Exploring Unwanted Sexual Encounters Among Gay, Bisexual, and other Men who have Sex with Men

Abstract Introduction Sexual consent has become an increasing focus in public, policy, and legal discussions. However, such discussions rarely account for sexual subcultures among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM). Methods Between June 2021 and June 2022, participants were asked whether “During the past three months, has anyone tried to make you have sex or tried to have sex with you in ways that you didn’t want?” Results Of 967 participants, 12.2% ( n = 118) reported at least one experience of unwanted sex. Just over half (55.1%, n = 65) of these participants indicated that the encounter was resolved by requesting their partner stop and their partner agreeing to stop. Participants also reported a broad spectrum of experiences ranging from those that could be defined as clearly non-consensual in nature and encounters where the extent to which consent was given, or not, was less clear. While most participants (61.9%, n = 73) reported an unwanted sexual encounter occurring only once in the previous three months, 31.4% ( n = 37) indicated an encounter occurring more than once within the previous three months. Additionally, 38.8% ( n = 47) noted that the unwanted sexual encounter occurred with an anonymous partner and 24.7% ( n = 22) indicated the encounter occurred at a sex on premises venue. Conclusion There is a need for sexual consent education programs targeting GBM to attend to the specific settings and cultures, including sex on premises venues, in which some GBM engage sex and negotiate sexual consent. Policy Implications Peer-led resources for negotiating sex and sexual consent need to be developed that are respectful both of the specifics gay male sex cultures while also promoting wanted and consensual sex.