A journal paper in which a University of Manchester PhD student describes how he masturbated to sexualised images of young boys has been taken down after its publication caused outrage.
Manchester and the Sage journal Qualitative Research are continuing to investigate Karl Andersson’s article, subtitled “Using masturbation as an ethnographic method in research on shota subculture in Japan”, which focuses on a manga comic genre depicting sexual encounters involving young boys.
The article, originally published in April, provoked widespread condemnation when it was widely shared online last week. Some academics challenged Mr Andersson’s research claims for “masturbation as a method” and questioned the lack of any mention of ethics approval by his university or publisher. Others highlighted that possessing fictional images of minors in a pornographic context is banned in the UK, although it was unclear where the research was conducted, and different rules relating to cartoons apply overseas.
