Compulsory Sexuality?

Abstract

Whether it is through the childhood sexual abuse recovery literature, therapeutic and psychological literature, the popular imagination, or any of a wide variety of other cultural texts, we are led to believe that sexual abuse in childhood is likely to have a negative impact on adult sexuality. In the context of adult sexuality, there are some who argue that not all those who were sexually abused as children will be traumatised by it (McMillen et al 1995, Rind and Tromovitch 1997), but the dominant view is one of sexual dysfunction, albeit defined in different ways. Adult victims of childhood sexual abuse are said to frequently report sexual unhappiness (Bartoi and Kinder 1998, Jackson et al 1990), to feel shame or guilt about how they respond sexually and have difficulty trusting sexual partners, and in the case of women to often engage in sexually risky behaviours through which they might be exposed to sexually transmitted infections and sexual assaults. Much of this discussion is conducted within a discourse of sexual rights and sexual entitlement within which abuse victims are encouraged to claim their rights to sexual pleasure and satisfaction.

I just had a problem with sex and I didn’t know where it came from

(Beccy)