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Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from Ancient Greek: νεκρός (nekros; "corpse," or "dead") and φιλία (philia; "friendship"). The term appears to have originated from Krafft-Ebing's 1886 work Psychopathia Sexualis.^[1]

Rosman and Resnick (1989) reviewed information from 34 cases of necrophilia describing the individuals' motivations for their behaviors: these individuals reported the desire to possess an unresisting and unrejecting partner (68%), reunions with a romantic partner (21%), sexual attraction to corpses (15%), comfort or overcoming feelings of isolation (15%), or seeking self-esteem by expressing power over a homicide victim (12%).^[2]

History

Herodotus writes in The Histories that, to discourage intercourse with a corpse, ancient Egyptians left deceased beautiful women to decay for "three or four days" before giving them to the embalmers.^[3]^[4]^[5] This practice originated from the need to discourage the men performing the funerary customs from having sexual interest in their charges.

In some societies the practice was enacted owing to a belief that the soul of an unmarried woman would not find peace; among the Kachin of Myanmar, versions of a marriage ceremony were held to lay a dead virgin to rest, which would involve intercourse with the corpse. Similar practices existed in some pre-modern Central European societies when a woman who was engaged to be married died before the wedding.^[6]

Religious aspect

Acts of necrophilia are reportedly displayed on Moche artifacts of Peru. It was reportedly used as a method to communicate with the dead.^[7]^[8] See also: Necromancy.

Classification

A ten-tier classification of necrophilia:^[9]

Role players
Romantic necrophiles
People having a necrophilic fantasy – necrophilic fantasizers
Tactile necrophiles
People having a fetishistic necrophilia – fetishistic necrophiles
People having a necromutilomania – necromutilomaniacs
Opportunistic necrophiles
Regular necrophiles
Homicidal necrophiles
Exclusive necrophiles.

Research

In 1958, Klaf and Brown^[5] commented that, although rarely described, necrophilic fantasies may occur more often than is generally supposed.

Rosman and Resnick^[10] (1989) theorized that either of the following situations could be antecedents to necrophilia (pp. 161):

The necrophile develops poor self-esteem, perhaps due in part to a significant loss;
(a) He/she is very fearful of rejection by women/men and he/she desires a sexual partner who is incapable of rejecting him/her; and/or

(b) He/she is fearful of the dead, and transforms his/her fear — by means of reaction formation — into a desire.
He/she develops an exciting fantasy of sex with a corpse, sometimes after exposure to a corpse.

The authors also reported that, of their sample of 'necrophiliacs,':

68 percent were motivated by a desire for an unresisting and unrejecting partner;
21 percent by a want for reunion with a lost partner;
15 percent by sexual attraction to dead people;
15 percent by a desire for comfort or to overcome feelings of isolation; and
11 percent by a desire to remedy low self-esteem by expressing power over a corpse (pp. 159).

At the end of their own report, Rosman and Resnick wrote that their study should only be used like a spring-board for further, more in depth, research.

Minor modern researches conducted in England have shown that some necrophiles tend to choose a dead mate after failing to create romantic attachments with the living ^{[citation needed]}.

Animals

Necrophilia is known to occur in animals, with a number of confirmed observations.^[11] Kees Moeliker allegedly made one of these observations while he was sitting in his office at the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, when he heard the distinctive thud of a bird hitting the glass facade of the building. Upon inspection, he discovered a drake (male) mallard lying dead about two meters from the building. Next to the downed bird there was a second drake mallard standing close by. As Moeliker observed the couple, the living drake picked at the corpse of the dead one for a few minutes and then mounted the corpse and began copulating with it. The act of necrophilia lasted for about 75 minutes, in which time, according to Moeliker, the living drake took two short breaks before resuming with copulating behavior. Moeliker surmised that at the time of the collision with the window the two mallards were engaged in a common pattern in duck behavior which is called "rape flight". "When one died the other one just went for it and didn't get any negative feedback -- well, didn't get any feedback," according to Moeliker.^[12]^[13] This is the first recorded case of necrophilia in the mallard duck- though not the only recorded case of homosexuality within the bird family.^[14]

The Cane Toads: an Unnatural History film shows a male toad copulating with a female toad who has been run over by a car. He goes on to do this for eight hours.^[15]

In the case of a praying mantis, necrophilia could be said to be part of their methods of reproduction. The larger female will sometimes decapitate or even eat her mate during copulation. However, this only happens in 5-31% of cases.^[16] However, given that the sexual activity of a male mantis is controlled by a brain-like ganglion in his abdomen it may not be appropriate to refer to him as a "corpse", even when he is decapitated.^{[citation needed]}

Legality

India

Section 297 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) entitled "Trespassing on burial places, etc", states as follows:^[17]

Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person, or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby,
commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sculpture, or any place set apart from the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies,
shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Although Necrophilia is not explicitly stated in IPC, a necrophiliac may be convicted under the above section in the Indian Penal Code. There have been several allegations by relatives of dead women, that the dead bodies of their kin were defiled in the night by mortuary attendants, but none have been proven. ^[18]

In some cases, where a woman was alleged to have been raped and murdered and the autopsy surgeon failed to find any signs of rape, the relatives have approached the authorities for a second postmortem. The second postmortem is invariably conducted at a different hospital, often necessitating the deposit of the body overnight at the mortuary of the second hospital. In cases where the second autopsy surgeon finds signs of rape, the defendants have been known to allege that the dead body was defiled by drunk mortuary attendants at night. However, no such allegation has been proven in a court of law.^[18]

United Kingdom

Sexual penetration with a corpse was made illegal under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This is defined as depictions of "sexual interference with a human corpse" (as opposed to only penetration), and would cover "depictions which appear to be real acts" as well as actual scenes (see also extreme pornography).

As of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, it is also illegal to possess physical depictions of necrophilia, electronic or otherwise. Necrophilia-pornography falls under the governmental description of extreme pornography, of which, possession is classed as illegal under the aforementioned act.

United States

As of May 2006, there is no federal legislation specifically barring sex with a corpse.^[19] Multiple states have their own laws:

Alabama - Class C felony under 13A-11-13
Alaska - Class A misdemeanor under 11-61-130
Arkansas - Class D felony under 5-60-101
Arizona - Class 4 felony under 32-1364
California - Felony under Health and Safety Code 7052, up to eight years in prison
Colorado - Class 2 misdemeanor under 18-13-101
Connecticut - Class A misdemeanor under 53a-73a
Delaware - Class A misdemeanor under 11-5-1332
Florida - Second degree felony under chapter 872.06
Georgia - Felony, up to 10 years in prison under 16-6-7
Hawaii - Misdemeanor under 7
Iowa - Class D felony under 709.18
Minnesota and Nevada also have laws prohibiting necrophilia^[20]
Nevada Class A felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison with the possibility of parole under NRS 201.450
Ohio - Second degree misdemeanor, fifth degree felony under 2927.01
Oregon - Felony for "Abuse of Corpse" ORS 166.085
Pennsylvania - Second degree misdemeanor under Title 18 §5510
Texas - Class A misdemeanor [1]
Washington - Class C felony for "Sexually violating human remains" RCW 9A.44.105
Wisconsin - Class G felony under 940.225 (7)

Footnotes

^ Krafft-Ebing, Richard von (1886). Psychopathia Sexualis. English translation: ISBN 1-55970-425-X.
^ Rosman, J. P., & Resnick, P. J. (1989). Sexual attraction to corpses: A psychiatric review of necrophilia. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 17, 153–163.
^ Herodotus (c. 440 BC). The Histories, Book II, 89:
"The wives of men of rank when they die are not given at once to be embalmed, nor such women as are very beautiful or of greater regard than others, but on the third or fourth day after their death (and not before) they are delivered to the embalmers. They do so about this matter in order that the embalmers may not abuse their women, for they say that one of them was taken once doing so to the corpse of a woman lately dead, and his fellow-craftsman gave information."
^ Brill, Abraham A. (1941). "Necrophilia," Journal of Criminal Psychopathology, 2(4), 433-443.
^ ^a ^b Klaf, Franklin S., and Brown, William (1958). "Necrophilia: Brief Review and Case Report," the Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 29(143), 645-652. "Inhibited forms of necrophilia and necrophilic fantasies may occur more commonly then is generally realized."
^ Walker, Benjamin. Encyclopaedia of Metaphysical Medicine, Routledge 1978, pp. 191-2. Walker cites Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, John Long, London, 1936, in support.
^ Swarag. "The Dead Corpse Can Fantasize Physical Pleasure". OneIndia. Bangalore: Greynium Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
^ Geoghegan, Ted. "The Sordid History of Dead Love". Girls & Corpses. Robert Steven Rhine. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
^ Aggrawal, Anil. (2009). "A new classification of necrophilia". J Forensic Leg Med. 16 (6): 316–20. doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2008.12.023. PMID 19573840. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
^ Rosman, Jonathan P., and Resnick, Phillip J. (1989). "Sexual attraction to corpses: a psychiatric review of necrophilia," Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 17, 153-163.
^ "Randy rock doves join party with the dead". The Guardian. London. 2005-03-14. Retrieved 2007-06-17.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^ C.W. Moeliker (2001). "The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the Anas platyrhynchos (Aves:Anatidae)". Deinsea - Annual of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. 8: 243–247.
^ Donald MacLeod (2005-03-08). "Necrophilia among ducks ruffles research feathers". London: Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-06-17.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^ Smith, Dinitia (2004-02-07). "Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name". New York Times. p. 7.
^ Lewis, 1989 S. Lewis, Cane Toads: an Unnatural History, Doubleday, New York (1989).
^ Dan Feldman. "The Praying Mantis". Retrieved 2007-06-17.
^ THE INDIAN PENAL CODE (IPC)- Dowry Law Misuse(IPC 498A) By Indian Women
^ ^a ^b Aggrawal, Anil (2009). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 1420043080. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |curly= ignored (help) Cite error: The named reference "aggrawal" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Section 3a
^ as described in the footnote on page 43 of Mary Roach's bestselling book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

References

http://www.forensicpsychiatry.ca/paraphilia/necro.htm

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 {{Globalise|date=January 2009}}
+'''Necrophilia''', also called '''thanatophilia''' and '''necrolagnia''', is the [[human sexuality|sexual]] attraction to [[Cadaver|corpses]]. It is classified as a [[paraphilia]] by the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual]] of the [[American Psychiatric Association]]. The word is artificially derived from Ancient Greek: ''[[wikt:νεκρός|νεκρός]]'' (''nekros''; "corpse," or "dead") and ''[[wikt:φιλία|φιλία]]'' (''philia''; "friendship"). The term appears to have originated from [[Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing|Krafft-Ebing]]'s 1886 work ''[[Psychopathia Sexualis (book)|Psychopathia Sexualis]]''.<ref>Krafft-Ebing, Richard von (1886). ''Psychopathia Sexualis''. English translation: ISBN 1-55970-425-X.</ref>
-'''Necrophilia''', also called '''thanatophilia''' and '''necrolagnia''', is an act carried out by Paul Williams and Stephen Issit
+Rosman and Resnick (1989) reviewed information from 34 cases of necrophilia describing the individuals' motivations for their behaviors: these individuals reported the desire to possess an unresisting and unrejecting partner (68%), reunions with a romantic partner (21%), sexual attraction to corpses (15%), comfort or overcoming feelings of isolation (15%), or seeking self-esteem by expressing power over a homicide victim (12%).<ref>Rosman, J. P., & Resnick, P. J. (1989). Sexual attraction to corpses: A psychiatric review of necrophilia. ''Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 17,'' 153–163.</ref><!---WHAT are the demographics? Are all male or female? When and where are the stats being sampled from? Does it represent the worldwide view?--->
 ==History==
+[[Herodotus]] writes in [[Histories (Herodotus)|''The Histories'']] that, to discourage intercourse with a corpse, ancient Egyptians left deceased beautiful women to decay for "three or four days" before giving them to the [[embalmers]].<ref>Herodotus ([[circa|c.]] 440 BC). ''The Histories'', [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext01/1hofh10.txt Book II], 89:
-During 1992 cases of necrophillia rose tenfold due to the births of Paul Williams and Stephen Issit
+:"The wives of men of rank when they die are not given at once to be embalmed, nor such women as are very beautiful or of greater regard than others, but on the third or fourth day after their death (and not before) they are delivered to the embalmers. They do so about this matter in order that the embalmers may not abuse their women, for they say that one of them was taken once doing so to the corpse of a woman lately dead, and his fellow-craftsman gave information."</ref><ref>Brill, Abraham A. (1941). "Necrophilia," ''Journal of Criminal Psychopathology'', 2(4), 433-443.</ref><ref name="klaf"/> This practice originated from the need to discourage the men performing the funerary customs from having sexual interest in their charges.
+In some societies the practice was enacted owing to a belief that the soul of an unmarried woman would not find peace; among the [[Jingpo|Kachin]] of Myanmar, versions of a marriage ceremony were held to lay a dead virgin to rest, which would involve intercourse with the corpse. Similar practices existed in some pre-modern Central European societies when a woman who was engaged to be married died before the wedding.<ref>Walker, Benjamin. ''Encyclopaedia of Metaphysical Medicine'', Routledge 1978, pp. 191-2. Walker cites Rollo Ahmed, ''The Black Art'', John Long, London, 1936, in support.</ref>
+==Religious aspect==
+Acts of necrophilia are reportedly displayed on Moche artifacts of Peru. It was reportedly used as a method to communicate with the dead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://living.oneindia.in/kamasutra/spheres-of-life/2008/necrophilia-corpse-attraction-treatment1.html |title=The Dead Corpse Can Fantasize Physical Pleasure |author=Swarag |work=OneIndia |publisher=Greynium Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd. |location=Bangalore |accessdate=16 May 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.girlsandcorpses.com/issue6_historydeadlove.html |title=The Sordid History of Dead Love |first=Ted |last=Geoghegan |work=Girls & Corpses |publisher=Robert Steven Rhine |accessdate=16 May 2009 }}</ref> See also: [[Necromancy]].
+==Classification==
+A ten-tier classification of necrophilia:<ref name="aggrawal_classification">{{cite journal |author=Aggrawal, Anil. |title=A new classification of necrophilia |journal=J Forensic Leg Med |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=316–20 |year=2009 |month=August |pmid=19573840 |doi=10.1016/j.jflm.2008.12.023 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B8CY1-4VGDNXT-2&_user=5081486&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2009&_rdoc=5&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%2340101%232009%23999839993%231262082%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=40101&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=22&_acct=C000047720&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=5081486&md5=d9a87333539d30346df1d65ec7a68121}}</ref>
+# Role players
+# Romantic necrophiles
+# People having a necrophilic fantasy – necrophilic fantasizers
+# Tactile necrophiles
+# People having a fetishistic necrophilia – fetishistic necrophiles
+# People having a necromutilomania – necromutilomaniacs
+# Opportunistic necrophiles
+# Regular necrophiles
+# Homicidal necrophiles
+# Exclusive necrophiles.
+==Research==
+In 1958, Klaf and Brown<ref name="klaf">Klaf, Franklin S., and Brown, William (1958). "Necrophilia: Brief Review and Case Report," ''the Psychoanalytic Quarterly'', 29(143), 645-652. "Inhibited forms of necrophilia and necrophilic fantasies may occur more commonly then is generally realized."</ref> commented that, although rarely described, necrophilic [[fantasy (psychology)|fantasies]] may occur more often than is generally supposed.
+Rosman and Resnick<ref name="rosman">Rosman, Jonathan P., and Resnick, Phillip J. (1989). [http://www.burknet.com/robsfantasy/section11a.html "Sexual attraction to corpses: a psychiatric review of necrophilia,"] ''Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law'', 17, 153-163.</ref> (1989) theorized that either of the following situations could be antecedents to necrophilia (pp. 161):
+#The necrophile develops poor [[self-esteem]], perhaps due in part to a significant loss;
+#:(a) He/she is very fearful of rejection by women/men and he/she desires a sexual partner who is incapable of rejecting him/her; and/or
+#:(b) He/she is fearful of the dead, and transforms his/her fear &mdash; by means of [[reaction formation]] &mdash; into a desire.
+#He/she develops an exciting fantasy of sex with a corpse, sometimes after exposure to a corpse.</blockquote>
+The authors also reported that, of their sample of 'necrophiliacs,':
+*68 percent were motivated by a desire for an unresisting and unrejecting partner;
+*21 percent by a want for reunion with a lost partner;
+*15 percent by sexual attraction to dead people;
+*15 percent by a desire for comfort or to overcome feelings of isolation; and
+*11 percent by a desire to remedy low self-esteem by expressing power over a corpse (pp. 159).
+At the end of their own report, Rosman and Resnick wrote that their study should only be used like a spring-board for further, more in depth, research.
+Minor modern researches conducted in [[England]] have shown that some necrophiles tend to choose a dead mate after failing to create romantic attachments with the living {{Fact|date=June 2007}}.
+===Animals===
+{{main|Davian behavior}}
+Necrophilia is known to occur in animals, with a number of confirmed observations.<ref name="Guardian 2: Electric Boogaloo">{{cite news | url = http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/improbable/story/0,,1437560,00.html | title = Randy rock doves join party with the dead | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | work = [[The Guardian]] | year = 2005 | location=London | date=2005-03-14}}</ref> [[Kees Moeliker]] allegedly made one of these observations while he was sitting in his office at the [[Natuurmuseum Rotterdam]], when he heard the distinctive thud of a bird hitting the glass facade of the building. Upon inspection, he discovered a drake (male) [[mallard]] lying dead about two meters from the building. Next to the downed bird there was a second [[drake]] mallard standing close by. As Moeliker observed the couple, the living drake picked at the corpse of the dead one for a few minutes and then mounted the corpse and began copulating with it. The act of necrophilia lasted for about 75 minutes, in which time, according to Moeliker, the living drake took two short breaks before resuming with copulating behavior. Moeliker surmised that at the time of the collision with the window the two mallards were engaged in a common pattern in [[duck]] behavior which is called "rape flight". "When one died the other one just went for it and didn't get any negative feedback -- well, didn't get any feedback," according to Moeliker.<ref name="Mallard Duck">{{cite journal | author=C.W. Moeliker| title=The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the Anas platyrhynchos (Aves:Anatidae)| journal=Deinsea - Annual of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam| year=2001| volume=8| pages=243–247}}</ref><ref name="MallardDuck">{{cite news | url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,1432991,00.html | title = Necrophilia among ducks ruffles research feathers|accessdate = 2007-06-17|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|year=2005|author=Donald MacLeod | location=London | date=2005-03-08}}</ref> This is the first recorded case of necrophilia in the [[mallard duck]]- though not the only recorded case of [[homosexuality]] within the bird family.<ref name="NYTSqueak">{{cite news |first=Dinitia |last=Smith |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506efd9113bf934a35751c0a9629c8b63 |title=Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name |publisher=New York Times |page=7 |date=2004-02-07}}</ref>
+The Cane Toads: an Unnatural History film shows a male toad copulating with a female toad who has been run over by a car. He goes on to do this for eight hours.<ref>Lewis, 1989 S. Lewis, Cane Toads: an Unnatural History, Doubleday, New York (1989).</ref>
+In the case of a [[praying mantis]], necrophilia could be said to be part of their methods of [[reproduction]]. The larger female will sometimes decapitate or even eat her mate during copulation. However, this only happens in 5-31% of cases.<ref name="Feldman">{{Cite web|url=http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/courses/en507/papers_1999/feldman.htm|title=The Praying Mantis|accessdate = 2007-06-17|author=Dan Feldman}}</ref> However, given that the sexual activity of a male mantis is controlled by a brain-like [[ganglion]] in his abdomen it may not be appropriate to refer to him as a "corpse", even when he is decapitated.{{fact|date=June 2009}}
+==Legality==
+===India===
+Section 297 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) entitled "Trespassing on burial places, etc", states as follows:<ref name="ipc">[http://mynation.net/ipc.htm#_Toc496765169 THE INDIAN PENAL CODE (IPC)- Dowry Law Misuse(IPC 498A) By Indian Women<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
+<blockquote>Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person, or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby,
+commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sculpture, or any place set apart from the performance of [[funeral rites]] or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies,
+shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.</blockquote>
+Although Necrophilia is not explicitly stated in IPC, a necrophiliac may be convicted under the above section in the Indian Penal Code.
+There have been several allegations by relatives of dead women, that the dead bodies of their kin were defiled in the night by mortuary attendants, but none have been proven. <ref name="aggrawal">{{cite book | first=Anil | last=Aggrawal | coauthors= | title=Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices | publisher=[[CRC Press]] | location=Boca Raton | year=2009 | isbn=1420043080 | curly=true |url=http://crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781420043082}}</ref>
+In some cases, where a woman was alleged to have been [[rape]]d and murdered and the [[autopsy]] surgeon failed to find any signs of rape, the relatives have approached the authorities for a second postmortem. The second postmortem is invariably conducted at a different hospital, often necessitating the deposit of the body overnight at the mortuary of the second hospital. In cases where the second autopsy surgeon finds signs of rape, the defendants have been known to allege that the dead body was defiled by drunk mortuary attendants at night. However, no such allegation has been proven in a court of law.<ref name="aggrawal">{{cite book | first=Anil | last=Aggrawal | coauthors= | title=Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices | publisher=[[CRC Press]] | location=Boca Raton | year=2008 | isbn=1420043080 | curly=true}}</ref>
+===United Kingdom ===
+Sexual penetration with a corpse was made illegal under the [[Sexual Offences Act 2003]]. This is defined as depictions of "sexual interference with a human corpse" (as opposed to only penetration), and would cover "depictions which appear to be real acts" as well as actual scenes (see also [[extreme pornography]]).
+As of the [[Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008]], it is also illegal to possess physical depictions of necrophilia, electronic or otherwise. Necrophilia-pornography falls under the governmental description of [[extreme pornography]], of which, possession is classed as illegal under the aforementioned act.
+===United States===
+As of May 2006, there is no federal legislation specifically barring sex with a corpse.<ref>[http://www.burknet.com/robsfantasy/section3a.html Section 3a<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Multiple states have their own laws:
+*[[Alabama]] - Class C [[felony]] under [http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeofAlabama/1975/13A-11-13.htm 13A-11-13]
+*[[Alaska]] - Class A [[misdemeanor]] under [http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title11/Chapter61/Section130.htm 11-61-130]
+*[[Arkansas]] - Class D felony under [http://170.94.58.9/NXT/gateway.dll/ARCode/title03839.htm/subtitle04512.htm/chapter04513.htm/subchapter04514/section04515.htm 5-60-101]
+*[[Arizona]] - Class 4 felony under [http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/32/01364.htm&Title=32&DocType=ARS 32-1364]
+*[[California]] - Felony under [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=hsc&group=07001-08000&file=7050.5-7055 Health and Safety Code 7052], up to eight years in prison
+*[[Colorado]] - Class 2 misdemeanor under [http://198.187.128.12/colorado/lpext.dll/Infobase4/29db9/2dc8a/2dca6?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm&2.0#JD_18-13-101 18-13-101]
+*[[Connecticut]] - Class A misdemeanor under [http://www.cga.ct.gov/2001/pub/Chap952.htm#sec53a-65.htm 53a-73a]
+*[[Delaware]] - Class A misdemeanor under [http://www.delcode.state.de.us/title11/c005/sc07/index.htm#P400_34785 11-5-1332]
+*[[Florida]] - Second degree felony under chapter [http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0872/Sec06.HTM 872.06]
+*[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] - Felony, up to 10 years in prison under [http://www.ganet.org/cgi-bin/pub/ocode/ocgsearch?docname=OCode/G/16/6/7&highlight=necrophilia 16-6-7]
+*[[Hawaii]] - Misdemeanor under [http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/vol14_ch0701-0853/hrs0711/hrs_0711-1108.htm 7]
+*[[Iowa]] - Class D felony under [http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/1999SUPPLEMENT/709/18.html 709.18]
+*[[Minnesota]] and [[Nevada]] also have laws prohibiting necrophilia<ref>as described in the footnote on page 43 of Mary Roach's bestselling book ''Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers''</ref>
+*[[Nevada]] Class A felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison with the possibility of parole under [http://law.onecle.com/nevada/crimes/201.450.html NRS 201.450]
+*[[Ohio]] - Second degree misdemeanor, fifth degree felony under [http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2927.01 2927.01]
+*[[Oregon]] - Felony for "Abuse of Corpse" [http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/166.html ORS 166.085]
+*[[Pennsylvania]] - Second degree misdemeanor under [http://members.aol.com/StatutesP7/18PA5510.html Title 18 §5510]
+*[[Texas]] - Class A misdemeanor [http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/PE/content/pdf/pe.009.00.000042.00.pdf]
+*[[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]] - Class C felony for "Sexually violating human remains" [http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.44.105 RCW 9A.44.105]
+* [[Wisconsin]] - Class G felony under [http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=33332 940.225 (7)]
+==See also==
+*[[Necrophilia in popular culture]]
+==Footnotes==
+{{reflist|2}}
+==References==
+* http://www.forensicpsychiatry.ca/paraphilia/necro.htm
+==Further reading==
+*[[Lisa Downing]], ''Desiring the Dead: Necrophilia and Nineteenth-Century French Literature''. Oxford: Legenda, 2003
+*[[Richard von Krafft-Ebing]], ''Psychopathia Sexualis''. New York: Stein & Day, 1965. Originally published in 1886.
+*[[Mary Roach]], ''Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers''. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2003.
+{{paraphilia}}
+[[Category:Necrophilia| ]]
+[[Category:Paraphilias]]
+[[Category:Death]]
+[[Category:Crimes involving Satanism or the occult]]
+[[Category:Greek loanwords]]
+[[ar:جماع الأموات]]
+[[bs:Nekrofilija]]
+[[br:Nekrofiliezh]]
+[[bg:Некрофилия]]
+[[ca:Necrofília]]
+[[cs:Nekrofilie]]
+[[da:Nekrofili]]
+[[de:Nekrophilie]]
+[[et:Nekrofiilia]]
+[[es:Necrofilia]]
+[[eo:Kadavramemo]]
+[[fa:مرده‌بازی]]
+[[fr:Nécrophilie]]
+[[gl:Necrofilia]]
+[[ko:네크로필리아]]
+[[hr:Nekrofilija]]
+[[id:Nekrofilia]]
+[[it:Necrofilia]]
+[[he:נקרופיליה]]
+[[ka:ნეკროფილია]]
+[[lt:Nekrofilija]]
+[[mk:Некрофилија]]
+[[nl:Necrofilie]]
+[[ja:屍姦]]
+[[no:Nekrofili]]
+[[nn:Nekrofili]]
+[[pl:Nekrofilia]]
+[[pt:Necrofilia]]
+[[ru:Некрофилия]]
+[[simple:Necrophilia]]
+[[sk:Nekrofília]]
+[[sr:Некрофилија]]
+[[sh:Nekrofilija]]
+[[fi:Nekrofilia]]
+[[sv:Nekrofili]]
+[[tr:Nekrofili]]
+[[zh:戀屍癖]]
+----