Heterosexual Partner Sexual Violence: Identifying Women Victims Through Questions on Sexual Coercion

Abstract

Intimate partner sexual violence is a serious problem and difficult to detect, often due to beliefs, myths and gender stereotypes. This study analyzes whether women identify this violence better through direct questions about sexual coercion, using the Semi-structured Interview for the Exploration of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (EVS), which examines the characteristics and circumstances of these situations. A total of 110 women participated, divided into two groups: 80 who sought help at a center for victims of intimate partner violence and have therefore overcome common barriers to asking for help, and 30 who attended a counseling center during divorce proceedings, without having reported any form of violence. The results show that, among the women who sought help at a center for intimate partner violence and recognized having suffered sexual coercion in the EVS interview, half had already previously identified sexual violence, generally linked to physical assault, hitting furniture or shouting. The other half only identified sexual violence after being asked directly if they had been sexually coerced by their partner. In these cases, the types of coercion were threats or blackmail, without physical aggression. In the group of women in the process of divorce, one-third acknowledged having been also forced into sexual activities through subtle coercion, without physical violence. All women explicitly rejected forced sexual activities, but some participated passively or actively under duress, leading them to doubt whether these experiences were considered sexual violence. The study concludes that many women only acknowledge sexual violence when asked directly if they were forced by their partner, given that coercion without explicit aggression and participation under pressure make it difficult to identify it as violence. These findings underline the importance of asking specific questions to detect sexual violence, especially when coercion is not evident.