Human Sexuality in a Changing World

Tenth Edition

Chapter 15
Sexual Coercion

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Rape (1 of 2)
• Sexual activity that takes place without consent
– Forcible rape
 Sexual activity obtained by the use of force or threat of force
– Statutory rape
 Sexual activity with a person below the age of consent
– Sexual assault
 Any sexual activity that involves the use of force or the threat of force

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Rape (2 of 2)
• Critical Thinking
– Why is rape a political issue as well as a crime?

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Incidence of Rape (1 of 2)
• Numbers are inconsistent and staggering

• BJS reported that 284,350 forcible rapes occurred in 2014

• NISVS reports that close to 2 million women are raped each year

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Incidence of Rape (2 of 2)
• Why the discrepancy?
– Incidence of rape is underreported
 About two-thirds not reported to police or prosecuted
 Many women mistakenly believe coercive sex is rape only if rapist is a
stranger
 Many women mistakenly assume only vaginal penetration is rape

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Types of Rape (1 of 8)
• Stranger Rape
– Rape by assailant previously unknown to the person
– Assailant typically chooses a vulnerable victim

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Types of Rape (2 of 8)
• Acquaintance Rape
– Rape by acquaintance of the victim
– Women are more likely to be raped by men they know
– Is less likely to be reported than stranger rape
– In a national college survey, only one-fourth saw themselves as rape victims

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Types of Rape (3 of 8)
• Date Rape
– A form of acquaintance rape
– Man tends to perceive returning home with him as willingness to have sex
– Consent is at issue since incidents occur in context in which sex could voluntarily
occur

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Types of Rape (4 of 8)
• Rape on Campus
– 20% of women and 5% of men reported that they have been sexually assaulted
– 9% of women said they were overcome by physical force and 14% said they were
assaulted while incapacitated
– By and large, attackers were no strangers
 1 in 4 or 5 knew the attacker very well, and 25% knew him fairly well

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Types of Rape (5 of 8)
• Gang Rape
– Exercise of power and expression of anger against women
– More vicious than individual assaults

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Types of Rape (6 of 8)
• Male Rape
– Prevalence is unknown
 Estimated that one in ten rape survivors is a man
– Most men who rape other men are heterosexual
 Sexual motives may be absent
– Most, but not all, occur in prison settings
– Male rape survivors may suffer traumatic effects similar to female survivors

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Types of Rape (7 of 8)
• Partner Rape
– May be more common than date rape
– Men who are less accepting of traditional stereotypes about sexual relationships
are less likely to commit partner rape
– Often occurs within a context of relationship violence, battering, and physical
intimidation
– Long-term effects on survivors are similar to those experienced by survivors of
stranger rape

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Types of Rape (8 of 8)
• Critical Thinking
– Why do you think it was a political struggle to pass laws against marital rape?

• Rape by Women
– Although it is rare, women have raped men and have aided and abetted men who
are raping another woman

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Social Attitudes, Myths, and Cultural
Factors (1 of 2)
• Rape myths are rationalizations for violence
– Myths create a social climate that legitimizes rape
– Myths are related to other social attitudes
 Gender-role stereotyping
 Perception of sex as adversarial
 Acceptance of violence in relationships

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Social Attitudes, Myths, and Cultural
Factors (2 of 2)
• Male socialization and gender typing
– The traditional masculine gender role is related to acceptance of violence against
women and rape

• Critical Thinking
– Agree or disagree with the following statement and support your answer:
– A woman who walks in a dangerous neighborhood or talks to a stranger deserves
what she gets.

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Psychological Characteristics of Rapists
• Who are they?
– There is no single type of rapist
– Many have antisocial personalities
– Compared to other men, self-identified sexually aggressive men are more likely to:
 Condone rape and violence against women
 Hold traditional gender-role attitudes
 Be sexually experienced and hostile toward women
 Engage in sex to express social dominance
 Be sexually aroused by depictions of rape
 Be irresponsible and lack a social conscience
 Have peer groups that pressure them into sexual activity

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Adjustment of Rape Survivors (1 of 2)
• Survivors tend to experience
– Crisis
 Involves shock, loss of self-esteem, and lessened capacity for making
decisions
 Can last for weeks
– Both physical and psychological effects
– Problems in the workplace and in relationships with spouses or partners
– Disturbances in sexual functioning
– Most fail to report sexual assault
 Reasons include fear, social stigma, doubt of others, feelings of hopelessness,
and emotional distress

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Adjustment of Rape Survivors (2 of 2)
• Psychological Disorders
– Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
 A type of stress reaction brought on by a traumatic event and is characterized
by
– Flashbacks of the experience in the form of disturbing dreams or intrusive
recollections
– A sense of emotional numbing or restricted range of feelings
– Heightened body arousal
– Women who blame themselves for the rape tend to suffer more severe depression
and adjustment problems, including sexual problems

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If You Are Raped
• Don’t change anything about your body

• Strongly consider reporting the incident to police

• Ask a relative or friend to take you to a hospital

• Seek help in an assertive way

• Question health professionals

• Call a rape hotline or crisis center for advice

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Rape Prevention (1 of 2)
• Elimination of rape will require changes in attitudes

• Education can reduce the incidence

• Some precautions include

– Establish signals with other women in building or neighborhood
– Use dead-bolt locks
– Do not walk alone after dark
– Avoid deserted areas
– Don’t converse with strange men on street

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Rape Prevention (2 of 2)
• Suggestions for avoiding date rape
– Set limits with partner
– Meet new dates in public
– Drive your own car
– Refuse unwanted overtures
– Trust your gut feelings
– Don’t let an ex-boyfriend into your living space

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Childhood Sexual Abuse
• Estimated 200–300,000 annually
– Most abused children are girls

• Ranges from exhibitionism, kissing, fondling, to sexual intercourse

– Sexual relations between adults and children under the age of consent is a crime in
every state
– Any sexual contact between adult and child is abusive
– About 7–8% of boys and 18% of girls are sexually abused worldwide
– Occurs over Internet with images and invitations to interact in chat rooms

• Voluntary sexual activity between children of similar ages is not abuse

– Must involve coercion

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Patterns of Abuse (1 of 2)
• Most molesters are someone close to child

• Stable, middle-class children less at risk

• Often unreported when discovered

• Child typically trusts abuser

• Repeat abuse by family members

• Genital fondling is most common; intercourse is rare

• Children rarely report due to fear of retaliation or blame

• First abuse
– Boys on average 7 to 10 years old
– Girls on average 6 to 12 years old

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Patterns of Abuse (2 of 2)
• Critical Thinking
– Why do you think that most cases of child sexual abuse are not reported to the
authorities?

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Types of Abusers
• Overwhelming majority are males, most are adults, some are adolescents

• Male abusers more likely to have been abused themselves

• Female abusers may be more common than previously thought

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Pedophilia (1 of 2)
• A paraphilia involving persistent or recurrent sexual attraction to children

• Almost all pedophiles are males

• Abuse patterns vary and there is no consistent personality profile of the pedophile

• May have complex origins

– Some were sexually abused as children
– Often unstable, disagreeable, angry, impulsive, and mistrustful

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Pedophilia (2 of 2)
• Pedophiles have distorted reality
– See children as sexual beings who want to have sex with adults
– Believe that sex does not harm children and may be beneficial
– Think of themselves as important enough to have sex with whomever they want
– See others as dangerous and controlling
– Believe they cannot control their impulses

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Incest
• Marriage or sexual relations between people who are so closely related by “blood” that
sexual relations are prohibited and punishable by law

• Most cultures have an incest taboo

• Perspectives on the incest taboo

– To prevent harmful effects of inbreeding
– Cooperation theory
 Emphasizes the importance of cooperative ties between family groups to the
survival of the society

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Types of Incest
• Father-daughter incest
– Often begins affectionately and progresses to sexual behavior

• Brother-sister incest
– Most common type
– Most likely to be harmful when it is forced or when parental response is harsh

• Family factors in incest

– Incest often occurs within the context of family disruption
– Marriages tend to involve an uneven power relationship
– Sexual relations between the spouses are troubled
– Abused daughters may assume mother’s responsibilities
– Incest is often repeated from generation to generation

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Effects of Sexual Abuse on Children
• Involve great psychological harm and physical consequences

• Abused children commonly “act out”

– Younger children display aggressive or antisocial behavior
– Older children abuse drugs
– Many show signs of posttraumatic stress disorder

• Sexual development may be adversely affected

• May lead to psychological problems in adulthood

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Prevention of Sexual Abuse on Children
• Help children understand what sexual abuse is and how they can protect themselves

• Teach adults signs of sexual abuse and require them to report suspected abuse to
authorities

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Treatment of Rapists & Child Molesters (1
of 2)
• What Does Treatment Mean?
– Goal is to help society eliminate problem behavior
– Common form of treatment is group therapy
 However, majority of incarcerated sex offenders receive little to no treatment in
prison
– Results of these prison-based programs are mixed
– More promising results from CBT, such as empathy training and covert
sensitization

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Treatment of Rapists & Child Molesters (2
of 2)
• Critical Thinking
– Agree or disagree with the following statement and support your answer:
– We should punish sex offenders and not worry about “treating” them.

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Sexual Harassment (1 of 4)
• Gender harassment

• Attempts at seduction

• Bribery

• Sexual coercion

• Physical sexual coercion

• Men or women can commit or be subjected to sexual harassment

– 99% of harassers are men

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Sexual Harassment (2 of 4)
• Often ignored or trivialized

• Stress may cause physical illness, anxiety, irritability, lowered self-esteem, and anger

• Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

– Most severe form involves supervisor who demands sexual favors as a condition of
employment or advancement
– Laws do exist to protect workers, but proving charges of sexual harassment can be
difficult

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Sexual Harassment (3 of 4)
• Trivialization of Sexual Harassment and Blaming the Victim

• More to do with power than sexual desire

• Sexual Harassment in the Academic Setting

– Many harassers and victims view harassment as “just part of school life” and “no
big deal.”

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Sexual Harassment (4 of 4)
• How to Resist Sexual Harassment
– Convey a professional attitude
– Discourage harassing behavior
– Avoid being alone with the harasser
– Maintain a record
– Talk with the harasser
– Write harasser a letter
– Seek support
– File a complaint
– Seek legal help

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