Obscene phone call

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An obscene phone call is generally considered to be an unsolicited telephone call that entails sexual or vulgar communication. The unsolicited nature of the call is crucial to the act: sexually explicit calls in which both participants consent and willingly participate are generally not considered to be obscene calls but as phone sex.

Making obscene telephone calls for sexual pleasure is known as telephone scatalogia. It is usually classed as a paraphilia from a medical viewpoint, although from the viewpoint of the recipient of the calls, it is generally considered to be a form of sexual harassment.

Obscene phone calls exploit the potential of the telephone system for real or apparent anonymous communication. It is generally believed that the callers want the attention of their victims, and in some cases are willing to frighten them to get attention.

The advent of caller ID has greatly reduced the number of obscene phone calls.

Generally, recipients of obscene phone calls are advised to simply hang up on obscene callers, and to report the incident to the telephone company and/or the police. Even where caller ID is not available, calls are logged by the telephone company, so the perpetrator's phone number can be discovered.

See also

• Hate mail
• Sexual harassment