Answer Addiction

Tag: sexual harassment

  • Unwanted Sexting Linked To Mental Distress

    Unwanted Sexting Linked To Mental Distress

    A new study found that men had more adverse effects when they got unwanted sexts even though women receive more.

    Getting unwanted sexual pictures messaged over texts or dating apps has become so common that it’s joked about and laughed at, but new research shows that receiving unwanted “sexts” can contribute to depression and other mental health effects. 

    The Australian study, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, found that engaging in coerced or non-consensual sexts contributed to youth ages 18-21 feeling worse. 

    “Receiving unwanted sexts, or sexting under coercion, was associated with higher depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and lower self-esteem, and these two sexting experiences were independent predictors of psychological distress,” study authors wrote. 

    Interestingly, the researchers found that men seemed to have more adverse effects when they got unwanted sexts, although females were more likely to receive unwanted messages. 

    “The relationship between these sexting behaviors with poor mental health was moderated by gender, with poorer outcomes for males receiving unwanted sexts,” researchers wrote. “This is contrary to popular belief that females are more adversely impacted than males by sexting activity. However, it is important to note that both genders were adversely affected with regard to depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem when sending a sext under coercion.”

    While previous studies have linked all sexting with poorer mental health outcomes, this study was careful to separate consensual sexual exchanges with unwanted or coerced ones. 

    “Our results showed no association between receiving or sending sexts overall,” researchers wrote. 

    Researchers said that their findings about the impact of sexting could have widespread implications. 

    “When receiving or sending unwanted but consensual sexts, respondents reported higher depression, anxiety, and stress, and lower self-esteem,” researchers wrote. “Another significant finding was that receiving unwanted sexts and sending sexts under pressure were independent predictors of poorer mental health. This suggests that they affect mental health in unique ways, and that there is an additive impact for these two sexting phenomena on mental health.”

    They said that unwanted sexting can be a risk factor for intimate violence under certain circumstances. 

    “This finding is important as the nature of this sexting behavior has been likened to intimate partner violence,” they wrote.

    “That is, the findings of our study may shed light on why some researchers conceptualize sexting as simply a normative sexual behavior, while others see it as a potential risk behavior, including for sexual violence. Indeed, our findings indicate that both can be true. Sexting behaviors can range from consensual sexting as a normative behavior exploring one’s sexuality to non-consensual sexting which is associated with negative mental health outcomes and more closely resembles a form of intimate partner violence.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "The 13th Step": Inside AA's Subculture Of Sexual Predation

    “There are groups in AA where you could call it a meat market,” says one former AA board director.

    Sexual predation in Alcoholics Anonymous is a troubling and common occurrence, according to The Orange County Register.

    The “avalanche” of allegations against former Hollywood power players like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey “have been a horrifying reminder of the prevalence of sexual assault, harassment, exploitation and abuse in American society,” the Register noted—and AA meetings are no different.

    Some men there, too, use their stature and influence to prey upon unsuspecting women who are otherwise simply seeking recovery. (It happens so often, in fact, that it’s commonly referred to as “The 13th Step.”)

    Unfortunately, “there is something uniquely heartbreaking” about sexual abuse in AA, Vice noted, as their members are routinely encouraged to “look for their part” in the events that have transpired. 

    Many argue that AA, by its very design, is to blame.

    “Victims, former officials and some members say the culture of the organization—unregulated and loosely organized—puts vulnerable alcoholics at risk to predatory leaders whose only credential is their longtime sobriety,” the Register reported.

    Additionally, some members of AA are sexual offenders whose presence in the rooms is court-mandated. Unless someone volunteers their criminal history, no one would be the wiser.

    Offenders, thanks to the program’s core tradition of anonymity, can hide in plain sight. While a representative for AA’s General Service Office in New York told the Register that each local group operates independently, AA leaders in the U.S. and Canada have since developed guidelines and literature that specifically acknowledges the inherent danger of sexual predation.

    As such, the fellowship created a “safety card” that reads (in part): “We request that members and others refrain from any behavior that might compromise another person’s safety.” 

    Still, many critics insist that AA’s General Service Board can do far more to protect its members than printing up a small yellow card: “Each group is autonomous. That’s… an excuse not to use the power the board has to stop abusive behavior,” James Branscome, a former AA board director, told the Register. “There are groups in AA where you could call it a meat market. You have older guys hitting on newcomer women. Some groups are hijacked by gurus, and AA will claim they have no power to do anything about it.”

    Meanwhile, sexual attacks involving AA leaders keep mounting in California, the Register reported, detailing several cases of abuse, rape and murder that have occurred in recent years. Sexual predation, however, remains a thorny cultural issue within the walls of AA meetings.

    As some men take dark advantage of anonymity and vulnerability, the women who’ve been victimized continually find themselves in an outrageously precarious position.

    One woman, for example, told her sponsor about a rape and was quickly discouraged from going to the police. Sadly, that became a common refrain for the victim, as fellow AA members told her that she was scaring off newcomers with her story.

    “They said I was ruining people’s chance to get sober,” she said. “Rape was an outside issue.”

    View the original article at thefix.com