Sexual Culture and Consent

Abstract

Licensed venues are often highly sexual spaces. That is, they are places where sexual interaction can be normative and actively sought out by young people. What role might sexual venue cultures play in facilitating the occurrence of unwanted sexual attention? How do we distinguish between the wanted and the unwanted in the context of a night out? This chapter considers the norms of sexual interaction and consent in venues and they ways in which these can form part of the cultural scaffolding—to draw on Nicola Gavey’s terminology—of unwanted sexual attention. Young people’s experiences and perceptions of unwanted sexual attention are informed by sexual culture and the ways in which they relate to venue culture. Thus, the concepts of community and belonging are again central to understanding participants’ experiences.