This edition is an exploration of the multiple layers of the relationship between sexuality, rights and sexual expression and the internet. Does it open up new avenues and forums for expression, or does it expose people to more variations of the violence, abuse and harassment that we face onground/offline? And is this even a question to ask, since it is now inevitable that we are all embedded in technology, whether with or without our participation or consent.
The internet has become an essential space for negotiation and formation of identities, a ground for sexual desires and fevers, and a place for coming together for building community… and so much more that cannot even really be named. This edition explores the ways in which lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer people (LGBTIQ) explore, use, play with, reject, abide by, embrace the internet.
The first iteration of the EROTICS global research was in 2008. In the last three years, the second iteration of EROTICS has focused on South Asia (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka). Alongside with this is the EROTICS global survey of sexual and internet rights activists. The most emphatic finding of both the survey and research is that communication rights should be considered as part of sexual rights. That we have the right to love and live, share our lives with, express, explore our identities .. and yes, the right to scream.