Pitfalls in measurement of sexual coercion: what are we measuring and why?

Coercion implies a mismatch in intentions/desires: one person desires sex, but the potential partner does not. Coerced sex is sex that occurs despite the mismatch, the reluctant partner having been physically or verbally pressured into the act. This paper examines reports of pressured sex obtained in interviews with young unmarried men and women in Mexico City. Very few young people define themselves as having been coerced, but many report having been pressured into sex. The latter group might be defined by the researcher as having been coerced, even if they themselves do not define themselves in this way. These mismatches are likely to be more extreme when examining men's experiences, compared with women's. Definitions of coercion vary between individuals and societies, and definitions of a single event may change over time, depending upon prior and subsequent events. Measurement of the extent of coercion in a population is dependent on its existence as a stable theoretical object, which can be assessed from reports. This paper shows that not only is the concept of coercion unstable, but reporting is likely to be inconsistent between men and women. Both men and women report pressure, but their reports differ systematically. They tend to construct their experiences in their narratives as having been close to the socially expected version: for men this is where they enjoy sex and are in control, for women this is where they are in a loving and lasting relationship.