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Mexican City Legalizes Street Sex: Oasis of Freedom or Hotbed of Violence?

Making love in public view has traditionally been considered offensive, but as time goes by one long-established taboo is on the way out. At least in one Mexican city.
Sputnik

Sex in the street is no longer a daring fantasy in the Mexican city of Guadalajara because the local authorities have greenlighted a legal amendment that allows sexual relations in public as long as there is no complaint from a third party.

Sputnik has talked with several Mexican experts to see how one of the most conservative societies in the world reacts to this change.

“Holding sexual intercourse or acts of sexual exhibitionism on public roads or in public places, vacant lots, entertainment centers, vehicle interiors or in private places with a view to the public will be viewed as a violation only if complained about by citizens,” the local media cited an amendment to the police regulations of the city of Guadalajara.

According to experts, the law seeks to stop police extorting money from couples.

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"It's not that the law allows sexual relations on the street, even though this is what may happen in practice. The law aims at eradicating extortion by the police because previously, when a police officer saw a couple in an intimate situation he could extort money from them," Father Antonio Gutierrez Montano, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, told Sputnik Mundo.

He added that for all its good intentions, the new law is fraught with many risks, as it could encourage prostitution and violence.

“Women could be raped and if nobody says anything, this will continue. Children are also at risk because they may be similarly abused,” the cleric noted.

Moreover, "children and adolescents can begin to see this as something normal,” he added.

The head of the Department of Applied Psychology at the University of Guadalajara, Dr. Baudelio Lara Garcia, disagrees.

In an interview with Sputnik he said that "it is not an invitation to have sexual sex in public.

"You do not often meet people on the street engaged in sexual intercourse. What we are talking about are couples having a good time making out in parks,” he said.

According to Dr. Garcia, the amendment is aimed at "the formation of a new type of relations between people, as issues of feminism, respect and justice permeate society, as well as a more civilized perception of a topic that historically was viewed as taboo and in many cases gave rise to abuse of power on the part of the authorities."

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