Review
Sexual arousal and orgasm in subjects who experience forced or non-consensual sexual stimulation – a review

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Abstract

The review examines whether unsolicited or non-consensual sexual stimulation of either females or males can lead to unwanted sexual arousal or even to orgasm. The conclusion is that such scenarios can occur and that the induction of arousal and orgasm does not indicate that the subjects consented to the stimulation. A perpetrator’s defence simply built upon the fact that evidence of genital arousal or orgasm proves consent has no intrinsic validity and should be disregarded.

Introduction

In normal consensual sex, the sexual arousal and the possible subsequent achievement of orgasm are usually the welcomed outcome of the activity. Consensual sexual activity obviously entails a willingness of both parties to partake of the activity and thus the mental state of the participants is usually one of happy acceptance of the sexual arousal and possibly the orgasm induced. In fact it is often thought that lack of this “accepting” state can be a hindrance to becoming aroused and orgasmic. What then of a non-consenting male or female who is subjected to sexual stimulation either by force, fear or because of an impaired conscious resistance to the stimulation (sleep, drug, alcohol or hypnosis induced), can they experience sexual arousal and orgasm involuntarily or even against their will?

The present review attempts to answer this question especially in relation to a perpetrators defence against an alleged sexual assault that “they (the victim) must have consented (and/or enjoyed it) because they became sexually aroused and even had an orgasm”. The review is divided into three sections, the first part deals with sexual aspects common to males and females, the second part deals with female victims. The third part deals with male victims.

Section snippets

What do we mean by sexual arousal?

Like all simple questions the answer turns out to be more complicated than at first thought. Human sexual arousal occurs as a mental state and as a physical state; in normal sexual arousal both occur simultaneously. However, it is possible to be mentally sexually aroused without showing any genital manifestations of arousal (vaginal/clitoral blood engorgement and vaginal lubrication for women, penile tumescence or erection in men). Contrarily, it is possible to exhibit these genital

What is an orgasm?

When human beings of either sex are sexually stimulated and if the stimulus is maintained it can lead to a peak or culmination of the induced sexual arousal that causes certain mental (subjective) and physical manifestations (body changes) that are normally described as the experience of an orgasm. It represents the ultimate human ecstatic state without recourse to drugs. The degree to which these changes vary between individuals, especially females, is extensive; some can have orgasms so

Can an involuntary orgasm be induced?

In one sense all orgasms are involuntary in that they normally cannot be created by the will alone but need a sexual stimulus. Sexual stimulation, from whatever source, activates the brain and then if excitatory enough induces a brain response – the orgasm. The cerebral activation is not under direct conscious control per se but it can be facilitated (viz by use of fantasy) or it can be repressed (viz in posttraumatic stress syndrome). Allowing physical sexual stimuli to occur and continue

Orgasms in females

Definitions of female orgasm have been attempted in numerous scientific publications; Levin13 tabled some 13 from authors of a variety of backgrounds while more recently Mah and Binik8 repeated the exercise with a doubling of author’s definitions. Despite the increased numbers the latter authors had to conclude that a satisfactory universal definition of orgasm could not be accomplished. A major problem in defining orgasm in women compared to men is the greater emphasis that is given to the

If the subject had an orgasm does it mean that she consented?

Induction of sexual arousal and orgasm by unsolicited, non-consensual sexual stimulation is likely to be under-reported by victims because of the obvious embarrassment of succumbing to the stimulation and thus appearing to others to have accepted and enjoyed it. There is a case series in the literature about this occurring in male victims who were in extremely threatening situations (Sarrel and Masters,20 see section on males) but remarkably little published material in relation to females.

Clinician’s reports

A manual search of the literature in Pubmed under the headings sexual assault, unsolicited sexual arousal, did not recall any dedicated papers on the subject of sexual assault victims becoming aroused and/or orgasmic. A brief study by Ringrose24 however, about the elicitation of pelvic reflexes in rape victims, reported that in 25 cases of rape only one reported orgasm as a result of the sexual assault, an incidence of 4%. The low incidence may be due to embarrassment or the shame of giving a

A study of female victims of sexual assault

Ensink and Van Berlo26 interviewed female victims about the traumatic sequelae of their sexual assault. In this study, one of the questions asked was about physical response and/or lubrication during the assault (this part of the study has not yet been published). The wording of the question was ‘It sometimes happens that women physically respond to sexual assault. This means that it seems that they are physically aroused or become lubricated, although they find the experience dreadful.

Orgasms in males

Unlike females the recognition that a male has experienced an orgasm is usually not a problem because although orgasm and the ejaculation of semen are actually created by distinct mechanisms27 it is extremely rare for the former not to accompany the latter. An operational definition of orgasm in males is similar to that already given for the female except for the addition of the ejaculatory events thus:

“An orgasm in the human male is a variable, transient peak sensation of intense pleasure

If the male has an erection does it indicate consent?

The penile erectile mechanism is created early in foetal life: ultrasound images of erections have been obtained as early as 16 weeks of foetal development. Erections occur without any sexual stimulation in babies.[28], [29] Erection and orgasm are induced more easily in pre- and early adolescent boys than in older males. Slight physical stimulation of the genitals, a general increase in stress and body tension and generalised emotional situations can create erections even though no specific

Hypnotism and non-consensual sexual activity

Published cases in which subjects have allegedly been hypnotised and then sexually assaulted or were told to undertake sexual activities are infrequent and have produced complex scientific and legal arguments. Most involve male hypnotists abusing female patients/subjects[33], [34], [35], [36], [37] but a case exists of a possible use of hypnotism to facilitate homosexual seductions.38 The contentious area is whether or not a hypnotised subject can be coerced into doing something he or she does

Conclusion

The review has examined whether unsolicited or non-consensual sexual stimulation of either males or females can create unwanted sexual arousal even to the induction of an orgasm. Despite a limited published literature, case and anecdotal reports the conclusion from them is that such scenarios can occur and that the induction of arousal and even orgasm does not permit the conclusion that the subjects consented to the stimulation. A perpertrator’s defence against the alleged assault built solely

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    1

    Honorary Research Fellow, Porterbrook Clinic, Sheffield NHS, CHS, Nether Edge, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.

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