Keep Robot Brothels Out Of Houston

Keep Robot Brothels Out Of Houston

Started
September 18, 2018
Petition to
Mayor's Office City of Houston
Victory
This petition made change with 13,573 supporters!

Why this petition matters

Started by Elijah Rising

KinkySdollS is a business in Toronto where you can rent a sex robot by the hour, and they announced they are opening a robot brothel in Houston.

As a nonprofit whose mission is to end sex trafficking we have seen the progression as sex buyers go from pornography to strip clubs to purchasing sex—robot brothels will ultimately harm men, their understanding of healthy sexuality, and increase the demand for the prostitution and sexual exploitation of women and children.

Studies have found "that the introduction of new technology supports and contributes to the expansion of the sex industry. ... Prostitution and pornography production also rises with the growth of the internet. In 1990, 5.6 percent of men reported paying for sex in their lifetime, by 2000, this had increased to 8.8 percent...

The arguments that sex robots will provide artificial sexual substitutes and reduce the purchase of sex by buyers is not borne out by evidence. There are numerous sexual artificial substitutes already available, RealDolls, vibrators, blow-up dolls etc., If an artificial substitute reduced the need to buy sex, there would be a reduction in prostitution but no such correlation is found. "1 - Dr. Kathleen Richardson is a Senior Research Fellow in Ethics of Robotics

  • Robot brothels will just create an expansion of the already dehumanized act of sex buying. Sex robots will not decrease sex trafficking in Houston, it will only encourage more men to become sex buyers.  
  • There is no evidence that sex robots could help reduce sexual exploitation and violence towards prostituted persons, evidence shows how technology and the sex trade coexist and reinforce each other creating more demand for human bodies.
  • Sex robots sexually objectify women and children.
  • Multiple robot brothels around the world have been shut down because of the public health risk posed by the serial rental of sex robots. There is no proven safe way to handle the disinfection of the humanoids.

For more information, read the article at elijahrising.org

Source

1. Kathleen Richardson, The Asymmetrical ‘Relationship’: Parallels Between Prostitution and the Development of Sex Robots, (Leicaster, ACM Digital Library, 2015)

 

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This petition made change with 13,573 supporters!

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Decision Makers

  • City of HoustonMayor's Office