Incapacitated sexual assault among youths: beyond the perpetrator tactics framework

Abstract

The issue of incapacitated sexual assault (ISA) among youths has received increased attention among researchers. Still our understanding of the phenomenon is so far limited. Most research to date departs from an underlying "perpetrator tactics" framework in which ISA is understood as acts of deliberate exploitation of vulnerable victims. Our analysis suggests that this framework represents an overly narrow understanding of how ISA happens among youths. Based on analyses of short written descriptions of ISA experiences from a nationally representative survey among 18-and 19-year-olds in Norway, we propose that ISA unfolds through two distinctly different interactional dynamics; either stemming from tumultuous and confusing sexual interactions that defy a clear allocation of culpability or from an assailant's more or less deliberate tactics. Girls are more at risk and experience both types of ISA assaults, while boys mostly experience tumultuous "drunk sex" situations and more often redefine the situation in a way that masks their victimhood. The separation of the two situational dynamics furthers the understanding of in how ISA unfolds and of gendered vulnerabilities for sexual violence linked to youth drinking.

Sexual Victimization in the Digital Age: A Population-Based Study of Physical and Image-Based Sexual Abuse Among Adolescents

“…A Norwegian study reported that 7% of adolescent girls who had been intoxicated with alcohol in the previous year had experienced sexual assault when incapacitated by drunkenness (Pape, 2014). Another Norwegian study, using the same measure, found a similar rate for slightly older girls, and a rate of 2% among boys (Stefansen et al, 2020a). Thus, we investigate potential links between both types of victimization and the use of alcohol and illegal substances.…”

Distinguishing Types of Sexual Assault Among Young People: A Latent Class Analysis Approach

“…The assaults from younger adults are similar to the latent classes of peer assault in that they involve alcohol but are distinguished from them by the assailant being a stranger. Thus, they are not likely linked to partying, which is the context for most sexual assaults among young people (Lorenz & Ullman, 2016; Stefansen et al, 2021), though this requires further exploration. The assaults by older adults share characteristics of child sexual abuse, where the assailant grooms or takes advantage of the child’s trust (Whittle et al, 2013).…”

“…Research on the scope of sexual violence among young people has developed in recent years. Studies have been conducted on both the general youth population (Gewirtz-Meydan & Finkelhor, 2020; Stefansen et al, 2021) and on more selected populations, such as students pursuing higher education (Fedina et al, 2018). Overall, these studies have identified sexual violence as a widespread phenomenon among young people, despite the increasing efforts in many countries to prevent it.…”

Fire typer ungdomsliv: Ressurser, relasjoner og stedets betydning

“…Og hva karakteriserer situasjonene de skjer i? En norsk studie (Stefansen et al, 2020) har undersøkt disse spørsmålene basert på korte beskrivelser av festovergrep fra ungdom i 18-19-årsalderen som deltok i en surveystudie. Analysen peker mot at festovergrep har bakgrunn i to ganske ulike sosiale dynamikker.…”