Beyond Just Gender: Diverse Women’s Experiences and Outcomes Associated with the Receipt of Unsolicited Genital Images - Amanda Champion, Flora Oswald, Shelby Hughes, & Cory L. Pedersen

 

Existing research on technology-facilitated sexualized violence (TFSV) and unsolicited genital images in particular tends to focus on gender as an analytic category, including examining differences in experiences between men and women or focusing on women as a group. We examined heterogeneity among women in risk of receiving unsolicited genital images, as well as in responses and reactions to such images. Through a TFSV- and intersectional-informed lens, we developed and piloted a measure to better assess women’s experiences with receiving unsolicited genital images (Study 1; N = 96) and then used this measure to examine heterogeneity in women’s experiences with regard to race, sexual orientation, age, and feminist identity (Study 2; N = 1245). Across both studies, data was collected between January 2019 and September 2020.We found that women’s risk of being subject to unsolicited genital images varied depending on individual characteristics, with risk heightened for younger women, White women with less salient feminist identities, and women higher in erotophilia. Using a data-driven approach, we created and compared clusters of women to examine heterogeneity in reactions and responses; these clusters highlighted how sexual orientation- and race-based disparities are reinscribed through image-based sexual violence.

We interpret our findings as being in conversation with additional work on the need for a more intersectional approach to TFSV which situates this form of violence in broader discourses surrounding sexism, racism, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression. We hope that our work can stimulate ongoing organizational and policy change to intervene upon the sending of unsolicited genital images and ensure that this form of TFSV is not trivialized.

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Article published in Sexuality Research & Social Policy, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-024-01002-6