Shaping Sexual Behaviors & Sexual Scripts
There is a No that means Yes! – Coercive and aggressive sexual behaviours in adolescents’ heterosexual relationships in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Open Access: No.
Abstract
This qualitative study examined sexual negotiation in heterosexual romantic relationships of rural adolescents in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Participatory visual research methodology alongside focus group discussions were employed with 18 and 19-year-old adolescent boys (n = 10) and girls (n = 12) to understand how sex is negotiated in heterosexual relationships. Findings suggest adolescent boys and girls had little understanding of mutual sexual consent, and lacked the skills for exercising it. Adolescent boys’ coercive and aggressive sexual behaviours in romantic relationships were embedded in hegemonic masculinity characterized by male dominance, hypersexuality and multiple partners; and included boys pleading for sex, buying gifts, threatening to dissolve the relationship if sex is not initiated, screening pornographic films and rape. Sexual violence prevention strategies commencing during early adolescence are needed and should focus on developing adolescents’ understanding of mutual sexual consent, incorporate skills for autonomous sexual negotiation, and emphasize gender transformative and equitable norms.
Relevance
For young Zulu men in South Africa, masculinity is often associated with multiple concurrent female partners. thus, “boys experience tremendous pressure to have sex with female partners. In the young man’s mind, this requires that he dominates sexual negotiation processes while the girl takes a subordinate role. South African research illustrates that in settings where male dominance is normalized and men are expected to initiate sex and dictate when and how it takes places, there may be little partner communication about sexual consent, the sexual act itself, or mutual pleasure.” As a result, as reported by adolescents, “male sexual coercive behaviours are widespread in their heterosexual relationships and included boys pleading for sex, buying gifts, threatening to dissolve the relationship if sex is not initiated and screening pornographic films.” Furthermore, “coerced or forced sexual encounters were often condomless.”
Citation
Mfeka-Nkabinde, N. G., Moletsane, R., & Voce, A. (2023). ‘There is a No that means Yes!’ – Coercive and aggressive sexual behaviours in adolescents’ heterosexual relationships in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2023.2297572
