"They [sex robots] raise all sorts of ethical issues, sex is a very emotive issue. Im not sure that there's any scenario where a sex robot is unacceptable... At least in Japan I believe there are child-like sex robots - that raises an ethical discussion."
Jerry Barnett is a campaigner for free speech and sexual freedom, and founded the Sex & Censorship campaign in 2013.
Jerry Barnett is also the author of a book called 'Porn Panic!: Sex and Censorship in the UK' - the book "...charts the rise of a new social conservatism for the new millennium, coinciding with the collapse of liberalism as a political force."
He used to have direct involvement with the adult entertainment industry, this led him to become concerned over the supposed rise in state censorship and consequently establish the Sex and Censorship campaign and blog.
Jerry Barnett is a widely respected speaker, and was part of the debate panel at the Exeter University debate on sex robots.
I recently met Jerry Barnett in London to talk about his ethical views on sex robots:
A sexual stereotype?
When confronted with the argument that sex robots commercialise and draw off sexualised stereotypes of females, Jerry Barnett proposed the idea that men's personal tastes are far more wide ranging than expected.
Jerry Barnett states that over time it remains to be seen what sort of sex robots men will find attractive.
Robots provide sex
Jerry Barnett says that there is a huge segment of male society who are lacking in sex. This includes elderly men, disabled men and autistic men.
Jerry Barnett believes that "people should all have a right to sexual pleasure" and robots provide certain men an outlet for that.
Rape fantasy = "common"
I spoke to Jerry Barnett about a sex robot called 'Frigid Farrah' designed by True Companion - this particular sex robot features a 'rape' setting, activating this setting means the robot does not respond positively to sexual advances made by the user.
Jerry Barnett says that it is "pretty normal" to have rape fantasies, whether that is "raping someone or being raped", and he links this notion to work in the field carried out by Dr David J. Ley.
Jerry Barnett states that there is a need for discussion surrounding whether sex robots encourage rape behaviour, but the fact that sex robots are not human means that regardless of an individual's sexual acts they are not able to feel distress like a human could.
