Sexual coercion is among the subtlest forms of sexual violence in an intimate relationship and sometimes goes unnoticed by victims. The present study analyzed factors that potentially mitigate women’s negative perceptions of intimate partner sexual coercion (IPSC). A total of 427 women completed an online survey, in which they were shown vignettes illustrating a growing risk of sexual coercion according to the perpetrators’ use of different coercive tactics. Participants replied to questions that reflected their risk perception, their perceptions of perpetrator behavior, and the probability of their leaving the relationship. The survey also queried their previous IPSC experience, and their degree of acceptance of sexual aggression myths. According to the results, women exposed to positive (vs. negative) verbal sexual coercion (VSC) condition decided to leave the abusive situation later (risk response), presented a longer time lag between the moment they recognized the risk and the moment they responded to it, perceived the perpetrator’s behavior as more acceptable and excusable, and were less likely to leave the relationship. Finally, greater myth acceptance and previous IPSC experience predicted a lower probability of leaving the relationship, due to delayed risk responses and to perceiving the perpetrator’s behavior as more acceptable and excusable. This was true regardless of the type of coercive tactic used by the perpetrator. The results highlight the need to consider the type of coercive tactic, previous experience, and myths acceptance as risk factors that may impede a woman to adequately perceive and respond to an intimate partner’s sexual violence.

Transgressions occur frequently in romantic relationships, and how they are perceived is influenced by the type of transgression that occurred. By means of an experimental study of 399 participants (75.9% women and 24.1% men) aged 18 to 64 years old (Mage = 31.20, SD = 10.48), we examined the relationship between the type of sexual transgression (infidelity versus coercion), and perceived severity, strategies individuals would use in response to the transgression, and the probability they would leave the relationship, as well as levels of dependence and commitment. Results revealed higher perceived severity (p < .001, η2p = .24) and probability of leaving the relationship (p < .001, η2p = .39) in the infidelity scenario (versus coercion). Meanwhile, women (compared to men) rated sexual transgressions as more severe (p < .001, η2p = .04) and reported a higher probability of leaving the relationship (p < .001, η2p = .03), as well as a higher use of active conflict resolution strategies (exit, p = .048, η2p = .01, and voice, p < .001, η2p = .06) and lower use of passive strategies (loyalty, p < .001, η2p = .08). Finally, high levels of commitment and dependence predicted lower perceived severity (commitment, p < .001, 95% CI [–.72, –.20]; dependence, p < .001, 95% CI [–1.73, –.85]) and lower probability of leaving the relationship (commitment, p = .048, 95% CI [–.55, –.01]; dependence, p < .001, 95% CI [–1.66, –.73]) in coercion (versus infidelity) transgressions. These results highlight the normalization of sexual coercion in romantic relationships, which is not viewed as negatively as infidelity, and that commitment and dependence contribute to minimizing the negative impressions of it.

This study's focus is to evaluate a sexual coercion prevention program in adolescents. Using a beforeand- after design with both a treatment group (n = 93) and a control group (n = 76), an intervention of seven sessions was completed. Said sessions included such content as conceptualizing sexual freedom, sexual coercion and voluntary consent, analyzing different sexual coercion tactics and the contexts in which they occur, empathy toward the victim, and developing abilities to avoid risky situations. Other risk factors for coercive behavior and sexual victimization are explored as well, such as alcohol use, sexist attitudes and inadequate communication, among others. The intervention's results include a decrease in stereotypical beliefs about the opposite sex and increased empathy toward victims of sexual coercion. These changes were maintained with the passage of time. Also, in the treatment group, a more acute decline was observed in the proportion of young people engaging in sexually coercive behaviors. This article emphasizes the importance, necessity and efficacy of such interventions, and discusses and analyzes possible improvements to the program for its future implementation.

Psychological adaptation underlies all human behavior. Thus, sexual coercion by men could either arise from a rape-specific psychological adaptation or it could be a side-effect of a more general psychological adaptation not directly related to rape. Determining the specific environmental cues that men's brains have been designed by selection to process may help us decide which these rival explanations is correct. We examine six testable predictions against existing data: (1) Both coercive and noncoercive will be associated with high levels of sexual arousal and performance in men. (2) Achieving physical control of a sexually unwilling woman will be sexually arousing to men. (3) Young men will be more sexually coercive than older men. (4) Men of low socioeconomic status will likewise be more sexually coercive. (5) A man's motivation to use sexual coercion will be influenced by its effects on social image. (6) Even in long-term relationships men will be motivated to use coercion when their mates show a lack of interest in resistance to sex because these are interpreted as signs of sexual infidelity. Current data support all six predictions and are hence consistent with the rape-specific hypothesis, but this does not eliminate the side-effect hypothesis, which is likewise compatible with the findings, as well as with the further evidence that forced matings increased the fitness of ancestral males during human evolution. We suggest some research that may help decide between the two hypotheses.