Campaign Against Sex Robots: Would These 'Relationships' Be Unethical?

Is it ethical to have sex with a sex robot? Two scientists from the United Kingdom and Sweden say no.

Robot anthropologist Kathleen Richardson of the De Montfort University and lecturer Erik Billing of the University of Skovde just launched the Campaign Against Sex Robots on Tuesday in an effort to raise the public's awareness on the potential harm this could create to society in promoting sex between both humans and robots.

Of course, most of us have to admit that we've seen "Lars and the Real Girl." And yes. There's wasn't really much sex going on in that movie between Lars and his robot, lady-friend. However, a previous poll conducted by The Huffington Post and YouGov a few years ago actually found that close to 9 percent of Americans would, in fact, have sex with a robot.

However, Richardson points out that while sex dolls have yet to hit the industry, women and children suffer significant sexual abuse in the real world due to objectification, and sex robots would only serve to reinforce this idea.

"When I first started looking into the subject I thought, 'oh sex robots, that's harmless and perhaps these robots would reduce demand for real women and children,'" she said, via NBC News.
"But then as I researched the subject more I found that the opposite was true-that rather than reduce the objectification of women, children and also men and transgender people, these robots would contribute and reinforce their position in society [as objects]."

She added: "We have the real use of women and children in the real world [as sex objects] and this kind of paraphernalia reinforces that message.".

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