ABSTRACT
What is the core constituent of a sexual violation? In a contemporary context, the absence of mutual consent is typically the decisive factor that distinguishes violation from non-violation in an objective legal sense. This chapter explores how well that prioritization of consent accords with the participants’ subjective experiences of harm and violation. The analysis shows that the harm that the participants had experienced in some sexual situations was not always straightforwardly related to consent, and elucidates which factors other than consent might be important to the experience of being violated versus respected in a sexual context. Identifying the needs for respect and care as fundamental to whether sex is experienced as empowering or harmful, it is suggested that the relationship of the principle of consent to such basic social needs be affirmed as a basis for broadening the scope of violence prevention work.
