Law
A sex toy such as a vibrator is an object that is generally used for human sexual pleasure. However, there are mixed feelings among the politicians about using sex toys. Some believe that sex toys can cause disruptions to sexual pleasure while some believe they can help with it. These ideas have since sparked many debates between politicians and the public. This is because the public believes that the politicians have their own political agenda when it comes to either supporting or opposing the idea of sex toys in their country. Though from the politicians’ point of view, they are doing it for public health and safety. As the debates are never-ending, some countries have since moved forward with the idea of either banning or legalizing sex toys for public usage.
Banned or Not Legal
In 1998, the state of Alabama, a southeastern state of the United States of America has sanctioned a statute, the Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act 1998 where the sale of sex toys was criminalized in the state. The State Senator at that time, Tom Butler of Madison, sponsored the statute as a course of action to ban nude dancing as well as possessing or distributing pornographic materials and sex toys. The statute was not well accepted by the community since they believe the State Senator was leaning toward conservative ideas that have influenced his standing to ban the use of sex toys in the state. Similar statutes have been implemented in both Mississippi and Virginia. Only exemptions given from the statute are for legitimate medical, law enforcement and educational purposes yet that is not the case in all states with a similar statute as some states banned the usage of sex toys fully even in terms of using them for these purposes. The statute has since sparked many controversies by the liberals in America since they believe that as part of a liberalism foundation, equality is important where the public’s voices should be heard equally. Not only in the United States of America but there are controversies too in Thailand regarding legalising and banning sexual materials because from the beginning Thailand has banned the usage of sex toys in the country. Chuti Krairiksh, the Social Development and Human Security Minister of Thailand has stated in 2020 that pornographic and sex toys should not be legalized as it will curb the government’s attempt in assisting victims of human trafficking.
Legal
In 2020, as a spokesman of the House Committee, Treerat Sirichantaropas has shown his support in legalising but pornographic materials and sex toys in Thailand. In his statement, he had stated that the chances of reducing sexual assault cases in Thailand are high with the legalisation of pornographic and sex toys. The public in Thailand has shown support to the statement where it can be seen that some are interested in purchasing sex toys online, especially since the pandemic has started in 2020. Websites such as Malaysia sex toys could have been used by them to purchase their items. The activist, Nisarat Jongwisan who sparked the controversies for trying to legalize using and selling sex toys in Thailand and a few politicians from the House of Committee Thailand are the only ones to support legalizing the law in Thailand. The majority of the public in Thailand has shown support to them but it was not well received by the authorities and politicians that are against it. This always leads to a never-ending debate sparking between the supporters and those against it. Along with that, the laws and politicians in India have legalized sex toys usage and sale in Goa, the tourism state in India but users or sellers can be prosecuted if they were to do business in any other part of India.
From the article, we can understand that some politicians believe that legalizing sex toys can bring about negative consequences to society. However, what they had failed to understand is that sex toys are not only used for sexual pleasure but it is also mainly used to understand human’s behaviours and sexual gratification as part of psychological and sociological studies. Besides that, it is very common in utilizing sex toys for women suffering from Dyspareunia where sexual intercourse causes genital pain. However, some politicians have failed to understand both the pros and cons of using a sex toy but had only focussed on the cons of using it which had made them adamant in either banning it or not legalizing it for the public. As the world is moving towards a more democratic society, the public believes that the politicians should gather the public’s opinions too before finalizing any laws as the implemented laws affect the public too.
