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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 20, 2026

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If he makes access to the shelter contingent on sexual favours, or implies that it is, yes. If he lets her in unconditionally, and their liaison is solely motivated by mutual desire, no.

That sounds like prostitution. This is a different sexual behavior than rape.

If Alice and Bob divide up the maintenance schedule for the shelter, and Alice subsequently offers sexual favours to Bob in exchange for his carrying out her share as well as his own, that would be prostitution.

Is he obligated to provide her with shelter?

Now requiring her to trade sex for it is a scummy thing to do. But it is not rape, that's the use of coercion or force to obtain sex from an unwilling partner.

Is he obligated to provide her with shelter?

If he controls the only safe shelter, he is obligated to not prevent her from using it.

Why?

I think a better question would be, "Why does he think he is justified in refusing her?".

Some possible answers to that question might lead one to the conclusion that he is justified, such as "I let her in last night and she tried to stab me.".

Of course you would think that, because you can't answer the question in a way that doesn't unfairly create a duty to one side.

in a way that doesn't unfairly create a duty to one side.

It doesn't create a duty to one side.

If Alice controls the only safe shelter, she is obligated not to deny Bob access to it without a Good Reason.

If Alice demands sexual favours from Bob as a condition of shelter access, Alice has committed rape.

Yes it does.

"I want sex lol" is a Reason as Good as any other, and privileging sex beyond anything else is just as crooked as demanding labor for free.

An assertion that there are some prices which are deontologically invalid is ultimately an assertion that labor can be demanded for free, especially when no price the laborer wants can be asked aside from those you have conveniently (and without any associated moral hazard whatsoever, I'm sure) declared priceless.

A condition reality imposes- in this case, that a lack of shelter is fatal- does not create "unwillingness" on the part of those that require shelter (and an inability to agree on price would be fatal to that party anyway). The only condition with respect to reality is whether you accept the prices willing to survive, or whether you would rather die.

(Additionally, I understand that, for those who live in times where scarcity for some things is no longer the natural order, that acknowledging their privileges are indeed merely privileges induces some existential discomfort. If I perceived my sociofinancial salary was dependent on nobody understanding that, I would not understand that either.)