Sexual Consent Research Articles

Trauma-informed Consent Education: Understanding the Grey Area of Consent Through the Experiences of Youth Trauma Survivors

Sexual consent education has emerged in recent years as the most popular method of preventing gender-based violence. Yet, the concept of consent used in much contemporary programming problematically oversimplifies sexual exploration and the power dynamics it is imbued with by asserting that consent is as simple as “Yes” or “No.” The messiness of sexual negotiation or the ‘grey areas’ of consent that youth may experience are left unaddressed. By examining the experiences of youth trauma survivors through a trauma-informed lens, the limits to binary consent education become clear. I draw on empirical data from nine open-ended interviews with Canadian youth trauma survivors to demonstrate how a trauma-informed lens may be implemented in consent education. I argue that educators should include understandings of consent which falls outside the Yes/No binary in order to adequately address youth survivors’ vulnerability to sexual (re)victimization. I examine how three of the psychosocial impacts of trauma, dissociation, hypersexuality, and struggles with acquiescence, refuse the binaristic model of consent and should be considered for trauma-informed consent education. While education alone cannot end rape culture, addressing the grey area of consent in consent education may help reduce preventable harm for survivors, as well as youth more broadly.

The Role of Sexual Consent and Past Non-consensual Sexual Experiences on Rape Supportive Attitudes in a Heterosexual Community Sample

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between (a) sociodemographic variables, past non-consensual experiences and sexual consent and (b) the endorsement of rape supportive attitudes. A sample of 1042 heterosexual adults (42.4% men) was surveyed. A predictive model indicated that the most relevant predictors of rape supportive attitudes were gender (i.e., being male) and most dimensions from sexual consent such as (Lack of) perceived behavioural control, Sexual consent norms, and Awareness and discussion. On the contrary, holding a positive attitude for the establishment of consent in sexual encounters negatively predicted rape supportive attitudes. The positive association between gender (i.e., being male) and (Lack of) perceived behavioural control was stronger among participants who were not victims of past non-consensual sexual experiences than among participants who were victims of past non-consensual sexual experiences, and the same held true when Positive attitude toward establishing sexual consent was involved in the interaction. These findings may help us understand the role of sexual consent on the attitudes that support violence, which can better guide future prevention programs aimed at reducing them.

Recognize & Resist: An Online Health Intervention to Promote Writing About Sexual Consent and Egalitarian Gender Roles Among One Direction Fanfiction Writers

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the development and feasibility of a digitally-based educational intervention, titled Recognize & Resist (R&R), for writers of One Direction (1D) fanfiction on Wattpad.com. The goal of R&R is to reduce the prevalence of social norms that are supportive of sexual violence within 1D fanfiction. 1D fanfictions, or fictional romance stories written by fans of this British boy band, have hundreds of millions of views on Wattpad.com. Formative research has found that social norms supportive of sexual violence are prevalent in 1D fanfictions and that some authors have internalized these norms. R&R aims to motivate 1D fanfiction writers to highlight sexual consent and egalitarian gender roles in their writing. To evaluate the intervention’s feasibility, 15 1D fanfiction authors completed a survey and participated in an interview or focus group. Results demonstrate R&R’s feasibility, with high ratings of its acceptability and demand. Insights from the interviews and focus groups provide suggestions for revising R&R before rigorously evaluating its efficacy. Additionally, results demonstrate the utility of using popular culture as a vehicle for attitude-change regarding sensitive health issues.

Acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancy effects on women's memory for consensual and non-consensual sexual activity.

To test whether acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancy affects how accurately women remember consensual and non-consensual sexual activity that occurred during an interactive hypothetical dating scenario. A balanced placebo randomized study that varied alcohol dose (mean Breath Alcohol Content; BrAC = 0.06%) and alcohol expectancy prior to participants encoding a hypothetical interactive rape scenario was implemented. Participants could elect to consent to sexual activity with a male partner in the hypothetical scenario. If they stopped consenting, non-consensual sexual intercourse (i.e., rape) was described. Seven days later, participants' memory for consensual and non-consensual sexual activity in the scenario was tested. Memory accuracy, confidence, and feelings of intoxication. A total of 90 females (M age = 20.5, SD = 2.2) were tested regarding their memory accuracy for the consensual and non-consensual sexual activities in the scenario. A multi-level logistic regression predicting memory accuracy for the perpetrator's behaviors during the rape indicated no effect of alcohol intoxication. However, a main effect of alcohol expectancy was found, whereby participants who expected to consume alcohol, compared to those who did not, recalled the perpetrator's behaviors during the rape more accurately. A second regression predicting memory accuracy for consensual sexual activity found no main effects for alcohol intoxication or alcohol expectancy. Participants recalled consensual sexual activity with a high degree of accuracy. Calibration analyses indicated that accuracy increased with confidence level, regardless of intoxication level or alcohol expectancy condition, but that women tended to be overconfident in general. This study provides an important test of how accurately women remember consensual and non-consensual sexual activities. The accuracy of this information is important for forensic medical examinations and police investigations following an allegation of sexual assault. Increased memory accuracy was found for offence details when participants expected to consume alcohol, suggesting there may be important differences in attentional processes (e.g., hypervigilance) depending on whether threat is present. Further research is necessary to investigate memory for sexual violence in real-world settings and to test methods for ascertaining the most complete and reliable accounts.

“Maybe We Should Destigmatize It”: Young Adults’ Perceptions about Instruction on Sexual Consent and Sexual Coercion During Adolescence

Objectives: For decades, scholars and sexual health professionals have urged policymakers to improve the efficacy of sex education. Although some progress has been made through the development of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), curricula in the United States remain limited. For instance, healthy sexual encounters require mutual sexual consent, void of sexually coercive behaviours, yet CSE initiatives only recently added instruction on consent and coercion as important parts of sex education curricula. Further, little is known about what youth learn about consent and coercion through family, friends, and media. The purpose of this study, then, was to gain insight into the information young adults received during adolescence about sexual consent and coercion through formal and informal sources, and to seek their perceptions about possible curriculum improvement.
 Methods: This study utilized five focus groups to assess 32 college students’ perceptions about their adolescent experiences with instruction on consent and coercion in formal and informal sex education. The mean participant age was 22, and most were women, heterosexual, and Latinx.
 Results: The results indicated that these young adults did not learn about sexual consent and coercion while in high school, but believed that these topics should have been addressed. They also believed that formal sex education should move away from abstinence-only or abstinence-forward education, and should not be rooted in fear-mongering. Gender impacted whether and what youth learned about sexual consent from parents and peers. While mothers talked to sons about using contraceptives and also about obtaining consent, they talked to daughters about negative sex outcomes, such as a ruined reputation or early pregnancy. Fathers were less likely to talk to their children about sex, especially daughters. Young men talked to peers about whether they had sex, while young women talked to their friends about the physical experience of having sex.
 Implications: Implications support the implementation of sex education in high schools that facilitates not only physically safe, but also emotionally healthy relationships, as well as an urgency for a cultural shift towards the acknowledgment of intimate behaviours as normative processes among adolescents.

How College Students Interpret and Use Social Media as a Potential Source of Sexual Consent Communication

This study investigated how social media use, specifically exposure to and posting of sexualized and party-related content on social media and interpretations of that content as sexual consent communication, related to college students’ intentions to engage in sexual consent communication. A national sample of U.S. college students ( N = 954) completed the relevant measures in an online survey. Results indicated that the more college students reported exposure to sexualized and party-related content on social media, the more likely they were to report posting similar content and believe in harmful consent myths (i.e., that a person’s sexual consent can be assumed by looking at their social media profiles). Posting sexualized and party-related content on social media was also related to lesser intentions to engage in consent communication. These findings provide evidence for the importance of considering social media use in how college students understand sexual consent communication that may be used to inform future sexual consent education on college campuses.

Consensual Sexual Activity before a Sexual Violation is not Mitigating

The Court of Appeal has signalled its intention to review its guideline judgment for sexual violation sentencing, R v AM, which includes guidance on when sentencing judges should treat prior consensual sex as mitigating. The argument this article makes is that the new guideline judgment should remove prior consensual sex as a mitigating factor for two reasons. The first is that treating consensual sexual activity before a sexual violation as mitigating embeds an outdated idea of what constitutes a "real rape" and fails to recognise and uphold sexual autonomy. The second reason for removing the mitigating factor is that it is incorrect as a matter of sentencing methodology to treat prior consensual sex as mitigating in its own right.

The limits of limit cases: Sexual ethics and graduate student–staff relationships

AbstractThis article examines whether, and if so how, the alternative model of sexual ethics, namely, apleasure and care‐centred ethic of embodied and relational sexual Otherness, performs when given scenarios or case studies that push up against its ethico‐political limits. I focus here on the case of intimate relationships that emerge between graduate students and their supervisors. The two case studies examined are the Avital Ronell case and a composite case constructed from the lived experience and personal stories of women who have what they deem are/were successful intimate relationships with their PhD supervisors—sometimes resulting in marriage. Following a critique of sexual consent, the article engages in a close critical analysis of each case in line with the pleasure and care‐centered ethic of embodied and relational sexual Otherness and, in doing so, engages with issues of power, ethicality, pleasure, justice, and gender norms before offering ways forward.

Earlier Sexual Debut and Exchange Sex among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT Limited research has examined prevalence rates and associations related to exchange sex behaviors among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kazakhstan. This study aimed to examine associations between earlier sexual debuts and lifetime exchange sex behaviors among Kazakhstani MSM. Using data from a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention trial, we conducted a secondary analysis of self-reported data from 766 adult cisgender MSM in Kazakhstan, who completed structured screening interviews. Earlier sexual debuts were measured as age of sexual onset prior to 16 years old with ages 16 and older as the reference group. Logistic regression models were used to estimate associations between earlier sexual debuts and lifetime reports of buying or selling sex for resources, with covariance adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics. The study findings indicated that, among our sample of MSM in Kazakhstan, 23% had sold sex, and 26% had bought sex in their lifetime. Kazakhstani MSM who reported an earlier sexual debut had significantly higher odds of ever selling or buying sex in their lifetime. Future research should examine how consensual and non-consensual sexual activities during childhood and adolescence relate to exchange sex behaviors and risk among MSM.

A Qualitative Exploration of Undergraduate Student Perspectives of Sexual Consent Within a Sexual Script Framework

There appear to be widespread misunderstandings and disagreement regarding the definition and execution of sexual consent among postsecondary students. Without a clear understanding of what constitutes sexual consent, navigating consent-related situations can be challenging for individuals. Sexual script theory may explain gaps in consent knowledge by highlighting the social normative references, or sexual scripts, individuals may rely on when knowledge of consent is insufficient or challenging to apply. The goal of the current study was to qualitatively explore Canadian undergraduate students’ perceptions and experiences of sexual consent within the framework of sexual script theory. Using focus groups, N = 56 undergraduates discussed perceptions of sexual consent, under what circumstances they perceive it to be required, potential “grey areas” of sexual consent and how they are navigated, and how gender may intersect with sexual consent. Transcripts were analyzed within a framework of sexual script theory using inductive coding and thematic analysis. Although participants understood Canadian legally codified scripts well, they seemed to rely on socio-cultural and gendered sexual consent scripts when legal scripts were insufficient or challenging to apply, particularly in ambiguous consent scenarios. The findings suggest that beyond providing educational opportunities and interventions within formal school settings that encompass a wider range of sexual consent scenarios, there is a need to address socio-cultural norms/sexual scripts regarding consent within the broader population.

Service provider interpretations of childhood sexual experiences among sexual minority men.

In this study, we report findings from a directed content analysis of service provider (SP) interpretations of early sexual experiences depicted in vignettes created from retrospective interviews with Black sexual minority men. Specifically, we explore whether SP recognize circumstances of abuse in the vignette narrators' sexual histories. Data for this analysis come from in-person qualitative interviews conducted with 35 providers working in substance abuse treatment and allied health service settings (e.g., mental health, HIV prevention and outreach) across the New York City area. The interviewees were asked to evaluate each of five vignettes depicting a range of early sexual experiences as described by the narrators [e.g., unwanted experiences with a male or female consistent with definitions of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), consensual sex with an older male or female]. Based on analysis of provider responses to the vignettes, we found that most recognized differences in age and authority as abuse indicators. Many of the providers struggled with assertions by vignette narrators that they had consented to the encounters-specifically those that could be considered abusive. Findings highlight areas to focus on in developing additional provider training, including the challenges of defining CSA, age and other factors that influence consent, and how cultural background and sexual minority status may shape men's appraisals of their experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A mentira que invalida o consentimento sexual: limites à criminalização do estupro mediante fraude

The legal systems of countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom only allow punishment for the practice of a sexual act through fraud in certain situations. Conversely, art. 215 of the Brazilian Penal Code is broad enough to allow punishment whenever fraud constitutes a condition without which sexual consent would not have been obtained. Both models deserve criticism: the former is generally guided by the classic distinction between fraud in the factum and fraud in the inducement, which lacks clarity and foundation, and the later reaches conducts that should not receive any attention from criminal law. The present article discusses and criticizes these models with the aim of investigating the range in which the legislator is, in principle, authorized to criminally prohibit sexual fraud. Based on the understanding of the negative and positive dimensions of the right to sexual autonomy and the reach of the duties related to them, it is proposed to interpret art. 215 in a way that restricts the hypotheses of incrimination to those included in three groups: 1) frauds regarding the sexual nature of the act, the type of sexual act, and the identity of the person with whom the sexual act is practiced; 2) frauds that exercise coercive pressure or involve exploitation of a special trust relationship; and 3) frauds with the potential to cause harm (physical, financial, or emotional).

Judicial Review of the Phrase “Without Victim Consent” in Permendikbudristek 30/2021 concerning the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence in University Environment

This paper is motivated by the debate over the use of the phrase without the victim’s consent in the Ministerial Regulation of the Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia Ministry Number 30 of 2021 concerning the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence in the University Environment which is considered to open opportunities and opportunities for liberation of immoral acts to occur which in turn can lead to free sex activity in the university environment. Apart from that, it has provided a free space for agreements on immoral behavior and free sexual activity to occur within tertiary institutions and has even opened opportunities for sex transactions to occur, so that sex transactions become legalized civil transactions. Therefore, using the normative juridical law research method, an attempt is made to answer the question of what material content uses the phrase without the victim’s consent in ministerial regulation, what is the concept of consent from a legal perspective, and how is the legal considerations of the Indonesia Supreme Court adjudicating this request for judicial review rights. The results are: First, The phrase without the victim’s consent is in Article 5 paragraph (2) letter b, letter f, letter g, letter h, letter j, letter l, and letter m in the ministerial regulation; Second, The concept of consent in the perspective of criminal law relates to the concept of “without coercion” as referred to in several articles of the Indonesian Criminal Code. Third, The Supreme Court gave legal considerations that the use of the phrase without the victim’s consent does not regulate consent in sexual activity (sexual consent), but the victim’s consent in the event of sexual violence.

Revising the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Revising the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Scripts for consensual sex as risk factors for sexual aggression: A three-wave longitudinal study with university students in Germany.

Sexual aggression is a major problem among young adults. Sexual scripts are cognitive schemata representing typical elements of sexual interactions and serve as guidelines for sexual behavior. They may be linked to the risk of sexual aggression if they contain elements known to be associated with the perpetration of sexual aggression, such as alcohol use, sex with casual partners, and ambiguous communication of sexual intentions. The study was designed to examine pathways from risky sexual scripts for consensual sex to risky sexual behavior and sexual aggression perpetration in men and women. The study employed a three-wave longitudinal design with 12-month intervals. Participants were 2425 university students in Germany (58% female). At each wave (Time 1-Time 3), participants completed measures of risky sexual scripts and risky sexual behavior, defined by three aspects: Casual sex, alcohol consumption, and ambiguous communication of sexual intentions. Reports of sexual aggression perpetration were collected since the age of consent (14 years; Time 1) or in the past 12 months (Time 2 and Time 3) using the Sexual Aggression and Victimization Scale. Perpetration rates for men were 9.8% at Time 1, 12.2% at Time 2, and 9.5% at Time 3. For female participants, the corresponding rates were 6.0% at Time 1, 6.3% at Time 2, and 5.1% at Time 3. The gender difference was significant at Time 1 and Time 2, but not at Time 3. As hypothesized, more risky sexual scripts prospectively predicted more risky sexual behavior, which predicted a higher risk of sexual aggression perpetration. The findings held for men and women and for participants with exclusively opposite-sex and with both opposite- and same-sex contacts. Scripts for consensual sex may be risk factors for sexual aggression among men and women if they contain elements identified as risk factors for sexual aggression. The findings suggest that changing risky sexual scripts for consensual sex may be a promising strategy for preventing sexual aggression perpetration.

Sexual Consent Perspektif Maqasid Syariah

This article aims to explain the law of sexual consent or sexual consent according to maqasid sharia. Lots of approval and attraction to women, molestation, persecution that causes feelings of oppression and speech. Even in the West there is violence, so that Western women demand the freedom of their body rights. From this sexual agreement, feminism aims to seek justice or benefit for them. In compiling this article, the author uses critical analysis methods to explain the concept of feminism and sexual consent. The results of this study conclude that sexual consent according to Westerners is a solution so that no more treatment is recommended. In fact, Muslims also participate and agree to the concept. This is, which is contrary to maqashid shari'ah or the existence of shari'ah. So that consent and acceptance will only cause harm.

Knowledge of sexual consent as a protective factor against sexual violence perpetration among first-year college men: a moderation analysis.

This study examined whether knowledge of sexual consent buffers the relationship between risk factors for sexual violence (SV) and SV perpetration among first-year college men. The study data were drawn from a longitudinal study with 1144 first-year college men. A series of generalized linear models were conducted to examine whether knowledge of sexual consent moderated the relationship between SV risk factors and SV perpetration. Knowledge of sexual consent moderated the effect of hypermasculinity (P < 0.001), binge drinking (P < 0.001), rape-supportive social norms (P = 0.007) and peer support for SV (P < 0.001) such that there was a positive association between risk factors and SV perpetration among those with lower, but not higher, knowledge of sexual consent. Knowledge of sexual consent did not significantly moderate the relationship between SV perpetration and outcome expectancies for non-consensual sex (P = 0.387) and pornography use (P = 0.494). Knowledge of sexual consent may counteract risk factors for SV perpetration among young college men. The findings highlight the need for consent education to be incorporated in youth comprehensive sexual education to increase knowledge of sexual consent prior to college and campus-based SV prevention programming delivered to college students.

“It Gives Me, as her Caregiver, a Sense of Security.” Young People with Intellectual Disability and Their Experiences with Sexuality, Menstruation, Gynecological Treatment and Contraception: A Follow-up Analysis of Parents’ and Caregivers’ Perspectives

BackgroundResearch shows that caregivers support but also impede people with intellectual disabilities from developing intimate relationships. People with intellectual disability experience coital sex later and less often compared to adolescents without disabilities. Caregivers often request hormonal contraception from gynecologists on their behalf. Their main motives are pregnancy avoidance (either as a result of consensual sex or sexual abuse) and menstrual suppression.MethodThe sample included 42 primary caregivers of young people with intellectual disability aged 14 to 25. Interviews were evaluated with qualitative content analysis.ResultsNine of the main caregivers assumed that sexual intercourse had taken place. Half of the carers evaluated the importance of sexuality for the young people with intellectual disability as high. The main reason for seeing a gynecologist was the prescription of hormonal contraceptives; the outcome of which was arbitrary and dependent on the individual gynecologist. The majority of young women took general hormonal contraceptives as a preventive measure or due to heavy bleeding, regardless of sexual activity. One-fifth took hormone depots as a form of long-term contraception.DiscussionA trusting relationship with the gynecologist favored the compliance and well-being of the young women. The administration of hormonal contraceptives seems to be controlled by third parties. Caregivers used hormonal contraceptives to simplify the regulation of menstruation and felt relieved by it. Carers view the sexual activities of the young women more critically because they fear a pregnancy and the responsibility for a potential grandchild. The use of hormonal contraceptives made carers clearly more tolerant of sexual activity.

Vanessa Springora, Gabriel Matzneff and the Problem of Consent

The publication of Vanessa Springora’s Le Consentement in January 2020, which led to the public shaming of the paedophile writer Gabriel Matzneff, has been seen as a key #MeToo moment in French culture. In her account of her adolescent relationship with Matzneff, Springora stops short of condemning all sex with minors and does not call for any strengthening of French laws around sexual consent. Does this imply a misplaced confidence, arguably shared by some strains of postfeminist thought, in young girls’ sexual agency and resolve? And is this, in turn, complicit with Matzneff’s own romanticized account of adolescent sexuality? I suggest, instead, that Springora frames her account in terms of consent precisely in order to suggest – as a number of feminist critics have recently done – the inadequacy of consent discourse as a means of protecting young women and girls within a patriarchal culture. Rather, Le Consentement stands as a redressing of the discursive balance within a literary and extra-literary system of representation that, for some six decades, worked to legitimize Matzneff’s compulsive desire for young girls and boys while disregarding the damage inflicted by the subjective experience of those young people.

Healthcare workers' knowledge and perceptions on the prescripts of the criminal law (sexual offences and related matters) Amendment Act 5 of 2015 in East London, South Africa.

In 2015, South Africa amended the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 5 of 2015 to address several disparities surrounding the issue of consensual sex among minors. The amendment Act and its prescripts were met with mixed reactions from the stakeholders, healthcare workers and community. This affected its implementation as some supported the amendment while others opposed it based on their perceptions of the prescripts. The study was conducted in clinics in East London to explore the perception of healthcare workers (HCWs) regarding the prescripts of this Act and their implications to adolescent sexual and reproductive health services. The qualitative research approach and a combination of descriptive and exploratory research design were used to conduct the study. Data were collected through key-informant interviews, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions and analysed using thematic method. There were positive and negative perceptions that influenced the HCWs' attitudes and performance of their adolescent sexual and reproductive health duties towards minors. Those with positive perceptions regarded the Act as an enabler in the provision of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services that maintains adolescents' privacy and confidentiality as minors do not need parental consent to access these services. Those that had negative perceptions viewed the Act as taking away parental responsibilities, overloading health workers with parental duties and encouraging minors to be sexually active. The study recommended increased awareness about the Act to all members of society including minors, schools, parents and HCWs to ensure successful implementation of the Act.