Sexual coercion in ultra-Orthodox Jewish marriages: Conceptualizing community level sexual violence

• In Event: 40868 - Social and Organizational Forces Influencing Religious Actors

Abstract

This paper examines the processes through which sexual coercion and self-determination are structured by gendered religious obligations within the Charedi community. Much existing research on sexual coercion in the US focuses on unmarried college-students in secular settings, and studies of sexual violence in marriage tend to focus on marital rape rather than a broader range of coercive behaviors. Filling these gaps and demonstrating the potential for qualitative research to reveal new insights into complicated social problems, this paper draws on research conducted on marital, sexual and reproductive self-determination in New York City’s Charedi Jewish community. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews and focus groups with people who formerly identified or currently identify as Charedi Jews, key experts interviews, participant observation, and analysis of popular culture. Research conducted for this study began in April 2023 and is ongoing. This paper analyzes sexual coercion as both community facilitated and contingent on individual and interpersonal dynamics. Findings show how in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community the gendered dimensions of the social environment are informed by interpretations of religious laws, many of which are directly or indirectly related to sexual practices in marriage. These stringent expectations create an environment in which some people feel forced to have sex they do not want. Analyses suggest that even interpersonal sexual coercion is enmeshed within, and produced by, the community context. While some individuals who commit sexual harm may capitalize on the system to facilitate and maintain sexually coercive practices, we argue that intervention efforts must begin at the community level by understanding and modifying the social forces that shape sexual expectations. Our results point to the limitations of binary perpetrator/victim frameworks of sexual violence prevention and challenge us to closely examine how sexual violence is produced in contexts in which there is no one clear perpetrator. Findings also illustrate how liberal feminism’s emphasis on individual choice can keep us from seeing the constraining impact of social context.

Authors

• Jessie Ford, Columbia University

• Alicia Jen, Columbia University

• Gloria Fortuna, Columbia University

• Jennifer S. Hirsch, Columbia University