Vega’s efforts have sparked debate among lawyers. Are anti-necrophilia statutes morality laws? Or are they at their core “victim crimes” more similar to rape or sexual assault?
Some attorneys believe the corpse still holds some status of personhood; consequently necrophilia is similar to rape. Others, including John Troyer of University of Bath, argue your remains are quasi property after death and that you retain rights in your body. While you lose your status as a person, you’re not fully an object either.
Several legislators have co-signed the bill with Vega. Stay tuned for more information.
Read about these suspected necrophiliacs:
- Woman Charged with Violating the Peace of the Dead
- Luka Rocco Magnotta, Porn Actor Accused of Murder, Arrested in Germany
Source article: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/04/necrophilia-laws-massachusetts-loophole-aaron-vega.
Additional sources: http://www.huliq.com/34426/us-states-lack-laws-explicitly-outlawing-necrophilia
http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/16/necrophilia-is-legal-in-these-states/
Photo credit:
http://www.hellawella.com/what-you-need-know-donating-your-body-science (top)
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/aaron_vega_calls_for_necrophilia_law.html (bottom)