Sexism free night

: contributo para a caracterização do assédio e violência sexual em ambientes recreativos noturnos

Abstract

This study aims to explore and describe the consumption of psychoactive substances and the occurrence of sexual violence that takes place in nighttime recreational environments in Portugal. The main objective is to understand how the consumption of psychoactive substances and the different types of sexual violence are present in these environments. In this sense, the following specific objectives were defined: 1) to know the sociodemographic characteristics of those who frequent night recreational environments; 2) know the frequency and consumption patterns of SPAs in nighttime recreational environments; 3) know the frequency and prevalence of different types of sexual violence in nighttime recreational environments; 4) know the respondents' perception regarding the consumption status of those involved in acts of sexual violence. Over the past 30 years, nighttime recreational environments have been asserting themselves as important leisure time-spaces in postmodern lifestyles and in global cities. These environments reproduce beliefs that are based on hegemonic social norms based on a patriarchal imagination and often exacerbate social and gender inequalities. Thus, these allies with the consumption of psychoactive substances, act as facilitators of gender and sexual violence that is naturalized, normalized and generalized, through the recurrent use of hypersexualized and stereotyped images of women. Thus, because it is a topic that could cause some constraints in terms of obtaining sincere answers, a quantitative methodology was chosen, collecting data through a questionnaire administered online, divided into 5 parts. We conclude that the consumption of SPAs is very present in these types of environments, namely the consumption of alcohol, where 71.3% of the respondents claim to consume "always" and 68.2% "often". With regard to sexual violence, we observed that its significant presence in Portuguese nighttime recreational environments, highlighting the types of sexual violence considered less serious, such as “uncomfortable sexual comments” - (97.2%) or “insistence on face to a no ”- (90%) and registering some cases of violence considered to be very serious, such as“ sexual acts with penetration with physical force ”(7.7%). As for “sexual acts without physical force”, the percentage rises to double, with 14.5% of respondents saying that they witnessed situations of this type. It is also important to mention that the users of these environments, when asked about the state of the actors of acts of sexual violence, report that they consumed “little or nothing”. However, the difference is more subtle in the situation of "insistence in the face of no".

Date of Award	13 Jul 2020
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria Carmo Carvalho (Supervisor) & Cristiana Vale Pires (Co-Supervisor)