Stark differences in how young women and men view sex, and what they think will improve behaviour towards women, have been revealed in a landmark report on gender-based violence.
The two-year study conducted by the Young Women’s Alliance (YWA), a not-for-profit research and advocacy group, surveyed 3,300 young Australians aged 18 to 28, about their attitudes towards sex and relationships.
The results show one in five women experience gender and relationship distress, while nine in 10 view sexual assault as “inevitable”.
Ninety per cent of women see sexual violence as inevitable, according to a Young Women’s Alliance report. Source: SBS News
YWA founder Rizina Yadav, who commissioned the report, says it reveals a “crisis” of gender-based violence in Australia and is calling for more strategic action to address it.
“Initial iterations of consent programs aren’t working as well as intended, or aren’t translating into behavioural changes,” she told SBS News.
“We essentially have a culture where [sexual assault] is viewed as something that will happen.”
Despite perceptions of young people as progressive, Yadav says there are significant divisions in the attitudes of young women and men across sex, consent, relationship norms and gender-based violence.
Men view sex as power
One significant finding is the difference in how men and women view sex.
“For young men in Australia, there’s general agreement that sex is about power,” Yadav says.
When asked to rate their agreement with the statement “sex is about power” on a scale from zero to 10, men reported an average score of 5.5, suggesting broad agreement.
A score of zero is described as “strongly disagree” while 10 is “strongly agree”. Comparatively, women had an average score of 2.6, which suggests disagreement.
For young men in Australia, there’s general agreement that sex is about power.
Rizina Yadav, Young Women’s Alliance
In addition to a survey, YWA collected views through long-form interviews with 300 young women and men, and via online and in-person events that attracted 12,000 attendees.
In explaining their views on sex, men reported being influenced by how their friends talked about relationships and representations in porn, says Yadav.
“The narrative is that sex is something that occurs for men’s pleasure; the woman is sort of just there and it’s not a mutual experience premised on connection,” she says.
The interviews also show that young men view sex as something they need to “tick off” in order to enter manhood, and that they struggle to establish a sense of purpose.
Yadav explains that this is partly influenced by the swift cultural change around traditional roles and economic instability, which can lead to a desire to assert power in their relationships.
“We’ve had this thing called ‘waithood’ where young people are waiting a lot longer to go through the markers of adulthood, like buying a house, acquiring a degree, being financially stable [and] getting partnered up,” Yadav says.
“Without those traditional status-conferring items, young men are also feeling the desire or the push to get status through the private sphere.
“Having sex — in the context of power relations — is a way to then access that.”
Women think about sex differently
In contrast, women did not agree that sex was about power, and were more likely than men to experience pain during sex.
“Women reported viewing sex as being this mutually connected experience — there is physical intimacy but there’s also emotional intimacy,” Yadav says.
“They’re construing the intent of sexual activity differently.”
Women reported being influenced by visual representations of sex that depict women as submissive or passive.
Yadav says the contrast in perspectives between men and women may have significant implications for gender-based violence, particularly in heterosexual partnerships.
“Intimate relationships are the cornerstone of full and equal participation in society, and sex is a big part of that,” she says.
There’s a difference in how men and women view sex. Source: Getty / Maria Korneeva
Relationships defined by traditional gender roles, including examples where women are not able to be sexually assertive or experience pleasure, are associated with higher rates of gender-based violence, YWA’s research shows.
Other negative correlations for women include lower levels of education, not pursuing promotions, diminished ambition, lower earning capacity and higher burdens of unpaid care work.
“I think the consequences are really severe,” says Yadav.
Women were also less happy than men with the education they received on consent.
How men think about gender-based violence prevention
The survey offers a telling insight into men’s perceived solutions to gender-based violence.
When asked what would be most effective in improving their views and behaviour towards women, men pointed to one factor in particular: “Finding a way to feel better about myself and my role in society; having more life purpose.”
This was the highest-rated solution by men (scoring an average of 8.2 out of 10) and even more so among men who reported having been perpetrators of gender-based violence (8.9 out of 10).
Yadav believes this point has not been well understood previously.
“I think this is a new insight that really goes into … why are men doing this?”
I think this is a new insight that really goes into … why are men doing this?
Rizina Yadav, Young Women’s Alliance
She says past research has focused on the influence of patriarchal gender norms, which have encouraged a sense of entitlement among men.
But she pointed to the , where countries with higher gender equality still report high levels of gender-based violence.
“I think what men are telling us perhaps gives us a bit more insight into the root of this behaviour,” she says.
“This really goes to that fundamental human desire that people have to feel appreciated, validated [and] like they have power and purpose.
“We are trying to apply that lens of understanding, rather than being antagonistic or inducing shame — why is it and what drives it.”
In contrast, women thought harsher consequences for gender-based violence were the best preventative measure.
The second most popular response from women was to introduce workshops about respectful behaviour for young men.
Concerning gap between what women want — and what they have
The disconnect between the sexes is also highlighted in women’s views on prospective partners.
Women reported a strong desire to date men with feminist views but most were not actually doing that.
“That’s quite a concerning and indicative gap of what young women want, what they’re envisioning for their lives and their partnerships, and then what is actually available to them,” Yadav says.
Research suggests young women want to move away from traditional gender roles. Source: Getty / Uwe Krejci
The research suggested young women want to move away from traditional gender norms, and dating a man with feminist views is also correlated with lower levels of gender-based violence.
While the report did not offer a definitive explanation as to why young Australian women are not dating men with feminist views, Yadav says availability is a likely factor.
“This shows that within a crucial aspect of young adult life — intimate relationships — they aren’t actually practising [their values].”
Need for targeted education for young people
The report, launched on Wednesday by YWA, challenges more established methods to address violence against women and children, adding to criticisms of the federal government’s , which promotes the use of general messages around violence against women.
She says the YWA study instead supports customised measures for young people at different stages of development, including challenging the views of friends, which can be very influential at certain ages.
“We know that these GBV (gender-based violence) tendencies start around age 12 — at the same time, peer group views begin to enable GBV.
“At that point in time, we need interventions that introduce what GBV is [and] its negative consequences.”
Once attitudes about gender are formed, they tend to influence recurring patterns in relationships, she said.
“We need to promote, perhaps through the educational system, psychological values like wisdom, courage, temperance,” she said, adding these attributes were negatively associated with gender-based violence.
The report also recommends funding Designing Your Life courses — developed by Stanford University — which Yadav says could help young men think more constructively about their identity and how they can access power and purpose without subjugating someone in an intimate relationship.
Yadav says research is showing young people hold views that are sometimes more conservative than older generations.
The report also notes that 51 per cent of women born between 1989 and 1995 had reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime, compared to 34 per cent of those born between 1973 and 1978, and 26 per cent of those born between 1946 and 1951.
“Current approaches aren’t effective and we need to be more strategic and targeted.”
