From Coercion to Physical Force: Aggressive Strategies Used by Women Against Men in “Forced-to-Penetrate” Cases in the UK

Abstract

“Forced-to-penetrate” cases involve a man being forced-to-penetrate, with his penis and without his consent, a woman’s vagina, anus, or mouth. This article presents the first quantitative and qualitative research findings regarding such cases in the UK, exploring aggressive strategies used by women, as reported by 154 men who experienced them. The most frequently used strategies include coercion, taking advantage of men’s intoxication, and the use of force and threats of physical harm. Novel evidence is presented of women combining multiple strategies within the same incident. The article also argues that some of the strategies used by women are particularly “gendered,” with them taking advantage of their roles as women. The findings presented here raise questions for criminal justice professionals working in the area of sexual violence, as well as highlighting the need for future research.

Predictors of Female Sexual Aggression Among a U.S. MTurk Sample: The Protective Role of Sexual Assertiveness

“…These effects were highest in men who reported rape, but occurred also in men exposed to less severe types of sexual aggression. The recent pioneering work by Weare (2018) of the UK illuminated how women used a range of tactics to have forced penile penetration with reluctant men, often to devastating emotional effects on the male target. As Stemple et al (2017) argued, we need to recognize and treat with empathy those who are victimized by women, less they be doubly harmed (p. 309).…”

“…Another obstacle to research on sexually aggressive women was the stereotype that women are too sexually “uninterested” or passive to pressure or force a man into sex. This belief underlies the entrenched traditional sexual script (TSS) that prescribes that women serve as “gatekeepers” to the sexual advances of men (Beres et al, 2019; Fisher & Pina, 2013; LaPlant et al, 1980; Weare, 2018). Adding to this perception of women as sexually passive was the stereotype that women are incapable of inflicting the type of physical force or harm that can take place during a sexual assault (Struckman-Johnson & Anderson, 1998).…”

Sexual Violence as a Form of Abuse in Men’s Experiences of Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence

“…Study 2 (see Weare, 2018aWeare, , 2018b focused on male participants' most recent experience of being FTP a woman. The term FTP is used here to describe a man being FTP, with his penis and without his consent, a woman's vagina, anus, or mouth.…”

“…Although men's experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) within heterosexual relationships have been considered (e.g., see Archer, 2000;Hines et al, 2007), the scope of this research is much more limited, with very little attention given to men's experiences of sexual violence within this context. This article adds to the research on men's experiences of IPV perpetrated by women by bringing together and analyzing data gathered from two empirical studies in the United Kingdom-one exploring men's experiences of being forced-topenetrate (FTP) women (Weare, 2018a(Weare, , 2018b and another investigating men's experiences of female-perpetrated IPV (Bates, 2019b(Bates, , 2019c. Drawing upon and analyzing the data from these studies, this article explores links between sexual violence and other forms of abuse experienced by men in heterosexual IPV relationships.…”

Female Sex Offenders in Ireland: Examining the Response of the Criminal Justice System

“…Thus, for the most part, women who commit penetrative sexual offenses can be appropriately punished and their behavior will be properly labeled. Unfortunately, however, this offense does not cover “forced-to-penetrate” cases where a man is “forced to penetrate, with his penis, a female perpetrator, either orally, vaginally, or anally” (Weare, 2017, p. 1). Weare has highlighted this gap in English sexual offenses law, arguing for reform so that the law appropriately recognizes these experiences as rape (Weare, 2017, p. 15).…”