Sexual freedom is abundant these days and sex-related crimes are declining, said Mike Enright, who made a presentation Monday on the history of sex to members of the Villages Civil Discourse Club at Colony Cottage Recreation Center.
“You can have sex just about anywhere – on the town square, on a power transformer, on a airplane,” said Enright, a retired teacher who teaches several courses at the Villages Lifelong Learning College.
He referred to two recent local cases where people were arrested for having sex at the Lake Sumter Landing Market Square and last week on an electrical utility box at Morse Boulevard and El Camino Real. His talk will be repeated at 10 a.m. next Monday at the Savannah Center.
Enright said his research showed that even with more freedom, sex-related crime is declining in our country. Sexual abuse cases dropped 53 percent between 1992 and 2006; teen sexual activity is down 52 percent; and sexual assault cases declined 44 percent since 1995.
“We shouldn’t be satisfied until every child can be safe,” he said.
Divorce also is down 23 percent since 1990 and Enright said family stability is critical for emotionally and physically healthy children. Still, he said, 44 percent of all children are born to unmarried parents.
“There is a strong connection between that and crime,” he said, citing his teaching experience.
Enright offered a couple theories for the decreases. He said one article speculated that the increase in pornography, now just a couple clicks away on a computer, satisfies urges of some people who might otherwise commit sex crimes.
Another theory is that legal abortion since the 1960s reduced the number of unwanted children, which caused overall crime to decline.
Puritanical attitudes about sex, some of which persist today, originated in the Middle Ages and were promoted by the Roman Catholic Church, Enright said.
All forms of pleasure were considered sinful,” he said. “Women were considered the source of evil since Eve.”
Even kissing was not permitted and sex was viewed as wrong except for procreation among Christians. Sex was restricted to certain days of the week and prohibited during Lent.
“If you have to give up candy or something for Lent, stop complaining,” Enright said.
