Skip to main content

Dry Humping?

Share |
roconti asks:

Is two people rubbing their bodies together considered a sex act?

Susie replies:

Yes, "dry humping" or frottage is a sexual act. That is because its purpose is to give and receive sexual pleasure.

If you engage in frottage while nude (or otherwise pants-less), you can transmit STDs like herpes and HPV (the virus that causes genital warts and cervical cancer). These infections are passed skin to skin -- no penetration nor fluid exchange is necessary to pass these viruses. Moreover, even without penetration, if the male partner ejaculates onto his female partner and the semen spills onto the vulva, there is a chance she could get pregnant.

On top of all that (pun totally not intended at first, but then I just had to run with it), suppose one partner is a legal adult, and the other partner is a minor whose age puts him/her outside the bounds of legal consent. If this couple was caught engaging in frottage, that can be considered an unlawful sex act in many jurisdictions, and the elder partner could be charged as a sex offender, depending on the region's statutes.

So from a medical and legal standpoint, even though no penetration was involved, frottage (aka dry humping), can be considered a sex act.

written 11 Mar 2008 . updated 11 Mar 2008
