ABSTRACT
The liberal project to leave adult human beings as free as possible to run their own lives suggests that liberal societies should leave adult sexual relations unregulated by law. Since under that project everyone must enjoy the same freedom, this would mean that consensual sexual relations between adults would be legally unrestricted. This is, in fact, more or less the position in contemporary Europe and the United States. However, consensual incest is still criminalized in the UK and the United States but not in many European countries. It is, nevertheless, generally considered morally unacceptable. Another exception, at least in the UK, is sado-masochistic sexual activity. But even there the decision by the UK’s highest court was based on the harm done by the physical assaults in the case rather than on the sexual part of the action. What was banned by the judges was the sado-masochism involved, not the sex. 1 Other liberal jurisdictions focus on the consensual nature of the sado-masochistic exchange and allow it. The legal freedom of adult consensual sex does not, of course, apply to children who are deemed to be in need of protection in these matters. It applies also only to private sexual acts, not to sexual acts performed in public. The latter are offences against public morals.
