Description
Book Synopsis‘Rough sex’ has been at the forefront of criminal law in recent years following several high-profile murders of women killed during alleged consensual sex ‘gone wrong’, leading to widespread calls for reform to prevent the use of what has been termed the ‘rough sex defence.’ Situated in a global context in which violence against women is one of the leading preventable contributors to death and illness for women aged 18–44 worldwide, this timely collection examines the rough sex defence and responds to some of the wider debates around sex and the law.
Drawing on a range of empirical and theoretical standpoints, chapters delve into a range of topics including the female experience of ‘unwanted’ slapping, choking and spitting during sex, the BDSM community, the impacts of pornography, the normalization and sexualization of violence against women, early depictions of BDSM involving the eroticization of non-consensual relations, problematic perceptions of BDSM as inherently violent, and more.
Bows and Herring expertly collate a wide-reaching mix of perspectives to contribute to a powerful feminist investigation of this critical issue. It is a compelling read for scholars interested in the intersection of sex, the law, and the criminal justice system.
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Hannah Bows and Jonathan Herring
Chapter 1. Consensual Aggression and Violence During Sex (‘rough sex’) in the General Population – A Scoping (Literature) Review; Bernard Gallagher, Nadia Wager, Victoria Gall, Barbara Gilroy, Lara Flynn Hudspith, Manisha Singh, Joseph Sykes, and Vicky Whitaker
Chapter 2. Coercive Control and Rough Sex; Jonathan Herring
Chapter 3. Defining rough sex via mainstream pornography; Samantha Keene
Chapter 4. BDSM and the legal imaginary; Alexandra Fanghanel
Chapter 5. The Legality of Love-bites; Amanda Spalding
Chapter 6. Effectively Recognising and Punishing Sexual Coercion: Proposals for Reform; Susan Leahy
Chapter 7. A Critique of the ‘Rough Sex Defence’ in Australian Rape Law; Rachael Burgin and Jonathan Crowe
Chapter 8. Understanding women’s experiences of non-consensual violence in sex; Lucy Snow
Chapter 9. The rough sex defence in the UK; Fiona Mackenzie
Chapter 10. Reacting to Rough Sex: The Unexpected Toll of Section 71 Domestic Abuse Act 2021; Emily Bradley
Chapter 11. On Sadism: Placing the Rough Sex Defence Within a History of Sadistic Conceptualisation; Ray Harris
