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Are sex robots enough?
  1. Alexander A Boni-Saenz
  1. Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL 60661, USA
  1. Correspondence to Alexander A Boni-Saenz, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL 60661, USA; abonisae{at}kentlaw.iit.edu

https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-106928

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    Nancy Jecker’s essay Nothing to be Ashamed of: Sex Robots for Older Adults with Disabilities 1 presents a provocative application of the capabilities approach. Her ethical argument for providing access to sex robots for older adults with disabilities proceeds in five parts:

    1. Older adults frequently suffer disabilities that impair sexual functioning.

    2. The ability to function sexually is linked to central human capabilities, including: the ability to generate a personally meaningful life narrative; be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy; experience bodily integrity; feel and express a range of human emotions; affiliate deeply with others; and reflect on and choose a plan for their life.

    3. Society should take reasonable steps to support these human capabilities at a minimal threshold as part of a broader duty to respect human dignity.

    4. Providing access to sex robots comprises part of reasonable efforts to support the six capabilities at a minimal threshold.

    5. Therefore, society ought to make reasonable efforts to ensure access to sex robots for older adults with disabilities that impair sexual functioning.

    I am sympathetic to this line of reasoning, having proposed a series of legal reforms that would facilitate sexual expression among older adults with cognitive impairments as well.2 3 …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @abonisaenz

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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