Archives of Sexual Behavior最新文献

Virginity is a social construct with no medical or scientific value. Although some people believe an intact hymen is proof of virginity, this belief has not been confirmed using forensic evidence. Despite these facts, in many places in the world women’s sexuality is controlled via virginity testing and hymen (re)constructions. These practices are on the rise globally, including in Sweden. Voicing the viewpoints of racialised women are rare. Using a gender perspective, this study analysed how young women living in Sweden who experience patriarchal chastity norms construct and understand virginity and what conditions, actions, and consequences follow when virginity is highly valued. A total of 14 young women originating from countries in the Middle East, East Africa, and Sweden were interviewed. This study uses constructive grounded theory to explore concepts such as oppression, inequality, and injustice. The category Unequal sexual conditions for women compared with men describes why virginity is understood as a troublesome condition for women. The category The making and faking of a virgin presents various ways women’s sexuality is controlled in cultural and medical contexts. The consequences of the intrusions of medicine and the roles physicians play are included in the category Surgical interventions in gendered bodies. The emergent core category, Intersecting dimensions of honor cultures, (un)medical power, and gender injustice sustain the norms of virginity, explains how the epistemologies of ignorance are connected to virginity and the hymen. Unscientific discourses about virginity testing and the hymen (re)construction must be challenged if we intend to stop these harmful practices.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 has led to drastic changes in the social distancing awareness of Ukrainians and affected their social relationships. Due to the large-scale international conflict, fear of death and social distancing arose from the perception of external dangers caused by Russian army attacks, leading to the anticipation that sexual activities would be severely impacted. However, retrospective self-report studies on Ukrainians' pornography consumption and autoeroticism during this war are sorely lacking. This study used big-data databases available on the Internet to investigate factors that affected pornography use during the Russia–Ukraine War. Weekly relative search volume (WRSV) data from Google Trends from January 2, 2022 to July 31, 2022, were extracted. Pornography habits data were extracted from the Pornhub Insights website. The parameter was defined as “Ukraine's most searched-for terms in 2022 compared to an average day in 2021.” A cumulative number of civilian deaths in Ukraine during Russia's invasion (listed by week) was obtained from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website (ohchr.org). The normality of the data was examined using the Shapiro–Wilk test. All variables included in this study were normally distributed. Therefore, parametric tests were adopted where appropriate. According to Google Trends, the WRSV for “pornography” increased in early March 2022 for the Ukrainian people, which is close to the date when Russia invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War on February 24, 2022. The number of weekly civilian war deaths was positively correlated with the traffic of Pornhub, a popular pornography website in Ukraine, and the WRSV for “pornography.” Mediation analysis demonstrated that a stronger Russian–pornography use association was observed with increased social distancing awareness. Increased Ukrainian pornography consumption during the 2022 invasion was observed, and it was associated with the severity of the Russian army attacks. Social distancing awareness could be a key factor influencing interest in and use of pornography for the Ukrainians. Further studies on changes in sexual desire and birth rate control in Ukraine are warranted, as long-term public health may be affected by shifts in sexual behavior during the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Amid the global turmoil triggered by pandemic uncertainty, a dramatic shift unfolded in digital behaviors as people turned to online platforms for escapism and intimacy. One striking manifestation of this trend was the surge in online pornography consumption, revealing complex intersections between psychological stress, social isolation, and digital coping mechanisms. This study investigated how pandemic uncertainty influenced online pornography consumption across ten emerging and digitally active economies—Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam. Unlike earlier studies centered solely on COVID-19, this research employed a broader pandemic uncertainty index encompassing multiple outbreaks, including Ebola, SARS, avian flu, MERS, COVID-19, and others. Departing from conventional panel data instruments that may overlook country-specific dynamics, it applied the Quantile-on-Quantile tool to enable a more granular and context-sensitive analysis. The results revealed that pandemic uncertainty generally drives higher online pornography consumption in most selected countries, though Indonesia and Malaysia exhibited mixed trends. These findings underscore the need for policymakers to proactively monitor shifts in pandemic uncertainty and digital behavior to formulate effective, adaptive responses.

Sexual harm within nightlife settings is a public health concern. This study aims to investigate the nature and prevalence of sexual harm experienced by Australian nightlife patrons and examine sociodemographic and environmental factors associated with sexual harm. Street interviews were conducted with patrons (N = 232, 51.3% women) in one night-time entertainment precinct in Victoria, Australia. Logistic regression analyses examined individual (e.g., pre-drinking) and venue-level (e.g., lighting) predictors of sexual harm on the night of interview. In the past three months, over half (56.6%) of women and nearly one third (31.7%) of men reported experiencing nightlife-related sexual harm. Sexual harm most frequently occurred on the dancefloor, with the most common types of harm experienced on the night of the interview and in the past three months being unsolicited sexual comments, leering, and groping. Regression analyses indicated that participants who had experienced nightlife-related sexual harm in the past three months were more likely to experience sexual harm on the night of the interview (OR 6.12), while those who visited venues with brighter lighting (self-rated) were less likely to experience sexual harm (OR 0.73). The findings suggest that sexual harm is highly prevalent in Australian nightlife settings. To reduce nightlife-related sexual harm, future interventions should consider venue lighting levels and incorporate a more substantial security presence in high-risk areas.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been demonstrated to be highly effective for improving sexual desire and reducing sex-related distress among women with sexual interest/arousal disorder (SIAD). The extent to which MBCT efficacy is impacted by relationship factors has not been studied to date and has implications for recommending MBCT to individual treatment seekers based upon their particular relationship characteristics. The goal of this study was to examine relationship status, relationship duration, self-reported relationship closeness, and relationship satisfaction as moderators of MBCT outcomes on sexual desire and sexual distress in 70 women with SIAD (Mean age 39.3 years). Multilevel modeling examined the effects of these four moderators on outcomes at immediate posttreatment, and 6- and 12-month follow-up. Women who were single, those who self-reported not being emotionally close in their relationship, and those who had lower relationship satisfaction scores had significantly greater improvements in sexual desire after MBCT (d ranging from 0.49 to 0.99), and there was no effect of these relationship variables on sex-related distress. Years in relationship did not moderate either outcome. These preliminary findings suggest that single and relationally dissatisfied partnered women may benefit more from MBCT in terms of improvements to sexual desire compared to partnered and relationally satisfied women with SIAD.