Necrophilia: A New Social-Harm Taxonomy of U.S. Laws

This article is about necrophilia, in particular how state laws frame the harm associated with the crime. In the long term, I’m interested in theorizing various issues related to the sexual autonomy rights and interests of victims of rape. In the short term—and the limited scope of this article—is an examination of the normative reasons why states seek to punish necrophilic acts. The fifty-state survey contained herein examines statutory texts, legislative history, and case law. After this review, five distinct formulations of the social harms associated with necrophilia emerged. The first of these is “no social harm” and applies to the four states that do not currently have criminal prohibitions against necrophilia. The remaining categories are: crimes against nature, mistreatment of corpses, the rights of surviving family members, and sex crimes.