Star Sections: Expanded Guide on our Sex Scene Policies

We are a site that allows full creative freedom to your writing content, but in order to allow this safely for all members we have very strict rules for sexual content scenes. Iwaku stands out from other roleplay sites in the fact we allow members as young as 13 to register and roleplay here, including the sexual content. We're able to do this by creating two Age-Gated forums that we have dubbed our "Star Sections". Red Star for our Adult members and Blue Star for our Teen members.

It is very important that you use your real age on your account!

We DO NOT allow Teen Members and Adult Members to write sex scenes together. Period.

• This rule is strictly enforced and those caught breaking this rule are immediately banned for life. Teen or Adult.
• Those who are knowingly allowing their friends to break this rule will also be banned. This rule is too important for you to just ignore.

As an optional feature we have a Verified Age Marker you can request!

• This is optional to anyone who wants to send in their I.D. to prove they are the age their account states. (We don't keep the copy of I.D. once you are verified.)
• It is a good way to feel secure in knowing the member you're roleplaying with did not lie about their age.
• The current person processing verified age forms is: @Diana

All characters involved in sexual scenes should be of the minimum age of 13. No younger.

• We chose 13 so our teenager members can write characters their own age. We want our Teen Members to be able to explore their stories in a place that cares about their safety and makes sure they're not getting taken advantage of by gross predators.
• We chose 13 also because this is the post-puberty, going into High School age, where teens start exploring their own sexuality. It is just as important for adults to be able to write and tell stories from the teenage experience. It is a natural and human part of our existence to tell stories about growing up, and that includes exploring sexuality through storytelling.

As writers it's important that we're able to write stories that reflect real life - and teenagers have sex. We understand that's uncomfortable for a lot of adults (especially parents), but teenagers are not children and they DO have sex. Iwaku feels that censoring these types of stories because of fear of predators is actually harmful and counter-productive to not just the development of writing skills, but of an individuals personal growth.



Stating a character is "13" is not enough!

• We enforce the SPIRIT OF THE RULE not the Technicality. If your character age states they are 13, but you are sexualizing all of their child-like, innocent features, infantilizing them, and otherwise writing a scene that reads as pedophilic - that will get you banned. "But I specifically wrote the character is 13!" Don't care. Banned.
• We do understand that inexperienced writers can make mistakes - again, the staff is very well trained. When we get a report we review a member's entire account worth of content and we make an educated decision.
• Reviewing the CONTEXT of a character, the roleplay, and scenes they are involved in is incredibly important to us. especially as concerning things like "Ageplay" and other related kink roleplay. We do not ban blindly on a single aspect, but look at the situation and members involved as a whole.
• Staff are trained to learn how to recognize the signs and behaviors of sexual predators, both in roleplay content as well as out of character interactions with the community.

Again, in order for us to allow people the freedom to write the kind of stories they want to explore, we have to make sure it's done in a safe and legal way. For both our Teen members and our Adult Members. Adults or Teens roleplaying outside their age group get banned on the spot. And if we suspect someone is lying about their age to write sexual content with others outside of their age group, we request to see an I.D. If one can't (or won't) be provided, we have to ban that person regardless of whether or not they are actually the correct age. We HAVE to see an I.D. if there are suspicions. And yes it IS legal for us to request an I.D. Just as it is your right to refuse to show it to us.



Here are a few frequently asked questions and misconceptions about writing sex scenes and Iwaku!

Isn't it illegal to write about teenagers having sex?
It is not illegal. This is a HUGE misconception a lot of roleplay sites keep perpetuating either because of moral values or because most roleplay sites don't wish to go through the trouble it takes to moderate this. It is 100% valid to not be comfortable with teen characters or teen members writing about sex. And it's totally valid not wanting to have to moderate it. But it is still legal as long as you follow respectful precautions. You see this in Books, TV, and Movies. Iwaku feels the extra trouble is worth the price of our writing freedom.

You can READ THIS AMAZING RESOURCE ABOUT WRITTEN SEXUAL CONTENT LAWS to gain more of an insight!

I see someone requesting characters at age 13 for sexual content... do I just ignore it?
No! If the request gives you weird vibes, go ahead and report it. Sometimes people do try to label characters as 13 and then play them younger. Staff will look into ALL reports and make an education decision on whether or not they feel someone is trying to skirt around the spirit of our rules. No one ever gets in trouble for making reports "just in case" and reported people don't get in trouble unless there is actually something to worry about.

Is it okay to mention child abuse in my character's background history?
Yes! If being abused is in your characters back history, we have no problems with the mentions of it. We only advise against writing any flash back scenes, etc, involving it.

Can someone write a pedophilic character as long as they don't write the sex scenes?
This is a complicated question that we don't have a simple answer for. We're not going to have an issue with abusers and villains making an appearance in stories, but we do take issue with the glorification of "child love" and other pro-pedophilic content. We would review a roleplay and the members involved and then make the decision on whether or not this breaks the spirit of our rules.

Can't people just hide and roleplay this stuff in Private Conversations where you can't see it?
Yes. We're aware that people try to do this. Just know we do eventually find out. All it takes is ONE report, and then you and every single person you roleplay this content with, and every single person that knew you roleplay this content will all get banned. And we do retroactively ban people even if this content is years old. If you've ever seen like 20 people banned in one day - that is what happened. Please respect our rules and don't do this.

"If you allow teen characters in sex scenes that means YOU'RE A PEDO AND THIS IS CHILD ENDANGERMENT."
THIS IS FALSE. Teens are not children. Someone into teens would be an ephebophile. And it's very clear by our rules and how seriously we take them that we actually do care about the safety and well being of our teen members, and that we spend a lot of time in research and moderation to make sure it stays safe. YOU do not need to roleplay teens in sex scenes, and YOU do not need to stay in Iwaku if it makes you uncomfortable. There are plenty of amazing roleplay sites out there that reflect your values!

If you are all about creative freedom and giving people a safe place to write content, then why aren't you allowing people to write sex scenes with children so they won't go out and do it for real?
We have never seen someone ask this question in good faith who wasn't being shitty and trying to get unbanned. Where we completely understand the complex issues around mental illnesses like pedophilia, that does not mean we are obligated to make a space for it. This is OUR limit and we expect all members to respect it, just the same way we respect the limits of other roleplay sites.

I heard the FBI raids Iwaku all the time!
That has literally never happened. One time before Iwaku was even born Diana worked with an undercover police officer who was doing an investigation on someone who was stalking a site member, as they needed a fake-aged account and didn't want to get banned during their investigation. And one time Diana talked to an FBI agent because a girl posted on her Iwaku blog that she was going to take a gun to her school to shoot other students and kill herself. Both of these incidents happened well over 10 years ago. We've never been raided or investigated or anything like that. We have on multiple occasions, sent in logs and information about sexual predators we've banned from this site when we've discovered disturbing content or found out they were trying to lure young members to meet them in person, just in case.