Violence
Sexual Victimization in Adulthood and Associated Factors Among Men and Women: Cross‑Sectional Evidence from Mainland China
Open Access: No.
Abstract
Limited empirical research addresses sexual victimization and related factors among the general adult population in China. To address this gap, we explored the association between sexual victimization in adulthood and associated factors (unwanted sexual experiences [USE] before age 18, binge drinking prior to sex, hooking up, violent pornography use, awareness and perceived behavioral control of consent, and sexual refusal assertiveness) among a convenience Chinese sample. A cross-sectional study was performed in September 2020 among 898 screened men and women from 29 provinces in mainland China. Overall, 52.5% of men and 57.9% of women experienced sexual victimization at least once in adulthood. Men and women differed in the severity of sexual victimization in adulthood, with the mean severity scores of women being significantly higher than those of men. Hierarchical ordinal logistic regression revealed that, after considering control variables, correlates of severity of sexual victimization in adulthood included gender (OR 3.17, 95% CI 2.30-4.40), severity of USE before age 18 (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.92-2.73), binge drinking prior to sex (OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.83-3.49), hook-up history (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.49-3.39), violent pornography use (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.04-1.09), lack of perceived behavioral control of communicating consent (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07), and sexual refusal assertiveness (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.89-0.95). These findings indicate that early adverse sexual experiences, potential risky sexual behaviors, violent pornography use, and beliefs about consent and refusal may play an important role in predicting sexual victimization among Chinese adults.
Relevance
Violent pornography use “was a correlate for both men and women” in sexual victimization.
For women, this correlation may arise because women exposed to pornography and violent pornography are more likely to accept rape myths, endorse traditional gender roles, and “have delayed behavioral responses to a sexually risky situation.” For men, it may arise from the dominant form of masculinity in which men are unable to say no to sex, and refusing sex is unmanly.
Citation
Shi, X., & Zheng, Y. (2022). Sexual Victimization in Adulthood and Associated Factors Among Men and Women: Cross-Sectional Evidence from Mainland China. Archives of sexual behavior, 51(2), 1001–1017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02257-5
