By limiting access to the internet, with the justification of preventing obscenity and preserving gender and sexual norms, governments are actually preventing communities from exercising their rights and freedoms. The growing practice of regulation may have an impact in how people learn about sexuality and express it – especially the people most affected by regulation, women and people of diverse sexualities.
APC’S EROTICS project conducted research in five countries: Brazil, India, Lebanon, South Africa and the United States. The full report with the findings of that research is available here. This issue paper contains executive summaries for each country as well as an incisive introduction by EROTICS coordinator Jac sm Kee. It provides an overview of the research endeavours, and surfaces the key areas of concern, interest and interrogation in the findings, which give a compelling glimpse into the richness of the research universe and the complexity of the subject.