Unwanted sex with third parties in domestic abuse relationships and its impact on help-seeking and justice

Abstract

This paper describes the experiences of ten victims-survivors in the United Kingdom whose abusive partners coerced them into unwanted sex with third parties, or attempted to do so. In some cases, this took place in the context of prostitution, in other cases not. This paper discusses these victims’-survivors’ experiences of unwanted sex with third parties as an element of their wider abusive relationships, and how this form of violence/abuse affected their experiences seeking and obtaining help and justice. Unwanted sex with third parties is a potential element of abuse by intimate partners that should be identified and addressed together with other harms experienced by victims-survivors.