Sexual Coercion Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

Until recently, sexual coercion among gay men has been regarded as virtually oxymoronic. Discourses of male sexuality as ever-present and driven, and discourses of masculinity that portray men as in control and invulnerable, converge to almost disavow the possibilities that sex could be unwanted by men, or that men could be vulnerable to being pressured into sex against their will. This article reports on interviews with 19 gay and bisexual men about their experiences of forced, coerced, or unwanted sex. We identified four general patterns in these accounts: (1) incidents involving physical force; (2) experiences in which a man's ability to refuse sex was compromised by intoxication; (3) dynamics where young and inexperienced men were coerced or pressured into unwanted sex; and (4) situations in which men felt obligated to engage in unwanted sex. Specific issues included barriers to reporting sexual assault, power dynamics in intergenerational sex, and the difficulty of refusing unwanted sex. Importantly, many of the factors identified as driving sexual coercion relate not to gay sexuality per se, but rather to masculine sexuality. Conversely, some of the factors relating to men's vulnerability to coercion were exacerbated by some features of gay sexual culture; in particular those aspects associated with existing in a marginalized territory within a wider heteronormative context.

Unsafe, Unwanted

“…Quite apart from the influence of drugs and alcohol, we noticed the potential for coercive power and control dynamics to become established in encounters and relationships between men of differing ages and levels of experience (Braun et al, 2009a). Greg described a casual encounter with a man he met online who was 10 years older than he was, considerably more sexually 'adventurous' and who prior to their meeting clearly expressed his desire to be anally penetrated without a condom.…”

“…However, because our research was concerned with exploring the dynamics of sexual coercion and unwanted sex, the interviews with individual men in particular tended to focus on accounts of coercive experiences.) In this brief report we will highlight three kinds of dynamics that we suggest pose significant constraints on safer sex, and yet are not given due recognition in safer sex promotion: (1) the interplay of drugs and alcohol, power and sex; (2) vulnerabilities associated with youth and inexperience; and (3) coercive dynamics within relationships (see Braun, Schmidt, Gavey, & Fenaughty, 2009a, for further discussion). The dynamics of these processes sometimes lead to men literally having no choice (due to direct force or violence) about whether to engage in unwanted sex or, more commonly, feeling as if they had no choice due to the aversive consequences of not submitting to unwanted sex.…”

“…that they may be subject to the control of forces beyond the individual) is seldom directly mentioned. Some of the men we interviewed, however, reported having been deliberately drugged or plied with alcohol, often by older and more experienced men, to the point that they were unable to refuse or resist unwanted sex (Braun et al, 2009a). These accounts show, therefore, that drugs and alcohol can work against safer sex not only by inducing a man to disregard his own 'limits' in favour of his own 'altered state desires', but also through undermining his abilities to avoid unwanted sex in the face of another man's coercive efforts.…”

Intergenerational Sex as a Risk Factor for HIV Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Scoping Review

“…However, young men in stable relationships with older men have also reported experiencing sexual coercion and forced UAI, highlighting the vulnerability of younger men in this relationship dynamic [85]. More research is required to investigate the specific contexts and power dynamics implicit in age-discrepant relationships that are associated with engagement in HIV risk among YMSM.…”

Sexual Assault Risks Among Gay and Bisexual Men

“…Given the preponderance of evidence to suggest a strong link between heavy episodic alcohol use and ASA among women (see Abbey, Zawacki, Buck, Clinton, & McAuslan, 2012 for a review), it is surprising that so few studies have examined the role of alcohol as a risk factor for ASA among men. Braun, Schmidt, Gavey, and Fenaughty (2009) identified a pattern of elevated sexual coercion risk associated with intoxication among gay and bisexual men in New Zealand, but further research is needed to better understand this pattern of association in other samples of sexual minority men.…”