Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons
Estimates of the incidence of sexual coercion in men’s prisons are notoriously variable and fraught with conceptual and methodological problems. In 2006–2007, we conducted a computer-assisted telephone survey of a random sample of 2,018 male prisoners in New South Wales and Queensland. Of 2,626 elig...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Springer New York LLC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34380 |
| _version_ | 1848754206871126016 |
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| author | Richters, J. Butler, Tony Schneider, K. Yap, L. Kirkwood, K. Grant, L. Richards, A. Smith, A. Donovan, B. |
| author_facet | Richters, J. Butler, Tony Schneider, K. Yap, L. Kirkwood, K. Grant, L. Richards, A. Smith, A. Donovan, B. |
| author_sort | Richters, J. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Estimates of the incidence of sexual coercion in men’s prisons are notoriously variable and fraught with conceptual and methodological problems. In 2006–2007, we conducted a computer-assisted telephone survey of a random sample of 2,018 male prisoners in New South Wales and Queensland. Of 2,626 eligible and available inmates, 76.8% consented and provided full responses. We asked about time in prison, sexual experience, attraction and (homo/bi/heterosexual) identity, attitudes, sexual contact with other inmates, reasons for having sex and practices engaged in, and about sexual coercion, including location and number of perpetrators. Most men (95.1%) identified as heterosexual. Of the total sample, 13.5% reported sexual contact with males in their lifetime: 7.8% only outside prison, 2.8% both inside and outside, and 2.7% only inside prison. Later in the interview, 144 men (7.1% of total sample) reported sexual contact with inmates in prison; the majority had few partners and no anal intercourse. Most did so for pleasure, but some for protection, i.e., to avoid assault by someone else. Before incarceration, 32.9% feared sexual assault in prison; 6.9% had been sexually threatened in prison and 2.6% had been sexually coerced (‘‘forced or frightened into doing something sexually that [they] did not want’’). Some of those coerced reported no same-sex contact. The majority of prisoners were intolerant of male-to-male sexual activity. The study achieved a high response rate and asked detailed questions to elicit reports of coercion and sex separately. Both consensual sex and sexual assault are less common than is generally believed. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:36:44Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-34380 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:36:44Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Springer New York LLC |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-343802017-09-13T16:08:57Z Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons Richters, J. Butler, Tony Schneider, K. Yap, L. Kirkwood, K. Grant, L. Richards, A. Smith, A. Donovan, B. prisons sexual behavior sex survey methodology male homosexuality Australia sexual assault Estimates of the incidence of sexual coercion in men’s prisons are notoriously variable and fraught with conceptual and methodological problems. In 2006–2007, we conducted a computer-assisted telephone survey of a random sample of 2,018 male prisoners in New South Wales and Queensland. Of 2,626 eligible and available inmates, 76.8% consented and provided full responses. We asked about time in prison, sexual experience, attraction and (homo/bi/heterosexual) identity, attitudes, sexual contact with other inmates, reasons for having sex and practices engaged in, and about sexual coercion, including location and number of perpetrators. Most men (95.1%) identified as heterosexual. Of the total sample, 13.5% reported sexual contact with males in their lifetime: 7.8% only outside prison, 2.8% both inside and outside, and 2.7% only inside prison. Later in the interview, 144 men (7.1% of total sample) reported sexual contact with inmates in prison; the majority had few partners and no anal intercourse. Most did so for pleasure, but some for protection, i.e., to avoid assault by someone else. Before incarceration, 32.9% feared sexual assault in prison; 6.9% had been sexually threatened in prison and 2.6% had been sexually coerced (‘‘forced or frightened into doing something sexually that [they] did not want’’). Some of those coerced reported no same-sex contact. The majority of prisoners were intolerant of male-to-male sexual activity. The study achieved a high response rate and asked detailed questions to elicit reports of coercion and sex separately. Both consensual sex and sexual assault are less common than is generally believed. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34380 10.1007/s10508-010-9667-3 Springer New York LLC restricted |
| spellingShingle | prisons sexual behavior sex survey methodology male homosexuality Australia sexual assault Richters, J. Butler, Tony Schneider, K. Yap, L. Kirkwood, K. Grant, L. Richards, A. Smith, A. Donovan, B. Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons |
| title | Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons |
| title_full | Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons |
| title_fullStr | Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons |
| title_short | Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons |
| title_sort | consensual sex between men and sexual violence in australian prisons |
| topic | prisons sexual behavior sex survey methodology male homosexuality Australia sexual assault |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34380 |