Behind the Scenes of Sex and Sexual Debut: Unpacking Measurement

Charlotte Watts

The HIV epidemic has led to extensive research on sexual behaviour around the world and across different cultures and settings. Most population research focuses on quantifying numbers of sexual partners, sex acts and condom use. The chapter presents evidence of physical and sexual violence against women, including at sexual debut and from women’s partners, to illustrate the dangers of using simple reductionist measures to understand sexual behaviour, and argues that current methods of quantifying and understanding risk need to be overhauled. Research priorities focus on how to move beyond categorizations of patterns of sexual behaviour to documentation of the levels and drivers of coerced, unwanted and unsafe sex. The chapter concludes that a more nuanced understanding of the power structures and contexts that underpin risk, including the role of gender, economic and power inequalities, is more likely to provide meaningful insights for prevention.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 at 11:11 am and is filed under Section IV: Cultures of Measurement, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.