被禁止的性行为与性暴力

正如我们已经了解的那样，一些性变异对于那些牵涉到的个人来说，可能会受到人们的质疑。在一些国家，这些性变异（sexual variation）[1]仍然是非常严重的事件。例如，恋物癖、易性癖和易装癖可能会受到如此的压制，以至于有这些性变异的个人甚至不能作为性少数而组织起来，而且“换偶者”、男同性恋者、女同性恋者和双性恋者可能会受到法律的制裁。从这个意义上看，这些性变异在一些地方始终是被禁止的行为。当然，对所有这些性变异来说，这也是一个历史的范畴问题：进步社会的政府和实行法律改革的政府或新近就职的压制人的政府，都能够在开明与保守这两个方向上，非常彻底地改变社会环境。这在过去已经发生过，今天正在发生，而且将来可能还会发生。

不过，对那些大多数文化中多数时间里被禁止的性行为单辟一偶展开讨论似乎是有益的。例如，成人与儿童的性接触尽管有一些例外的例子应该要说明一下，它几乎永远都是会广泛宣布有罪的。卖淫的例子受到的评价则比较含混：如今，它在许多国家都是禁止的，不过在另一些国家它是法律允许的，而且正如每一位历史学家所知晓的那样，它过去曾经是包括基督教的中世纪在内的许多伟大的文明中由官方所接受和所管理的特许事业。不过，毋庸置疑，儿童卖淫在每一个国度里都是违法的。

最后，至少以某种基本的方式强调一下性暴力问题似乎也是必要的。重申一下，在特定的情形下，一些性暴力的形式总是已经被容忍甚或受鼓励，而且现在仍旧被容忍和受鼓励。甚至，在一些国家，针对儿童的最恶劣的性暴力方式之一——女性性器官毁损得到了法律的完全保障，而且是出于虔诚的道德良心。

以下的课程内容提供一些有关这些方面的大致概要和所涉及的少许专题内容。因为这些问题本身的复杂性以及对它们做出社会和法律反应的繁复的多样性，要想在本课程里涉及到十分详尽的细节，恐怕不可能办得到。有人也许会认为，至少在刚刚提及的领域里，存在全世界多数人都同意的大致合法或不合法的判定，然而，这并不是事物的真实状况。从全球的视野看，只存在设法调节人类性行为的分歧相差极大的过多过滥的法律而已。

Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

As we have seen, certain sexual variations can be problematic for the individuals concerned. In some countries, however, the problems are quite serious. For example, fetishists, transsexuals and transvestites may be so oppressed that they cannot even organize as minorities, and the sexual behavior of “swingers”, gays, lesbians, and bisexuals may be punishable by law. In that sense, these variations are already prohibited behaviors in some places. There is, of course, also a historical dimension to all of this: Progressive social and legal reforms or newly installed repressive governments can change the circumstances very drastically in either direction. This has happened in the past, is happening today, and is likely to happen in the future.
Nevertheless, it seems useful to offer a separate discussion of sexual behaviors that have been prohibited in most cultures much of the time. For example, adult sexual contact with children has almost always been widely condemned, although certain exceptions should be noted. The case of prostitution is less clear-cut: Today, it is prohibited in many countries, but in others it has been legalized and, as every historian knows, it was an officially accepted and regulated feature of many great cultures of the past, including the Christian Middle Ages. Needless to say, however, child prostitution is illegal everywhere.
Finally, it seems necessary to address, at least in some basic way, the issue of sexual violence. Again, some of its forms have always been – and still are – tolerated or even encouraged in certain situations. Indeed, in some countries one of the worst forms of sexual violence against children - the mutilation of female sex organs - is committed quite legally and with a good conscience.
The following sections provide some general information about these and a few related subjects. Because of the complexity of the issues themselves and the great variety of social and legal responses to them, it is not possible to be very specific in this course. One might think that, at least in the areas just mentioned, there is a world-wide consensus about legality or illegality, but this is not the case. Seen from a global perspective, there are simply too many widely diverging laws trying to regulate human sexual behavior.