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“Come on Baby. You Know I Love You”: African American Women’s Experiences of Communication with Male Partners and Disclosure in the Context of Unwanted Sex

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Abstract

We examined African American women’s experiences of communication with their male intimate partners a couple of hours before and after an incident of unwanted sex. We also examined women’s experiences of disclosure following an incident of unwanted sex. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a community-based sample of sexually active African American women (n = 19) reporting at least one incident of sexual coercion (i.e., being pressured into unwanted sex without consent) by an intimate male partner since the age of 18. Our analysis was guided by “the sexual division of power” from Connell’s (1987) theory of gender and power. Data were analyzed inductively by examining the interviews for common themes in the following domains: communication before the unwanted sex, communication after the unwanted sex, and disclosure to others. Men pressured partners for unwanted sex through verbal and non-verbal tactics, ranging from pestering and blunt requests for sex to verbal bullying and violence. Many women responded by clearly saying no. However, many women also described eventually ceasing to resist their partners and engaging in unwanted sex. After the unwanted sex, men actively and passively avoided discussing the incident. Although many women discussed the unwanted sex with family and friends, less women disclosed to trained professionals. In some cases, women did not discuss the incident with anyone at all. These findings indicate that, when addressing sexual violence against women, there is a need to target men as well as the norms of masculinity that underpin physical and sexual violence against women.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of study participants and study staff to this research. This study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant #R25MH080665 and Grant #R25MH080664), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant #K01DA031593), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (Grant #L60MD003701), and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant #R01HD077891). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Kyle Gutzmer

  2. Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Kyle Gutzmer

  3. Division of Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0507, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0507, USA

    Natasha T. Ludwig-Barron & Jamila K. Stockman

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Gail E. Wyatt & Alison B. Hamilton

  5. VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Alison B. Hamilton

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  1. Kyle Gutzmer
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  2. Natasha T. Ludwig-Barron
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  4. Alison B. Hamilton
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  5. Jamila K. Stockman
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Correspondence to Jamila K. Stockman.

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Gutzmer, K., Ludwig-Barron, N.T., Wyatt, G.E. et al. “Come on Baby. You Know I Love You”: African American Women’s Experiences of Communication with Male Partners and Disclosure in the Context of Unwanted Sex. Arch Sex Behav 45, 807–819 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0688-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0688-9

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