What are we studying?

Please note that the data-collection / participant involvement phase of this project is now over.

The findings from this research project are now available.

Read the Executive Summary

Read the complete Project Report

 

This British Academy/ Leverhulme funded study seeks to explore, give a voice to, and understand the experiences of men in the UK who have been ‘forced-to-penetrate’ women. This phrase forced-to-penetrate is one which includes any and all cases where a man engages in penile penetration of a woman without the man’s consent. This could include non-consensual penile penetration of a woman’s vagina, mouth or anus.

Examples of such circumstances could include, but are in no means limited to:

• A man waking up to find a woman having sex with him without his consent.
• A man being forced to have non-consensual sex with a woman as a result of her blackmailing him.
• A man having non-consensual sex with a woman after being physically, emotionally, or financially threatened.

Whilst there is a wealth of research regarding women’s non-consensual sexual experiences with men, and a growing body of research in relation to men’s non-consensual sexual experiences with other men, there is no research involving interviews with men who are forced-to-penetrate women within the UK.

This study will involve men being interviewed either face-to-face, via Skype, or by telephone regarding their forced- to-penetrate experience(s). The findings of this research will enable a greater understanding of this form of sexual violence and will help to develop practice and policy in this area, as well as in relation to the broader category of men who experience sexual violence.