Young women’s sexual assault experiences: exploring conservative socialisation experiences as an important contextual factor

Key Elements in the Representation of Sexual Violence in Spain: Consent, Myths and Stigma

“…Their operation is assured because "they are schemas of meanings that most people recognise or have internalised" [62]. However, the importance of these myths as guides or orientations of sexual behaviour should be emphasised in the face of the educational void that exists around sexuality [69], which favours the normalisation and assumption of sexual violence as a way one relates [15]. Myths are deeply rooted in culture and can be found in religious doctrines and cultural prescriptions, commonly encompassed in "tradition" [67].…”

“…According to different authors [39,40,62,69,77], representations and narratives of sexual violence have direct implications and impact on the experience of this kind of violence, both for the victims, their closest counterparts and society as a whole. These representations of a social phenomenon or fact are an amalgam of socially shared knowledge, notions, beliefs, attitudes and values that are associated with the event itself and guide the action that follows.…”

Fear of sin and fear of God: Scrupulosity predicts women's daily experiences of mental contamination following sexual trauma

“…The emphasis on modesty often conveys the idea that women must dress in a way to protect men from lust and sin, as men are viewed as having less self‐control over sexual desires (Owens et al., 2020). As a result of sexual gatekeeping responsibilities and a lack of education on sexual consent, purity culture may place women at higher risk for feeling responsible for preventing any sexual encounters, including sexual assault (Barker & Galliher, 2020; Owens et al., 2020). Although purity culture can be found in both religious and secular cultural settings, it is particularly emphasized within some religious communities (Barker & Galliher, 2020; Klein, 2018).…”

“…As a result of sexual gatekeeping responsibilities and a lack of education on sexual consent, purity culture may place women at higher risk for feeling responsible for preventing any sexual encounters, including sexual assault (Barker & Galliher, 2020; Owens et al., 2020). Although purity culture can be found in both religious and secular cultural settings, it is particularly emphasized within some religious communities (Barker & Galliher, 2020; Klein, 2018). A study of self‐identified Christian men and women found that those with stronger purity culture beliefs were more likely to hold beliefs consistent with rape myths (Owens et al., 2020), which suggests positive associations between purity culture and victim‐blaming attitudes.…”

“…It is not uncommon to encounter metaphors equating certain sexual activities with impurity; for instance, some religious groups have compared a woman who engages in premarital sex with chewed gum full of saliva or a tissue full of mucus and snot (Klein, 2018), implying that a woman's body is contaminated and inherent worth is lost after sexual activity. Unsurprisingly, such teachings may influence how women process unwanted sexual experiences (Barker & Galliger, 2020). Chen et al.…”