What is Indecent exposure?
It is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Social and community attitudes to the exposing of various body parts and laws covering what is referred to as indecent exposure vary significantly in different countries. It ranges from prohibition of exposure of genital areas, buttocks and female breasts. In some conservative countries, especially in the Middle East, the exposure of any part of the female body is considered indecent. Not all countries have indecent exposure laws.
The applicable standard of decency is generally that of the local community, which is sometimes codified in law, but may also be based in religion, morality, or, in some justifications, on the basis of “necessary to public order“. Indecent exposure sometimes refers to exhibitionism or to nudity in public and does not require a sexual act to be performed. If sexual acts are performed, with or without an element of nudity, this can be considered public indecency, which may be a more serious criminal offence. In some countries, exposure of the body in breach of community standards of modesty is also considered to be public indecency.
What constitutes indecent exposure depends on the standards of decency of the community where the exposure takes place. These standards can vary from the very strict standards of modesty in places such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, which require most of the body to be covered, to tribal societies such as the Pirahã or Mursi where full nakedness is the norm.
Even within a community, what will be seen as indecent will also depend on the context in which the exposure takes place. For example, it would be a reasonable expectation to see a naked person on a designated nude beach. However, even on a nude beach it may not be expected to witness explicit sexual activity.
Standards of decency
The standards of decency have varied over time. During the Victorian era, for example, exposure of a woman’s legs and some extent the arms, was considered indecent in much of the Western world. Hair was sometimes required to be covered in formal occasions as in a form a hat or bonnet. As late as the 1930s and to some extent, the 1950s, both women and men were expected to bathe or swim in public places wearing bathing suits that covered above the waist. An adult woman exposing her navel was also considered indecent in the West into the 1960s and 1970s, and even as late as the 1980s. The loosening of moral values has changed drastically during the 1990s and 2000s, which changed the criteria for indecent exposure. Public exposure of the navel has been accepted during the 1990s, such as in beaches, while in the 2000s, the buttocks can be exposed while wearing a thong. Today, however, it is quite common for women to go topless at public beaches throughout Europe and South America and even some parts of the United States.
Although the phenomenon widely known as flashing, involving a woman exposing bare nipples by suddenly pulling up her shirt and bra, may be free from sexual motive or intent, it nonetheless is public exposure and is therefore defined by statute in many states of the United States as prohibited criminal behavior.
The motivation of the exposure is sometimes based on it being unusual, attention-getting, sexually arousing, or separately, as in a public policy protest, inappropriate and to show disrespect to the enemy side. The effects (including negative consequences) may be enhanced by intended or unintended publication of a photograph or film of the act, which would also include mooning.
Breastfeeding in public does not constitute indecent exposure under the laws of the United States, Canada, Australia, or Scotland. In the United States, the federal government and the majority of states have enacted laws specifically protecting nursing mothers from harassment by others. Legislation ranges from simply exempting breastfeeding from laws regarding indecent exposure, to outright full protection of the right to nurse.
Exposing one’s body in public in a way that outrages public decency. When the exposure (by a man or woman) goes far beyond the generally accepted standards of decency and at least two people could have seen it, it amounts to a common-law offence, even if no one was actually disgusted or upset; such conduct is also punishable under the Vagrancy Act 1824. If a man exposes his genitals to a woman, even in private, with the intention of insulting her, he is guilty of a statutory offence and is liable to imprisonment. Such conduct, if threatening or frightening, may also amount to an indecent assault.
Indecent exposure laws in most states make it a crime to purposefully display one’s genitals in public, causing others to be alarmed or offended. Indecent exposure is often committed for the sexual gratification of the offender or committed to entice a sexual response.
In California, for instance, to be convicted of indecent exposure, the prosecution must prove an intent to sexually arouse, or sexually insult or offend. The California statute broadly and vaguely makes it a crime to willfully expose your genitals to someone else, motivated by a desire to sexually gratify yourself or offend or insult the other person.
Exposing one’s genitals means just that — to show your bare genitals. Showing a bare female breast is not considered exposing one’s genitals (otherwise breastfeeding mothers might face indecent exposure charges). Similarly, flashing someone your under wear, no matter how revealing or skimpy, is not indecent exposure for purposes of most indecent exposure statutes, including California’s.
That said, an indecent exposure charge reach the level of a sexual assault if any physical contact is made.
Urinating in Public and Indecent Exposure?
So what about urinating in public? If one is urinating behind a dumpster, for example, outside direct view of the public (i.e. especially at night), that person likely would have a good argument that the act was not done with the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification or offending another.
Indecent Exposure Sentences
In most cases, a first indecent exposure conviction subjects you to misdemeanor penalties like a few months in county jail and a fine. A second offense likely would rise to a felony and can lead to a state prison sentence. But perhaps worst of all, in some states any indecent exposure conviction subjects you to a lifetime duty to register as a register as a sex offender. This often makes plea bargaining for an alternative charge vital.
