While Iceland currently ranks nr.1 in the world for gender equality, a newly released study found evolving forms of sexual violence including non-consensual choking or suffocation during sex, drugging, stealthing and forms of technology-facilitated sexual violence to be strikingly common among younger women.
The study used data from the SAGA Cohort, one of the world’s largest cohorts specifically designed for studying the role of trauma in women’s health. The cohort was established in 2018 under the leadership of scientists at the University of Iceland. The current study included 14,358 women representative of the Icelandic-speaking female population who participated in an extensive follow-up survey in 2024, reporting on experiences of coercive sexual acts and technology-facilitated sexual violence.
Results indicate that the landscape of sexual violence against women is changing, with younger generations reporting a higher lifetime prevalence of non-consensual choking or suffocation during sex, drugging, stealthing (non-consensual condom removal), and technology-facilitated sexual violence.
Alarmingly, young women (23-34 years old) were three times more likely to report non-consensual choking or suffocation during sex compared with women in older age groups (15% vs. <5%). “Emerging evidence suggests that choking and suffocation during sex can lead to health problems such as neurological and cognitive difficulties,” the authors state. Overall, 6% of women reported stealthing or having been drugged, with younger women being twice as likely to have experienced these forms of violence. “Stealthing and drugging to facilitate sexual violence can increase women’s risk of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. The high prevalence of these forms of violence, particularly among young women, is very concerning,” the authors state.
Of technology-facilitated sexual violence, 25% of women had received unwanted sexual images or messages, 18% had received unwanted requests for sexual images, 3% had had sexual images distributed to others without their consent, and 4% reported non-consensual recording during sex. The prevalence of technology-facilitated sexual violence was generally 3-5 times higher among younger women, highlighting the disproportionate burden borne by younger generations of women of these types of experiences.
The article can be accessed at JAMA Network Open website.
Information about the SAGA cohort can be obtained at the study website.