Sex crimes are forms of human sexual behavior that are crimes. Someone who commits one is said to be a sex offender. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Some sex crimes are crimes of violence that involve sex. Others are violations of social taboos, such as indecent exposure or exhibitionism. Violence refers to acts —typically connotative with aggressive and criminal behaviour —which intend to cause or is causing of injury to persons, animals, or (in limited cases) property. ... A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) relating to any area of human activity or social custom declared as sacred and forbidden; breaking of the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. ... A girl flashing her breasts Indecent exposure is the display of unclothed parts of the human body in a manner that is contrary to local custom and law. ... An exhibitionist is a person who practises exhibitionism as a psychological alteration of the human behaviour that neither implies the need to exhibit the genitalia or buttocks nor alterations of the psychiatric condition of the individual (although sometimes this occurs, see below). ...

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.

Acts regarded as crimes almost universally include the following non-consensual sex crimes:

• Lust murder
• Rape, sexual assault and other forms of sexual abuse
• Sexual harassment (including voyeurism) is also viewed as a crime in Western cultures.
• Child sexual abuse or molestation
• Child pornography

Liberal western cultures are far more tolerant of acts, such as oral sex or transvestism, that have traditionally been held to be crimes in some other cultures, but combine this with lesser tolerance for the remaining crimes. A lust murder is a homicide in which the offender stabs, cuts, pierces, slashes, or otherwise mutilates the sexual organs or areas of the victims body. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Sexual abuse is a relative cultural term used to describe sexual relations and behavior between two or more parties which are considered criminally and/or morally offensive. ... Sexual harassment is harassment of a sexual nature, typically in the workplace or other setting where raising objections or refusing may have negative consequences. ... Voyeurism is a practice in which the individual derives sexual pleasure from observing other people. ... The term child sexual abuse (CSA) denotes sex between prepubescent minors and adults. ... The term child pornography (sometimes referred to as CP, child porn, or kiddie porn) generally refers to pornography featuring one or more children; however, a precise definition can be elusive, as the terms pornography and child vary in definition according to region and country. ... Oral sex consists of all the sexual activities that involve the use of the mouth, tongue, etc. ... The term transvestism has undergone several changes of meaning since it was coined in the 1910s; and it is still used in all of these meanings except the very first one. ...

Many consensual sexual actions or activities are only viewed as crimes in some jurisdictions, including:

• Adultery
• Anal sex
• Sex among juveniles (usually as Statutory rape)
• Homosexuality
• Oral sex
• Various Paraphilias/Fetishes (Sexual) such as
  • transvestic fetishism
  • BDSM
• Pornography
• Prostitution and/or pimping
• Ownership of vibrators and other sex toys
• Incest

Man and woman undergoing public exposure for adultery in Japan, around 1860 Adultery is generally defined as consensual sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than their lawful spouse. ... Roman men having anal sex. ... The term statutory rape is sometimes used when national and/or regional governments, citing an interest in protecting minors, consider people under a certain age to be unable to give consent, and therefore consider sexual contact with them to be equivalent to rape regardless of the minors consent. ... Since its inception, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... In psychology and sexology, paraphilia (in Greek para παρά = besides and -philia φιλία = love) is a term that describes sexual arousal in response to sexual objects or situations which may interfere with the capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity. ... Sexual fetishism, first described as such by Alfred Binet in his Le fétichisme dans l’amour, though the concept and certainly the activity is quite ancient, is a form of paraphilia where the object of affection is a specific inanimate object or part of a persons body. ... A collar is a common symbol of BDSM. BDSM is a term which describes a number of related patterns of human sexual behaviour. ... Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφία pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of prostitutes) (also informally referred to as porn, porno, and more recently, pr0n) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but distinct from, erotica. ... A prostitute in Germany Prostitution is the sale of sexual services, such as oral sex or sexual intercourse, for money. ... A pimp is a man who manages women in prostitution, often street prostitution, in order to profit from their earnings. ... A vibrator is a mechanical device that is designed to generate vibrations. ... A sex toy is a term for any object or device that is primarily used in facilitating human sexual pleasure. ... Incest is sexual activity or marriage between very close family members. ...

See also:

• Sodomy law
• Sex offender registration

A sodomy law is a law which makes certain sexual acts into sex crimes. ... In 1990, Washington State in the United States became the first state to require the registration and community notification of the release of sex offenders from incarceration. ...

External links

Examples of laws in various localities:

• California
• Canada
• Highland Park, Illinois (PDF file)