In this map we can see the countries in which cannibalism is technically legal. It falls very short

He cannibalism It is one of the stars of horror cinema, but also of the most cases Morbose of serial murderers. Some of the most rugged (if you haven’t seen ‘Dahmer‘, in Netflix, it is very good) They have inspired films and series. And although we might think that it is illegal to be associated with serial killers And it may seem to us A prehistoric actwe would be wrong.

At least, in much of the world.

The act of eating the neighbor. Eate for each other It is something that has been present for millennia. Some societies enemies ate as supremacist actsreligious or simply to obtain nutrients. In other situations, it is the despair that leads us to cannibalism. Currently, we know that it is nonsense because We don’t have too many nutrients.

Now, cannibalism continues to exist. It is associated with erotic fantasies that involve eating or being eaten as part of a sex Jeffrey Dahmer either Dorángel Vargas They ate parts of their victims as an act of extreme possession and cannibal acts have also been performed as part of magical rites, such as Red Zwazulu-Natal dismantled in 2017 In South Africa.

We have cannibalism stigmatized for a good reason, but a few years ago this Map by Reddit in which it was stated that there were countries in which cannibalism was legal. The image problem? Well, it falls very short.

A mess. That cannibalism is technically legal in some places does not imply that it is … legal. And the keyword is “technically.” In them, and in many others, cannibalism is not explicitly prohibited by any specific law. Does not appear in the Criminal Code or in the Constitution and, For example in SpainWhen cannibalism is mentioned, it is done in the context of animal protection against cannibal practices of its species.

But of course, although there is no explicit criminalization, the acts to be performed to eat human flesh do constitute a crime. The murder, the damage to the neighbor, the manipulation of human remains or the illegal exhumation are acts pursued by the law. Therefore, although we can think that there is a legal vacuum, if we want to eat the neighbor, we will have to make a crime that, usually, is persecuted.

In fact, a Armin Meiwesthe ‘Canibal de Rotiburg’, He was condemned for homicidenot by cannibalism (the victim was supposedly consented, but died in the process).

Legal vacuum. We entered an extremely rugged gray area here with two cases that were given in Europe not so long ago. In 2010, the Norwegian artist Alexander Selvik He ate himself. Specifically, he consumed remains of his hip extracted surgically to prepare a dish that ate as part of an artistic project.

A year later, in the Netherlands, there were two television presenters who They ate fragments of their own flesh and on the other in a live program. Both cases were investigated, but since cannibalism is not a crime, as was under its will and no other crime were damaged by law, No charges were presented. What there was was a debate about ethics and the limits of art.

Requests. Of course, sporadic movements have been given for politicians to study if it would be worth including cannibalism as a crime in itself. In Spain, although some voice has been manifested to legislate, no serious request has been recorded. In the United Kingdom, a citizen petition for cannibalism was included as a specific crime. After six months, the platform record 38 firms of the necessary 10,000. In the petition, they detailed the following:

“Canibalism is potentially dangerous and we believe that it is a little ethical act that should constitute a crime, even if the person whose flesh and/or part of the body and/or organ is being consumed has given its consent. There should be a minimum mandatory penalty of five years in prison for committing said crime.”

Asterisks. In Papua New Guinea has been mentioned as illegal Sometimes and in the Central African Republic It was missing due to social contexts such as war conflicts. It remains a gray area and that, in some cases, is an implicit activity in others that are considered punishable.

For example, in Canada it is not typified as autonomous crime, but the Criminal Code sanctions “Any outrageous interference with a human body or human remains.”

And then there is the case of the United States. Although a rule similar to the rest is followed in the country (there is no specific prohibition, but performing cannibalism implies acts that are crime), There is a state in which The law is mentioned cannibalism expressly, penalizing it With up to 14 years in jail. It doesn’t matter if consumed with or without consent and does not only imply direct consumption: in 2024 the law was modified so that it is also punished if another person is supplied.

There is only something that would free you if you eat the neighbor in Idaho: that it is a case of extreme survival. It means that what it means (it has not been given the case, until now).

Image | The XXVIII terror house of ‘The Simpsons‘

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