Sexual Coercion & Sexual Trauma: Why Does Rape Occur?

I have compiled this presentation to aid in the teaching and research conducted on sexual coercion and sexual violence. You can also view a YouTube presentation on this presentation here: https://youtu.be/vWqqYmX9xQw

Here is a brief overview of what the presentation will entail. Slide 3 will discuss an introduction to the topic at hand, Sexual Coercion and Sexual Violence. Slide 4 will be used to discuss common terms and definitions of words commonly used in the topic of sexual coercion and sexual violence. Slides 5-8 we will discuss issues that are associated with this topic, public or social issues mainly. Slides 9 and 10 will discuss the Human Sexuality Theory associated with this topic of sexual coercion. Slides 11 and 12 will discuss the research associated with this topic. Slides 13 and 14 will review any strategies or solutions for this issue and slide 15 will conclude our experience and 16 will be simply for review of references.

Photo: Bharath, 2020

According to the Office on Women’s Health governmental website, Sexual Coercion is described as, “unwanted sexual activity that happens when you are pressured, tricked, threatened, or forced in a non-physical way,” (2019). You are not required to have sex with anyone, not even a spouse or significant other. The best example that I must explain this sexual coercion, say a man and a woman are dating and are involved sexually. The woman decides that she would rather take a step back from having sex and would like to stop having sex for awhile because she feels that the man only wants sex from her. Regardless of the reason, the man should respect her decision—and not convince her to change her mind, sexual coercion. However, imagine that the man then sends her on a guilt trip for pulling back, and states that he may have been willing to give more in their relationship, but now she will never know because now she is not willing to “put out.” This is sexual coercion. The woman has stated what she wants, the man bypasses it and seeks out his own agenda in order to gain sex from the woman. She then ends up giving into the requests for sex, because she wants the relationship to progress and that was how the man stated that the relationship would progress.

Photo: Unspoken Voices, 2020

Consent is defined as an active, verbal agreement to engage in sexual activity with someone (Callisto, 2021). This active agreement specifically means that it can change at any given point, and without notice for any reason. For example, if you consent to sexual activities while you are dating an individual, but then later break up and they still want to have sex, but you say no, that prior consent is no longer valid. That consent is no longer legal, and cannot be applied to the current situation.

Sexual harassment creates a “hostile work environment, and is illegal,” (Callisto, 2021). Sexual harassment includes any unwanted verbal or physical sexual behavior. Say for example, you land your dream job, and you find a mentor to help coach you through your first couple of years in this new role. You’re a young female, and he is about 20 years older than you and much higher ranked in the company than you are. He immediately takes an interest to you, and you’re receptive of his friendship and you even grow to care for him. However, he begins making advances toward you to kiss you and you decline these advances. Once you decline, he begins spreading rumors about you in the workplace, and lies about you to the rest of the chain of command to create a negative reputation of your name. That would create a hostile work environment, and after turning him out or otherwise declining his advances physically he then refuses to have any contact with you whatsoever. Even professional related contact, and he reacts negatively professionally by canceling professional meetings he had set up for you in revenge. That is sexual harassment.

Sexual Assault is defined by Calliso (2021) as any sexual activity that you did not consent to. Rape and sexual assault are used interchangeably, you will find, however sexual assault also covers non-penetrative sexual activity, “including fondling and molestation,” (Callisto, 2021).

Rape is when you are penetrated, (orally, vaginally or anally) with any object or body part (Callisto, 2021). For example, if you are trying to sleep and your husband or boyfriend rolls over in bed and penetrates your anus without your prior consent and you still do not consent to that act during the event , that is rape. Or if you invite your ex-boyfriend over to your house to have a conversation with you, or hang out with you, and they force you to have sex with them either vaginally or orally, that is rape.

Sexual coercion, we previously discussed this one in the prior slide, however this can also be defined as a request for a sexual favor in regard to a professional or financial benefits (Calliso, 2021).

Photo: The Ranch TN, 2017

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is commonly associated with sexual violence or other sexual abuse, along with self-blame and criticism, depression and anger (Jeglic, 2021). “Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is most well-known for its prevalence in the Veteran population, but close to 50 percent of PTSD in the United States is due to physical or sexual violence,” (Meyer, 2019).

Symptoms of PTSD are not all inclusive to this list, but here are a few examples of what an individual with PTSD associated with sexual trauma will experience: “Depression, Anxiety, Flashbacks, hyper-reactivity to stimulus like sounds or colors that reminds them of the trauma, Intrusive symptoms like random thoughts which will drastically change their demeanor, Avoidance of thoughts or things that remind the person of the trauma, Hyper-sensitivity and easily triggered feelings, and it has a Detrimental impact on their ability to function day-to-day,” (Meyer, 2019). It is also said that individuals who encounter these victims or survivors may see signs in the survivors of increasing irritability since the sexual trauma has occurred, these survivors may be angry (either at the simplest of things, at everything, or at themselves for “allowing a sexual trauma” to occur them), these individuals may be seen as numb… the individual may proceed about their day as if nothing is wrong, never talking about the incident and when they do talk about it, they are seemly “shut off” from the incident, because they are not allowing themselves to actually fully remember how the incident made them feel.

They are afraid of re-living the incident; therefore, they are experiencing dissociation. The survivor will appear numb in these instances to what happened and numb to the world around them. People may also notice a substance abuse problem with some survivors, victims of sexual trauma may start drinking more, or doing other drugs to try to cope with the memory of what happened. “Most people who develop PTSD will have a spontaneous recovery, but about 10 percent will keep getting worse,” (Meyer, 2019).

Photo: Ordway, 2018

Victim blaming includes a variety of things, some examples of what a victim could say to themselves, and also what they unfortunately hear every other individual say are things like:

“You had to know what was going to happen if you let him in your house,” or

“You shouldn’t have been drinking,” or

“You must have sent mixed signals,” or

“Was your door even locked?” or

“You let him in?” or

“What were you wearing?” or

“How hard did you try to stop it?” or

“Why didn’t you come forward sooner?” (Morin, 2021).

People will blame victims, imply or outright say that a sexual assault was a victim's fault or that they asked for it, in order to make themselves feel better—the individual saying this will make themselves feel safer by believing it was done because the victim did something wrong (Morin, 2021). However, little do people know, even if the victim did do something wrong… sexual assault is still sexual assault, and it is still wrong. A term that I have heard by law enforcement officers with the Alaska State Troopers is that they will only proceed with charges if the woman was a “good victim”. This was stated by an Alaska State Trooper that had recently moved from Bethel, Alaska where the rate of sexual assaults are at an all time high.

Just because you’re busy does not excuse someone from getting away with the crime if you don’t believe that they are a “good victim”. This would be if she had got a SART exam right away, if she called the cops as soon as he left her apartment, if she did all the things that the public thinks that a victim should do, then will they move forward with charging the perpetrator.

Photo: Salbi, 2019

The next issue facing sexual coercion or sexual assault is depression in the victims after the fact. Depression can show it’s face in many different varieties, and while there are many different emotional and psychological effects or reactions a victim (or I like to say survivor) of sexual trauma can experience…. “one of the most common of these is depression,” (RAINN, 2021). Some signs of depression following sexual trauma is self harm, substance abuse, dissociation, panic attacks, sleep disorders, and suicide (RAINN, 2021). Again, the dissociation will help a survivor be able to tell their story without having to live through the emotions, they see the incident from a distance, and they think that the distance they created with that memory will allow them to re-live the incident without the waterworks. Therefore, it is highly inappropriate for an officer to not move forward with charges simply because, “the victim didn’t cry during the interview, or any subsequent interviews,”. Because that is a sign that they are expressing dissociation from the event.

Another issue posed by sexual coercion or sexual trauma is the victim reacting with anger. This is a natural emotion, and is just part of the healing process but here is what that anger may be associated with, (1) angry at being sexually traumatized, manipulated and abused; (2) angry that no one seems to care; (3) angry at the betrayal of trust; (4) angry that people failed to protect you; (4) angry that the person who did it seems to have just simply gotten away with it; (5) angry that no-one did anything to stop it from happening; (6) angry at the injustice of the court system when they appear to side with the perpetrator easier than believing you; (7) angry at self; (8) and angry that you are the one that now gets to live with these memories (Living Well, 2021). Anger can be shown in a variety ways it could be physically experienced, (i.e., increased heart rate or blood pressure, tightness in the chest, sweating, shaking, cleaning of teeth or fists, etc.) or could be found in your thoughts, (i.e., a sense of injustice, believing, “it’s not right,” jumbled or confused thoughts, discounting thoughts, name calling, swearing in your head, etc.) or it can be found in your voice and how you speak to others, (i.e., tone of voice, being short with others, becoming more direct in what you are saying, becoming more personal in things you talk about rather than staying on topic, using sarcasm, swearing, or calling people names) or it can be found in your behaviors (i.e., standing up, pacing, removing yourself from a situation, isolating yourself from everyone or pushing things out of your physically) (Living Well, 2021). None of these feelings are bad, they are normal reactions to what you experienced, but noticing them and figuring out a path to move forward is the best option.

Photo: Office on Women’s Health, 2019

While some individuals will experience hypersexuality following a sexual trauma (i.e., because that is what they have been taught to believe is okay, therefore it creates a sort of “sex addiction) (Psychology Today, 2021), a lot of women will experience lower sexual desire. Being sexually traumatized in one form or another at a younger age, for example in your teenage years, will a lot of times stunt the sexual development of an individual for years to come (Simon, 2018). Having overcome that many years later, and have it reoccurred, can be traumatizing for even longer. Sex can begin to feel like a chore, or it can feel like you are dissociating from your body while having sex, and the trauma can impact a person's sexual preferences or understanding of their own sexuality (Simon, 2018).

Photo: Rushton, 2017.

Sexuality is a primal and instinctual reaction and experience we as human being; it is in the way we think, the way we feel and the way we behave (Davis, 2020).

When we think about why does sexual offending occur? It seems easy enough to explain, sexual experiences are such a primal and instinctive experience in human beings that it must just be the way someone was raised, right? It seems as if they were taught either not at all how to experience sexuality, or they were taught inappropriately. Well, that’s not too far off from the truth; what we know about why sexual abuse occurs is: “(1) Sexual abuse is a learned behavior; (2) negative or adverse conditions in early development (particularly poor relationships with care givers) can contribute to the problem; (3) sex offenders engage in cognitive distortions; (4) repeated exposure to sexually violent pornography can contribute; (5) problems with self-regulations and impulse control can contribute; and (6) short-term relationships and negative attitudes toward women can contribute,” (Faupel, 2015).

There are many different single-factor theories that can help or attempt to explain why an offender will offend. I will be taking this information from a report from the Department of Justice’s article by Susan Faupel (2015).

Biological theories: This could be an abnormality in the structure of the brain, hormone levels, genetic and/or chromosomal make up, and deficits in intellectual functioning.

Evolutionary theories: This theory explains that sexual coercion could be a type of reproductive strategy, and that the sexual assault or rape is the outcome of a competitive disadvantage for some men that lack resources or the ability to get a partner by more appropriate means.

Personality theories: Psychologist Frued studies theories and based work on the premise that sexual deviance is an expression of unresolved problems experienced during childhood. Research also suggests that there is a link between individuals who have a history of poor-quality attachments and the risk of sexually offending.

Cognitive theories: These theories address the way an offenders thoughts affect their behavior. Offenders that fall into this theory will show signs of denial (denying that the rape was a rape), minimization of harm done (stating that what they did would be equivalent to someone saying that they had stolen their truck, when, these are vastly different from each other, and the reality is striking. The offender will also claim the right or entitlement to act the way that they did (for example, they may mention prior consent that had been given, or prior sexual force that had been used to explain away the actions they committed). The offender will also blame the victim—this was documented in research way too often dating back to 1999. This is essentially deviant sexual behavior and cognitive distortions in how they believe or process what they did to another individual.

Behavioral theories: This type of theory argues that sexual offending is a learned type of behavior. Being exposed to sexual offending behavior as a child, at work, in pornography, etc., can show that people that are aroused by this type of behavior will likely commit sexual offenses. “Sexual gratification and the perceived lack of negative consequences for sexual offending, coupled with a lack of support for not engaging in sexual offending behavior, increases the likelihood for sex offenses to continue,” (Faupel, 2015).

Social Learning theories: This is explained as children who are sexually abused grow into adults who sexually abuse, and it is also explained as sexually explicit materials are the reason for sexually offending. Evidence has shown that the majority of sex offenders are actually not abused sexually as children, therefore it is explained that it would have to have been a learned or triggered action or thought by explicit materials reviewed or watched.

Photo: Fontes, 2021

Misunderstanding a woman’s sexual intent and thus requesting that she do certain actions for you, is sexual coercion. Just because a woman shows genuine interest in you, does not mean that she wants to have sex with you or that she is ready to have sex with you. Forcing the issue and requesting that she do certain things for you before she is ready, is sexual coercion (Farris et all, 2007).

What is sexual bargaining? It is a dynamic social process when potential partners are essentially, “feeling each other out.” They communicate their level of interest, or their level of lack of interest in pursuing a sexual relationship with each other (Farris et all, 2007). This can be done verbally or non-verbally. This process is prone to errors and can be confusing to all that are involved. When one person misunderstands the verbal or the non-verbal communication given by one party, it can have very different trajectories and can lead to negative outcomes such as sexual violence.

Sexual coercion found in this study shows that sexual coercion is not necessarily pre-meditated by that it is likely very purposeful in the moment (Farris et all, 2007) i.e., trying to convince your ex-girlfriend to have sex with you in order to get back together, or telling her you will only take her on public dates if she has sex with you right then and there. It is likely in the moment and could be considered a “surprise comment” coming from your ex-boyfriend.

When sexual coercion takes a turn for the worst, and the woman (the study focused on male perpetrators because sexually coercive incidents committed by men against women are more common) fails to reciprocate the advances made the male in the form of you do this and you get this, and the woman can either playfully disagree, playfully show disinterest in committing those acts without having reassurance—and then the man decides to take the sexual acts into his own hands because he “knows what will get her in the mood,” he thinks that if he does the things that she likes, the things that will arouse her, then he will be fine committing the acts that he does once she is aroused. Wrong. That is rape.

Photo: Rodman, 2017

The study selected not only focused on the misconception of when sexual intent is clearly completely ignored and bypassed, but it also focused on what happens when a woman shows interest to a man, but then later says that she is not interested. It has been found that men that are turned down after having been given the “green light” previously, are confused and frustrated at this turn of events. Studies have proven that women routinely do this after having given consent previously, men will react in violence. Now, I say this because the study selected focuses solely on male preparators and female victims, but it could be either way, but for the sake of this study will follow what the study allows.

For the study an example event was given to a variety of college students, and they were told to review the interaction where a woman had previously consented, and then later did not consent. Patterns between the women and patterns between the men evolved showing a striking difference. Whether the men had been given a card that put them in the middle of the act or as a bystander, they showed a higher level of perceiving that the woman was still sexually interested in them even though she was saying no or saying that she wanted to stop having sex. Simply because she had consented previously.

Within the study, when studying women’s intent and men’s intent, men stated that they perceived women as being more interested than the women stated during the study than they actually were. Where a woman could seem disinterested and just wanting to pursue things in a friendly manner, or simply have a conversation with a man, the man immediately thought that the woman was interested in him.

This could be because the men were shown to perceive the world in more sexualized terms than women did. The study also rated men higher in behaving more sexually than women when reviewed by observers.

Throughout this study, investigators reviewed the material and accepted that the “premise that individuals have the best access to their own thoughts and feelings,” therefore it would be impossible for a perpetrator to say that he knew a woman’s body better than she did because only she knew what she wanted to happen that day. The man can deny it, say that the woman did this and did that, but all in all, research concludes that only the person it happened to can fully state what they wanted to happen. For example, if a woman asked a man over to have a conversation with her, and he took her invitation as an invitation to have sex when they had previously been intimate together… but she was saying she didn’t want to have sex, research has proven that the man is more likely to commit sexual coercion or sexual assault in these moments because he views her sarcasm, or her rejections as misinterpreted sexual intent.

In order to stop sexual violence, you can promote social normal that protect against violence (CDC, 2021). This would look like bystander approaches, and mobilizing men and boys as allies.

Creating an environment where people are comfortable standing up and stopping something from occurring, this would likely be only beneficial in public or social situations and would not stop things from occurring privately. But it would be a start.

Teaching skills to prevent sexual violence. This would look like social-emotional learning, teaching healthy/safe dating and intimate relationship skills to children, discussing and educating on healthy sexuality, and having empowerment-based training for those that could be victimized.

Provide opportunities to empower and support girls and women. This would look like strengthening economic support for women and families, and strengthening leadership and other opportunities for girls (CDC, 2021).

By creating protective environments, you will improve safety and monitoring in schools for adolescents, establish and consistently apply workplace policies and address any community-level risks through environmental approaches. By supporting victims and survivors of sexual coercion or sexual violence, you can create more victim centered services, treatment for victims of sexual violence, and treatment for at-risk children and families to prevent problem behaviors such as sexual offending (CDC, 2021).

Photo: Shelton, 2019

Throughout this presentation we have looked at a number of topics relating to sexual coercion and sexual violence. I hope that this presentation has been as enlightening to you as it has been for me. From sexual intent of a woman that has either given consent before or not given consent before, to what that means in relation to sexual coercion and sexual assault or rape. We have looked at a what consent means, and what we can do going forward. As new information evolves and changes, I am open to hearing new theories and ways of approaching this situation as I have clearly now dedicated my studies and my time to talking about sexual violence. Thank you. A list of my resources will be listed on the remaining slides.

References

1. Bharath, N., 2020. What is Sexual Coercion? Feminism in India. https://feminisminindia.com/2020/10/22/partner-abuse-sexual-coercion-consent-metoo/

2. Callisto, 2021. Understanding the Language. Callisto. https://www.mycallisto.org/cresources/language?gclid=CjwKCAiAnO2MBhApEiwA8q0HYaaRl8Ud1KWTRh0B6DboVXN2YShVEcxx7KfEpXnsMTZSgZtqH-BE7xoCDrcQAvD_BwE

3. CDC, 2021. Violence Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/prevention.html

4. Davis, 2020. Psychology of Human Sexuality. Semester at Sea. https://www.semesteratsea.org/courses/psychology-of-human-sexuality-2/

5. Farris, C., Treat, T. A., Viken, R. J., and McFall, R. M., 2007. Sexual Coercion and the Misperception of Sexual Intent. US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885706/

6. Faupel, S., 2015. Etiology of Adult Sexual Offending. Department of Justice. https://smart.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh231/files/media/document/etiologyofadultsexualoffending.pdf

7. Fontes, L. A., 2021. Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships: Eight Tactics. DomesticShelters.org. https://www.domesticshelters.org/articles/identifying-abuse/sexual-coercion-in-intimate-relationships-eight-tactics

8. Jeglic, E. L., 2021. What Everyone Needs to Understand about Sexual Coercion. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/protecting-children-sexual-abuse/202103/what-everyone-needs-understand-about-sexual-coercion

9. Living Well, 2021. Dealing with Anger: Anger as a Common Reaction to Sexual Violence. Living Well. https://livingwell.org.au/managing-difficulties/dealing-with-anger/

10. Meyer, M. L., 2019. PTSD After a Sexual Trauma. Vital Record. https://vitalrecord.tamhsc.edu/ptsd-after-a-sexual-trauma/

11. Morin, A., 2021. Sexual Assault and Victim Blaming. Very Well Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/sexual-assault-and-victim-blaming-4802707

12. Office on Women’s Health, 2019. Sexual Coercion. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/other-types/sexual-coercion

13. Ordway, D. M., 2018. Why Many Sexual Assault Survivors May Not Come Forward for Years. The Journalist's Resource. https://journalistsresource.org/health/sexual-assault-report-why-research/

14. Psychology Today, 2021. Hypersexuality (Sex Addiction). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/hypersexuality-sex-addiction

15. RAINN, 2021. Effects of Sexual Violence. RAINN. https://www.rainn.org/effects-sexual-violence

16. Rodman, S., 2017. When Your Partner Just Doesn’t Want Sex. Talk Space. https://www.talkspace.com/blog/when-your-partner-just-doesnt-want-sex/

17. Rushton, G., 2017. This is What it’s Like to be Sexually Assaulted by Your Partner. https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/this-is-what-its-like-to-be-sexually-assaulted-by-your

18. Salbi, Z., 2019. Punishing Sexual Predators Isn’t Enough. We Need to Give Them a Path to Make Things Right. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2019/09/17/metoo-movement-men-sexual-harassment/

19. Shelton, S., 2019. Students Show Support for Sexual Assault Survivors, Demand Action. The Channels, Santa Barbara City College. https://www.thechannels.org/news/2019/11/01/students-show-support-for-sexual-assault-survivors-demand-action/

20. Simon, K., 2018. What Does Sex Look Like After Sexual Trauma? Seven survivors of Assault Talk about Their Recovery Process. The Lily. https://www.thelily.com/what-does-sex-look-like-after-sexual-trauma-seven-survivors-of-assault-talk-about-their-recovery-process/

21. The Ranch TN, 2017. Battling PTSD Triggers: The Effects of Sexual Assault. The Recovery Ranch, Tennessee. https://www.recoveryranch.com/addiction-blog/battling-ptsd-triggers-effects-sexual-assault/

22. Unspoken Voices, 2020. Facebook post Facebook, Unspoken Voices. https://www.facebook.com/unspokenvoicesorganization/photos/domestic-violence-includes-sexual-coercion-here-are-a-few-examples-of-what-sexua/3577906468898026/