Sexual assault in social settings can take many different forms

Perhaps you or someone you know has experienced it – a night involving alcohol that went terribly wrong and resulted in sexual assault.

Researchers from the research institute NOVA at OsloMet and the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies have examined the extent of these kinds of assaults at parties among young people and how they happen (see fact box).

Research Professor Kari Stefansen describes her surprise when reading through young people’s descriptions of their own experiences with assault.

“In previous studies of sexual assault occurring at parties, researchers have often emphasised that these kinds of assaults take place in a planned and calculated manner; one example is when someone deliberately gets their victim very drunk. Many of the young people in our study described completely different and less clear-cut situations,” she explains.

OsloMet researcher Kari Stefansen. Photo: StudioVest / NOVA

Based on these descriptions, researchers found three different ways in which sexual assault can occur at parties: 1) Situations in the grey area; 2) situations where one person takes the initiative; and 3) situations involving clear manipulation, force, or violence.

1. The grey area

These are assaults that can take place when both people are very drunk and no one really has control over the situation. For example, this can occur when the party gets out of control. In this scenario, it is not because anyone wants to or has planned to do it, but because one thing lead to another.

As one young male writes: “Well, I wouldn’t really say I was taken advantage of—we both regretted it. But then again, I was way too drunk, so I couldn’t object.”

“This is an example of the grey area between rape and consensual sex. Young people describe the situation without a clear assaulter, but it is nonetheless clear that one of the parties feels they have been taken advantage of,” says Stefansen.

Well, I wouldn’t really say I was taken advantage of- we both regretted it. But then again, I was way too drunk, so I couldn’t object. – Male informant

Stefansen and her colleagues found situations like these to be the most surprising.

“We're not used to thinking about assault without an assaulter. Someone has to be responsible for what happened.”

2. One person takes the initiative

In the second scenario, it is still a bit unclear with what has actually happened, but it is clearer in these types of situations that one person takes the initiative. The other is often more or less in a state of intoxication.

As one girl explains: “I was too drunk to say no. He took that as a ‘yes’.”

“In some situations, our bodies can be ‘in on it’ and react like you want to have sex with the other person, but it is nonetheless not a fully-present state of awareness and does not mean that you consented to sex,” explains Stefansen.

I was too drunk to say no. He took that as a “yes”. – Young female

Stefansen points out that both of the first two scenarios have the same dynamics.

“In both cases, the situation gets out of control.”

3. Assault involving clear manipulation, force, or violence

The third scenario is entirely different from the previous two. Here, someone either gets a person drunk and assaults them when they are so drunk that they have either thrown up or are unable to talk or move normally, or someone physically forces someone into having sex.

One young female describes such an assault: “I was extremely drunk and could hardly speak, and I’d also just thrown up. Then he started to shag me. [I] was in my underwear in my friend’s bed since I’d gone to bed. He locked the door when the others tried to get in. Don’t remember much; this is what I’ve been told.”

“In these situations, it is very clearly a matter of sexual assault, which, in many cases, will mean rape in the legal sense,” says Stefansen.

I was in my underwear in my friend’s bed since I’d gone to bed. He locked the door when the others tried to get in. – Young female

Most of the descriptions in this category involved exploitation and manipulation, as opposed to out-and-out violence.

Clear gender differences

Researchers in this study noticed clear gender differences in young people’s descriptions of sexual assault at parties.

The girls describe situations that fall under all three scenarios. The majority of the girls’ experiences are situations where someone else is the initiator.

Among the boys, however, most describe situations in the grey area—chaotic situations where it is unclear what has actually happened. The boys do not describe the third scenario of assault involving manipulation, force, or violence.

This is clearly a gendered form of sexual violence, where boys take advantage of the situation and force themselves onto the other person. – Researcher Kari Stefansen

“One of the most important gender differences is that it is only the girls who describe this kind of assault. This is clearly a gendered form of sexual violence in situations where there is absolutely no doubt that that is what's happening, where boys take advantage of the situation and force themselves onto the other person,” explains Stefansen.

“This form of assault is probably related to a problematic understanding of male sexuality, whereby men have some kind of right to take advantage of women’s bodies.”

Boys do not describe themselves as victims

Another gendered difference is that boys find it difficult to describe themselves as victims in the situation.

“The boys described themselves as victims of a strong masculine sex drive. Without it, they would have managed to get away from the girls who took advantage of them, even though they were very drunk when it happened.”

“The girls were, in fact, not someone they would otherwise have voluntarily had sex with.”

“To make this clear, they sometimes described the girls using degrading terms, for example by saying they'd been wearing ‘beer goggles.’ We have understood this as a kind of overcompensation in a situation where their masculinity has been threatened.”

How to prevent sexual assault at parties

Stefansen says that much of the information aimed at young people is about why sexual assault occurs at parties and how to protect yourself from people who are manipulative or particularly insistent when drinking.

“However, I think it could also be wise to emphasise how these assault situations play out. Something that was not intended to violate someone’s boundaries or take advantage of them can still be an assault and have major consequences for the person affected.”

She hopes that this study can change how we talk about sexual assault at parties.

“Maybe this can help shift the focus away from how young people can protect themselves against sexual assault and assaulters and more towards how boys and girls must take care not to take advantage of someone,” Stefansen concludes.

Reference

Kari Stefansen, Lars Roar Frøyland & Carolina Overlien. Incapacitated sexual assault among youths: beyond the perpetrator tactics framework (tandfonline.com). Journal of Youth Studies.