Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47401, USA.
Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Feb;51(2):1103-1123. doi: 10.1007/s10508-021-02049-x. Epub 2021 Nov 10.
Choking/strangulation during sex is prevalent among young adults, with one study finding that 58% of women college students had ever been choked during sex. However, no qualitative study has examined women's experiences with choking/strangulation during sex outside of intimate partner violence. The purpose of our qualitative interview study was to investigate women's experiences with choking and/or being choked during partnered sex. Through in-depth interviews with 24 undergraduate and graduate women students ages 18 to 33, we sought to understand how women communicate about choking, their learning about and initiation into choking, their feelings about being choked and choking others, as well as consent and safety practices used in relation to choking. We found that women had first learned about choking through diverse sources including pornography, erotic stories, magazines, social media, friends, and partners. While all 24 women had been choked during sex, only 13 of 24 had ever choked a partner. They described having engaged in choking with men as well as women and with committed as well as more casual partner types. Participants described consensual and non-consensual choking experiences. While many women enjoyed choking, others did it largely to please their sexual partner. Women described different methods and intensities of having been choked. Although very few had ever sought out information on safety practices or risk reduction, and only some had established safe words or safe gestures with partners, participants consistently expressed a belief that the ways in which they and their partner(s) engaged in choking were safe.
性行为中的窒息/绞杀在年轻人中很常见，有一项研究发现，58%的女大学生在性行为中曾被窒息过。然而，没有定性研究调查过女性在亲密伴侣暴力之外的性行为中窒息/绞杀的经历。我们的定性访谈研究的目的是调查女性在伴侣性行为中窒息和/或被窒息的经历。通过对 24 名年龄在 18 至 33 岁的本科和研究生女学生进行深入访谈，我们试图了解女性如何交流关于窒息的问题，她们如何学习和开始窒息，以及她们对被窒息和窒息他人的感受，以及在与窒息相关的同意和安全实践。我们发现，女性通过多种来源首次了解到窒息，包括色情、色情故事、杂志、社交媒体、朋友和伴侣。虽然所有 24 名女性在性行为中都曾被窒息过，但只有 13 名女性曾窒息过伴侣。她们描述了与男性以及女性、与有承诺的伴侣和更随意的伴侣类型进行窒息。参与者描述了同意和不同意的窒息体验。虽然许多女性喜欢窒息，但也有很多人这样做主要是为了取悦性伴侣。女性描述了不同的被窒息的方法和强度。尽管很少有人曾寻求过安全实践或风险降低的信息，而且只有一些人与伴侣建立了安全用语或安全手势，但参与者一致表示相信他们和他们的伴侣参与窒息的方式是安全的。
