Form Of Sexual Coercion Research Articles

Sexual Violence against Women in STEM: A Test of Backlash Theory Among Undergraduate Women.

It has been argued that increasing the number of women in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields could mitigate violence against women by advancing gender equality. However, some research points to a "backlash" effect wherein gains in gender equality are associated with heighted sexual violence (SV) against women. In this study, we compare SV against undergraduate women majoring in STEM disciplines to those majoring in non-STEM disciplines. Data were collected between July and October of 2020 from undergraduate women (N = 318) at five institutions of higher education in the United States. Sampling was stratified by STEM versus non-STEM majors and male-dominated versus gender-balanced majors. SV was measured using the revised Sexual Experiences Survey. Results indicated that women majoring in STEM disciplines that are gender balanced reported more SV victimization in the form of sexual coercion, attempted sexual coercion, attempted rape, and rape compared to their peers in both gender-balanced and male-dominated non-STEM and male-dominated STEM majors. These associations held even after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, victimization prior to college, sexual orientation, college binge drinking, and hard drug use during college. These data suggest that the risk of repeated SV victimization within STEM populations may be a threat to sustained gender parity in these fields and ultimately to gender equality and equity. Gender balance in STEM should not be furthered without addressing the potential use of SV as a potential means of social control over women.

WOMEN OPPRESSION AND STRUGGLE IN THE NOVEL MOXIE BY JENNIFER MATHIEU


 This study aims to analyze women oppression and struggle in the novel Moxie, this novel tells East Rockport Highschool because sexism and the patriarchy system act as triggers for sexual violence and sexism in schools. The purpose of this study was to determine the typesof oppressions that occur in novel Moxie and to determine women's struggle to the oppression. Using Marion Young's iris theory to find out various kinds of oppressions that occur in novel Moxie and women's resistance using 2 theories of feminism, namely radical feminism by Alison M. Jaggar is used to analyze how the patriarchy system triggers sexual coercion and multicultural feminism. This theory is used to analyze the patriarchy system that triggers sexual coercion that happens because of race and black skin. The research methodology in this research is qualitative descriptive, where relevant data is collected from the text or words found in the novel Moxie. This research resulted in womens oppression such as sexualharrassment, intimidation, and rape as a form of sexual coercion contained in novel moxie. This research also shows how women struggle against oppression that occurs becauseof the patriarchy system and sexism in schools. 

Attachment Insecurities and Sexual Coercion in Same- and Cross-Gender Couples: The Mediational Role of Couple Communication Patterns

The use of subtle strategies to have sex with an unwilling partner is harmful to a couple’s sexual well-being but these strategies remain understudied. This research examined the mediating role of communication patterns in the associations between attachment insecurities and sustained sexual coercion in 145 same- and cross-gender couples, and the moderating role of partners’ gender. In addition to actor and partner effects, results revealed significant indirect effects from attachment insecurities to sexual coercion via communication patterns, with moderating effects of gender. Results may help practitioners and researchers understand the ways attachment insecurities and dysfunctional communication patterns can manifest in the experience of subtle forms of sexual coercion within couples.

The cost of associating with males for Bornean and Sumatran female orangutans: a hidden form of sexual conflict?

Sexual coercion, in the form of forced copulations, is relatively frequently observed in orangutans and generally attributed to their semi-solitary lifestyle. High ecological costs of association for females may be responsible for this lifestyle and may have prevented the evolution of morphological fertility indicators (e.g., sexual swellings), which would attract (male) associates. Therefore, sexual conflict may arise not only about mating per se but also about associations, because males may benefit from associations with females to monitor their reproductive state and attempt to monopolize their sexual activities. Here, we evaluate association patterns and costs for females when associating with both males and females of two different orangutan species at two study sites: Suaq, Sumatra (Pongo abelii), and Tuanan, Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii). Female association frequency with both males and females was higher in the Sumatran population, living in more productive habitat. Accordingly, we found that the cost of association, in terms of reduced feeding to moving ratio and increased time being active, is higher in the less sociable Bornean population. Males generally initiated and maintained such costly associations with females, and prolonged associations with males led to increased female fecal cortisol metabolite (FCM) levels at Tuanan, the Bornean population. We conclude that male-maintained associations are an expression of sexual conflict in orangutans, at least at Tuanan. For females, this cost of association may be responsible for the lack of sexual signaling, while needing to confuse paternity.Significance statementSocioecological theory predicts a trade-off between the benefits of sociality and the ecological costs of increased feeding competition. Orangutans’ semi-solitary lifestyle has been attributed to the combination of high association costs and low predation risk. Previous work revealed a positive correlation between association frequencies and habitat productivity, but did not measure the costs of association. In this comparative study, we show that females likely incur costs from involuntary, male-maintained associations, especially when they last for several days and particularly in the population characterized by lower association frequencies. Association maintenance therefore qualifies as another expression of sexual conflict in orangutans, and especially prolonged, male-maintained associations may qualify as an indirect form of sexual coercion.

Vocal behaviour of allied male dolphins during cooperative mate guarding

Coercive mate guarding, where males use aggression to control female movements, is a form of sexual coercion which functions to constrain female mate choice. Non-human primates, for example, herd females to keep them away from competing males, but male bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) also herd females to keep them close to their alliance partners. Indeed, pairs and trios of male dolphins work together to sequester single estrus females and defend them from competing alliances. Yet how males facilitate such coordination remains unknown. Here, we investigate the vocal behaviour of allied male bottlenose dolphins during the herding of individual females, examining how the production of whistles and ‘pops’ (a threat vocalisation) varied with behavioural state and inter-animal distances. Allied males produced both whistles and pops significantly more often and at higher rates during social interactions, though they differed in function. Whistle rates increased significantly when new individuals joined the consorting group, consistent with previous work showing that whistles are part of a greeting sequence for this species. Whistle matching also appeared to play a role in within-alliance coordination. Pop vocalisations increased significantly when the nearest male to the female changed, likely inducing the female to remain close as the males coordinate a guard switch. Building upon prior research examining female movements in response to pops, we show that males approach the female and current guard whilst popping, leading to a guard switch. Our results provide new insights into the use of vocal signals during cooperative mate guarding between allied male dolphins.

Popular feminist websites, intimate publics, and feminist knowledge about sexual violence

ABSTRACTThis article presents a qualitative analysis of conversations about rape in the comments sections of two popular feminist websites: Jezebel and xoJane. Focussing on comment threads about first-hand experiences of sexual violence and problematic heterosex, I show that commenters produced an analysis of rape as on a continuum with less extreme forms of sexual coercion, as heterogeneous and as a predictable product of heterosexual norms. I argue that the intimate publics fostered by popular feminist websites enable such conversations to take place. Intimate publics presuppose consumers who share an emotional literacy based in similar life experiences: commenters assumed fellow consumers of popular feminist media possessed the emotional literacy to comprehend rape stories which did not follow the hegemonic rape script. Thus, popular feminist intimate publics may provide a forum for conversations about sexual violence which resemble feminist consciousness-raising as a mode of knowledge production. However, misogynists may seek out such conversations to engage participants in debate. Thus, digital commenting platforms which facilitate the exclusion of disruptive or abusive commenters provide essential context for feminist intimate publics to flourish. Participants also contribute to the construction of feminist intimate publics by communicating empathy and affect, and by policing trolls.

Drinking to Cope Motivations as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Sexual Coercion Victimization and Alcohol Use Among College Women: The Role of Depressive Symptoms.

This cross-sectional study examined whether depressive symptoms strengthened the relationship between different forms of sexual coercion victimization and drinking to cope motivations, which was hypothesized to influence alcohol use. Participants were 214 female undergraduates who completed an online survey. Participants who experienced any lifetime sexual coercion and reported higher depressive symptoms were the most likely to report drinking to cope motivations, which in turn were associated with alcohol use. Depressive symptoms did not strengthen the relationship between specific forms of sexual coercion, drinking to cope, and alcohol use. Increasing emotion regulation strategies among sexual coercion victims may reduce drinking.

Young Africans’ social representations of sexual abuse of power in their HIV-related creative narratives, 2005–2014: cultural scripts and applied possibilities

The sexual abuse of power is a form of sexual coercion in which individuals – typically male – use their positions of authority to obtain sex. We analysed social representations of sexual abuse of power in a sample of 1,446 narratives about HIV written by young Africans between 2005 and 2014. The narratives were prepared at five different points in time (2005, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014) by authors aged 10–24 in urban and rural areas of Swaziland, Kenya, South-East Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Senegal. We combined three analytical approaches: descriptive statistics of quantifiable characteristics of the narratives, thematic data analysis and a narrative-based approach. Analysis revealed two underlying cultural scripts describing the sexual abuse of power between (a) teachers and female students, and (b) male employers and domestic workers. Cross-national variation was evident in the emphasis authors placed on socio-contextual inequalities, particularly poverty, and on individual level blame. While a minority of Nigerian and Burkinabe authors depicted female characters creatively exercising agency and avoiding unwanted sex, overall there was little critique of underlying assumptions of male sexual entitlement and female responsibility for controlling male sexuality in the context of unequal control of resources. We outline recommendations for strategies to deconstruct these harmful scripts.

Female-directed violence as a form of sexual coercion in humans (Homo sapiens).

Male-perpetrated female-directed violence (FDV) may be associated with greater sexual access to a female. Accordingly, FDV is expected to be associated with greater copulation frequency. Research on nonhuman primates affirms this hypothesis, but no previous research has investigated this relationship in humans (Homo sapiens). The current research tests the hypothesis that FDV is associated with in-pair copulation frequency and, thus, may function as a form of sexual coercion. It was predicted that men who perpetrate FDV will secure more in-pair copulations than men who do not perpetrate violence (Prediction 1a), and that average monthly rates of FDV would positively correlate with in-pair copulation frequency (Prediction 1b). Male participants (n = 355) completed a survey, reporting limited demographic information (e.g., age, relationship length), in-pair copulation frequency, and history of physical violence perpetration. As predicted, violent men secured more in-pair copulations, on average, than nonviolent men, and monthly rates of violence positively correlated with in-pair copulation frequency. In humans, as in nonhuman primates, FDV by males may facilitate greater sexual access to a female. We discuss the implications of the current research for an evolutionary perspective on partner violence, and draw on research on nonhuman primates to highlight profitable avenues of research on FDV in humans. (PsycINFO Database Record

Adult Attachment Styles, Destructive Conflict Resolution, and the Experience of Intimate Partner Violence.

Although there is ample evidence linking insecure attachment styles and intimate partner violence (IPV), little is known about the psychological processes underlying this association, especially from the victim's perspective. The present study examined how attachment styles relate to the experience of sexual and psychological abuse, directly or indirectly through destructive conflict resolution strategies, both self-reported and attributed to their opposite-sex romantic partner. In an online survey, 216 Spanish undergraduates completed measures of adult attachment style, engagement and withdrawal conflict resolution styles shown by self and partner, and victimization by an intimate partner in the form of sexual coercion and psychological abuse. As predicted, anxious and avoidant attachment styles were directly related to both forms of victimization. Also, an indirect path from anxious attachment to IPV victimization was detected via destructive conflict resolution strategies. Specifically, anxiously attached participants reported a higher use of conflict engagement by themselves and by their partners. In addition, engagement reported by the self and perceived in the partner was linked to an increased probability of experiencing sexual coercion and psychological abuse. Avoidant attachment was linked to higher withdrawal in conflict situations, but the paths from withdrawal to perceived partner engagement, sexual coercion, and psychological abuse were non-significant. No gender differences in the associations were found. The discussion highlights the role of anxious attachment in understanding escalating patterns of destructive conflict resolution strategies, which may increase the vulnerability to IPV victimization.

Impacto de la Coerción Sexual en la Salud Mental y Actitud Hacia la Sexualidad: Un Estudio Comparativo Entre Bolivia, Chile y España

The study compares the influence of sexual coercion on mental health and attitude toward sexuality in 3 socio-cultural contexts. Convenience purposive sampling was used. Of a total of 7,586 invitations to participate in this research, 1,251 heterosexual college students from Bolivia, Chile, and Spain (a 17% response rate) responded to 3 online questionnaires: the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, the Scale of Sexuality and the Scale of Non-Consensual Sexual Experiences. c 2 and factorial ANOVA were used to analyze the results. A 24% of the students reported having experienced some form of sexual coercion (26% female and 20.1% male). Of these, more Bolivian (31%) youngsters than Chilean (24.1%) and Spanish (16%) youngsters reported having lived these experiences, which were associated with increased anxiety and depression and a more negative attitude towards sexuality. The impact on mental health and attitude toward sexuality seems to depend on the type of sexual coercion experienced, nationality, and sex. Socio-cultural factors may be related to its prevalence and health impact.

Trajectories of male sexual aggression from adolescence through college: A latent class growth analysis.

Approximately 25% of male college students report engaging in some form of sexual coercion by the end of their fourth year of college. White and Smith (2004) found that negative childhood experiences-childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, and witnessing domestic violence-predicted sexual aggression perpetrated before college, but not during the subsequent college years, a puzzling finding in view of the reasonably consistent rates of sexual aggression from adolescence to the first 2 years of college. The current study takes a person-centered approach to sexual aggression in an attempt to resolve this discrepancy. We examined the possibility of cohesive subgroups of men in terms of their frequency of sexual aggression across the pre-college and college years. A series of latent class growth models were fit to an existing longitudinal dataset of sexual experiences collected across four time points-pre-college through year 3 of college. A four-trajectory model fit the data well, exhibiting significantly better fit than a three-trajectory model. The four trajectories are interpreted as men who perpetrate sexual aggression at (1) low (71.5% of the sample), (2) moderate (21.2%), (3) decreasing (4.2%), and (4) increasing (3.1%) frequencies across time. Negative childhood experiences predicted membership of the decreasing trajectory, relative to the low trajectory, but did not predict membership of the increasing trajectory, explaining the discrepancy uncovered by White and Smith. Implications for primary prevention of sexual aggression are discussed.

Experience of sexual coercion and associated factors among female students of Ambo University in Ethiopia

Introduction: A growing body of evidence shows that sexual coercion is widespread among young women. Behavioral, lifestyle, and relationship factors have all been identified as risk factors that increase a women’s vulnerability to sexual coercion victimization. However, it remains unclear which risk factors most strongly increase young women’s vulnerability to sexual coercion victimization. Objective: This study aimed to assess level and factors associated with sexual coercion among female students of Ambo University in Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2012 among 597 second year and above female students. Data were collected using the World Health Organization multi-country study self-administered questionnaire. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version16.0 Statistical Software. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify associated factors with sexual coercion. Results: More than one fourth of those who responded had previous sexual intercourse. The result showed that 76.4% and 43.7% have reported to have at least one incidents of sexual coercion in their lifetime and past 12 months, respectively. Rural origin of residence (AOR= 0.65, 95% CI: 0.08-0.89), having literate father (AOR=0.17, 95% CI: 0.05-0.6) were at decreased likelihood to experience lifetime sexual coercion. Yet, alcoholic consumption (AOR=1.53, 95% CI: 1.63-6.50), current parental living condition (AOR= 6.53, 95% CI: 1.38, 30.80), childhood witnesses of maternal coercion (AOR=5.77, 95% CI: 2.96-11.23) and as well as with having had more than one sexual partners (AOR=4.32, 95% CI: 1.10-16.23) were factors associated with an increased likelihood of lifetime sexual coercion. Conclusions: In their lifetime, more than three out of four female students experienced at least one forms of sexual coercion. At last, it is concluded that this problem needs due attention by policy makers, university and other partners to make coercion free educational environment for female university students.

Perceptions of sexual coercion among young women in Uganda

This paper sets out to explore Ugandan young women's definitions and perceptions of sexual coercion. A qualitative study was conducted with seven young women in rural Uganda. Participants filmed videos, wrote stories, made drawings and participated in transect walks before analysing their data through formal and informal discussions. Forced sex is defined narrowly to mean only rape. Verbal forms of sexual coercion were recognised, but only after some discussion. Verbal coercion is referred to as "abusing" or "convincing". Young women are commonly pressured into consenting to have sex, despite what they really want, owing to the socio-cultural circumstances. Young women in Uganda are significantly tolerant of sexual coercion. This tolerance appears to arise from power differentials between genders, and the socio-cultural environment shaping their lives. The paper improves understanding of young women's definitions and perceptions of sexual coercion, which is essential to provide effective violence prevention programmes. It also suggests that further research is warranted in this field.

Female-directed Male Aggression in Wild Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis

Male spider monkeys direct the majority of their aggression toward adult females, and the aggressive interactions may be a form of sexual coercion. We investigated female-directed male aggression in 2 wild communities of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis) from the Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh Reserve in Yucatan, Mexico to evaluate the sexual coercion hypothesis. The aggression occurred in 2 distinct forms: physical aggression and prolonged noncontact chases. The latter appeared highly ritualized in nature and accounted for >80% of all female-directed male aggression. Rates of prolonged chases, but not physical aggression, peaked when the female target was likely cycling and were associated with male place-sniffing of the substrate previously occupied by the female target. Prolonged chases were also associated with proceptive behavior directed from the female target toward her male attacker after the chase had ceased. Our data therefore suggest that prolonged chases are sexually motivated. Prolonged chases did not result in immediate copulation, but sometimes the female victim left the subgroup to travel alone with her male aggressor, and thus prolonged chases may be a form of male intimidation to coerce females into a mating consortship. However, as prolonged chases appeared highly ritualized, the chases may also be a form of male sexual display. Further investigation of the costs incurred by female recipients of prolonged chases is therefore required before one can interpret the behavior as sexual coercion.

Sexual coercion and sexual desire: Ambivalent meanings of heterosexual anal sex in Soweto, South Africa

Anal sex within heterosexual relationships is usually underreported or not reported at all, yet is increasingly recognised as a potential mode of HIV transmission. Understanding the circumstances of anal sex is critical for trials that seek to assess the efficacy of microbicides. This article draws on qualitative data collected during a feasibility study for a clinical trial of microbicides in Soweto, South Africa. Focus groups of women enroled in the feasibility study discussed the circumstances under which they and other women in the community had anal sex. Their narratives drew attention to the ambivalent meanings of anal sex; often regarded as a form of sexual coercion but also frequently as sexual pleasure. The article explores the reasons for these apparent contradictions.

“Showing Roughness in a Beautiful Way”: Talk about Love, Coercion, and Rape in South African Youth Sexual Culture

Sexual violence within as well as outside sexual relationships has far-reaching public health and human rights implications and is a continuing focus of popular debate, media coverage, and research in postapartheid South Africa. Partly because it has been shown to affect individual vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, sexual violence has in recent years become framed as a global public health issue. International research efforts to document the scale of this personally and politically sensitive problem can encounter conceptual, definitional, and methodological difficulties that anthropology is well placed to assist in alleviating. This article offers an ethnographic exploration of the spectrum of practices relating to sexual coercion and rape among young people in a township in the former Transkei region of South Africa. Contextualizing meanings of sexual coercion within local youth sexual culture, the article considers two emic categories associated with sex that is "forced": ukulala ngekani: "to sleep with by force" or ukunyanzela: "to force," both usually used to describe episodes occurring within sexual partnerships; and ukudlwengula, used to describe rape by a nonpartner or stranger. The article discusses the semantic content of and differences between these two key categories, demonstrating that encounters described as "forced sex" encompass not only various forms of sexual coercion but also, particularly in the narratives of young men, instances of more consensual sex. Of importance, in turn, in defining an act as "rape" rather than as "forced sex" are the character of the relationship between the two parties and interlinked ideas relating to exchange and sexual entitlement, love, and the importance of "intention," violation, and "deserving" victimhood.

Habitat use mediates the conflict of interest between the sexes

Males of many species have alternative mating behaviours and must make decisions about which behaviours to use to maximize reproductive success. Guppies, Poecilia reticulata, have two alternative mating behaviours: display behaviour, which facilitates female choice, and sneak mating, a form of sexual coercion, which circumvents female choice. The choice of which behaviour to use and the circumstances in which behaviours are used can be potentially costly to both sexes. We examined the influence of variation in water velocity on male mating behaviour in nature and in controlled laboratory conditions in which we were able to control for male size. We first examined whether males use alternative behaviour when subjected to changes in water velocity and then whether females have the potential to ameliorate male harassment by moving to high water velocities where the smaller males may be excluded. Females preferentially used higher available water velocities than males and mating activity decreased with increasing water velocity. However, at high water velocities males switched from displays to sneak mating behaviour, the behaviour type that most opposes female interests. Females thus have the potential to reduce, but not entirely escape, the detrimental effects of this sexual conflict by moving to high water velocities.

Female-directed aggression in free-ranging Ateles geoffroyi

In a study of the reproductive biology and behavior of black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, 107 instances of female directed male aggression (male attacks) occurred during >1,000 h of observation. Two hypotheses might explain this behavior. First, males may attack to induce defecation/urination by target females, from which they can gain reproductive information. Rates of defecation and urination did not increase subsequent to attacks; however, there was an association between attacks and investigative behaviors such as place sniffing. Alternatively, the attacks might be a form of sexual coercion. My results indicate that female reproductive state, as determined by fecal steroid metabolites (E1C and PdG), had an inconsistent effect on the frequency of attacks received. In addition, when females were in the peri-ovulatory period of the ovarian cycle they did not receive more attacks than at other times. Nor were attacks associated with observed copulations, suggesting that sexual coercion does not sufficiently explain the behavior. Some support is provided for the notion that the attacks allow males to dominate equally-sized females.