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Responsible victims? Young people’s understandings of agency and responsibility in sexual situations involving underage girlsNOVA (Norwegian Social Research), Norway [Email: ism{at}nova.no]
NOVA (Norwegian Social Research), Norway [Email: kari.stefansen{at}nova.no]
NOVA (Norwegian Social Research), Norway [Email: svein.mossige{at}nova.no] Most countries have a legal age of consent, setting the minimum age for the involvement of a young person in sexual relationships. Engaging in a sexual relationship with a person below this age is defined as abuse, even if the minor has consented. At the same time, underage young people often see themselves as knowledgeable agents across a range of situations, including having sexual relations with older persons. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, this article examines the role of the construction of agency in young people’s understanding of different types of sexual situations — from consented sex to situations of physical coercion — involving a minor girl and an adult man. How do constructions of agency affect the labelling of different situations and the attribution of responsibility to the persons involved? The article further discusses how the concept of agency interlinks with gendered sexual scripts in the process of interpretation, thereby reproducing gendered vulnerabilities. The concluding section considers how a contextual approach to youth agency may inform preventive efforts.
Key Words: agency • youth • adult–minor relationships • statutory rape • attribution of responsibility • victim-blaming
Young, Vol. 17, No. 4,
351-373 (2009) |
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