# Public masturbation ruled legal in Sweden **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073 "2013-09-17T17:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/1 "2013-09-17T17:57:57Z")
> [@](#): > > The incident occurred on June 6th at the Drevviken beach when the man removed his shorts and began masturbating close to the water. He was subsequently charged with sexual assault… > > However, the court added that no offence had been committed as the masturbating man was not pleasuring himself towards a specific person. > > Public prosecutor Olof Vrethammar told the Mitti newspaper that he wasn’t planning to appeal the ruling. > > “For this to be a criminal offence it’s required that the sexual molestation was directed towards one or more people. I think the court’s judgement is reasonable,” he said. > > When asked if it was now acceptable to masturbate in public if you don’t direct it towards a specific individual the prosecutor said it was “okay.” [Link.](http://www.thelocal.se/50214/20130912/) Sounds like a pretty tortured interpretation of the law, but I guess that’s what lawyers live for. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/2 "2013-09-17T18:01:28Z")
Who would you say he was sexually assaulting? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/3 "2013-09-17T18:08:16Z")
I would guess that Sweden doesn’t have anything like a public indecency law, or at least, one that would apply to flipping your willy. Thus the “sexual assault” charge, which did not hold up. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/4 "2013-09-17T18:20:30Z")
Yeah - I don’t see it as tortured at all - they should have a law for that - not twist one to make it work for them. You don’t charge people with grand theft for killing someone if that society doesn’t have a murder charge - and try and claim he was “taking the soul” of an individual. You get that society to make murder illegal. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/5 "2013-09-17T18:21:36Z")
I finally know where I truly belong. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/6 "2013-09-17T18:28:48Z")
He was clearly Violating the Ocean. Some people get turned on by the weirdest things. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/7 "2013-09-17T18:33:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > He was clearly Violating the Ocean. > Some people get turned on by the weirdest things. He was ready, and she was wet for him-it was kismet. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/8 "2013-09-17T18:37:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who would you say he was sexually assaulting? Himself. He was choking his chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/9 "2013-09-17T18:41:40Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Himself. He was choking his chicken. Even worse, he was committing self-abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/10 "2013-09-17T18:45:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Himself. He was choking his chicken. It was consentual S and M-That chicken _wanted_ to be choked. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/11 "2013-09-17T19:11:39Z")
The lesson is, “Don’t mention anyone’s name while you’re jerking off in Sweden.” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/12 "2013-09-17T19:20:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who would you say he was sexually assaulting? Poseidon ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/13 "2013-09-17T19:22:10Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Poseidon The guardian of sea men? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/14 "2013-09-17T20:09:00Z")
He was assaulting a primate. IOW, spanking his monkey. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/15 "2013-09-17T20:12:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > He was assaulting a primate. IOW, spanking his monkey. “He was just trying to restrain that monkey, Your Honor, but it kept leaping up and down until [del]he[/del]it was exhausted.” ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/16 "2013-09-17T20:18:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Himself. He was choking his chicken. beating his bishop flogging his dolphin slap boxing the one-eyed champ He abusing all kinds of people and things. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/17 "2013-09-17T20:35:55Z")
I am not a lawyer, but I would have assumed that public masturbation would fall under “förargelseväckande beteende.”\* Very, very surprised this isn’t the case, actually. Public urination, for example, often falls under “förargelseväckande beteende”, and I’d wager that public masturbation tends to cause a heckuva lot more outrage than that. - The term literally means “outrage-causing behavior.” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/18 "2013-09-17T20:49:17Z")
I guess it’s not “outrage-causing behavior” if the crowd applauds at the end. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/19 "2013-09-17T20:50:05Z")
There’s a joke to be made here “In Soviet Sweden, public masturbates _you_” doesn’t seem to be it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073/20 "2013-09-17T21:34:55Z")
Note To Self: Do not, _under any circumstances_, **do not** shake hands with any Swedes _whatsoever_, from now on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-masturbation-ruled-legal-in-sweden/669073.md?page=2)