Years ago, before the existence of a concrete term for “fake news” or “alternative facts,” former Representative Todd Akin was spreading some very dangerous rhetoric about the female body and sexual assault. Bust’s Amy Lacount reports the Republican saying, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Though he retracted his statements, this created a very problematic and false buzz around the concept of orgasm during sexual assault. So, we felt it necessary to set the record straight, once and for all. Arousal and/or orgasm during a sexual assault does happen in some cases. But it does not equal consent!
This is a very triggering subject for many. If you feel comfortable, we would like to hear your thoughts in the comments section.
Consent. The issue with consent is it’s not something physical. It’s not something you can hold, something you can touch. But it is, however, something that you know is present if it’s present, and something you know isn’t present if it’s not. Let’s first start with a baseline definition of consent.
Consent. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network or RAINN describes consent as the following, “consent is an agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity.” There is not just one form of consent. And what’s on the table for discussion today is the idea of arousal, the idea of even orgasm, and how that plays into consent in a situation where sexual assault has occurred.
Rape. Jenny Morber wrote a piece for Popular Science exploring the body’s reaction to rape, and why some people have feelings of arousal and even orgasm while being sexually assaulted. We just want to say, first and foremost, feelings of arousal or orgasm during sexual assault DO NOT constitute consent. No means no, no matter what.
Let go. According to Morber, “Some survivors surrender to protect themselves or their loved ones.” There can be numerous things that are at play. Alcohol, illicit substances, something that is physically stopping you or mentally stopping you, or someone who has power over you for whatever reason.
Statistics. You may have not heard about many instances of sexual assault that result in orgasm, but according to Morber, “of those who report their rapes, around 4-5% also describe experiencing orgasm. Butt he true numbers are likely much higher.” A clinician who was talked to for a 2004 review paper addressed this very subject, and says he’d met numerous victims who’d had this experience.
Clinician. According to the clinician, “I (have) met quite a lot of victims (males) who had the full sexual response during sexual abuse… I (have) met several female victims of incest and rape who had lubrication and orgasm.” The concept of arousal during sexual assault does not mean that you actually genuinely wanted this experience and just didn’t know. Let’s just crush that myth right now.
Mind. Some things you truly cannot control. And arousal during sexual assault is one of those things. According to Morber, “arousal during rape is an example of a physical response whether the mind’s on board of not, like breathing.” And to our understanding, Morber explains that we really don’t have much control over sexual arousal. It’s something our body controls almost organically.
Control. According to Morber, “our control over sexual arousal is no better than our control over the dilation of our pupils or how much we sweat. The presence of sexual arousal during rape is about as relevant to consent as any of these other responses.”
Intertwined. It’s completely understandable why someone who has experienced something like sexual assault would feel terribly confused by their feelings of arousal or even an orgasm. According to Morber, “often, sexual pleasure and sexual aggression become psychologically intertwined when a rape survivor experiences arousal during rape.”
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