ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates situational descriptions of sexual transgressions not reported to the police. Whilst the field of research on sexual transgressions is largely dominated by quantitative studies on the prevalence of sexual transgressions founded on victimisation data, police data or self-report survey data, this chapter uses qualitative interviews with young men who, in their own words, committed sexual transgressions. Through a close reading of three situational accounts, the chapter identifies two explanations for sexual transgression provided by the individuals committing them: sexual transgressions as resulting from alcohol intoxication and sexual transgressions as misunderstandings of signals of consent and absence of consent. This chapter argues that the situational accounts provide information on what happens at the forefront of the situations and on how individuals who have committed sexual transgressions view the relationship between what they did and who they are.
