Is Consent as Simple as Tea? Psychosocial Reflections on Men’s Accounts of Sexual Violence Perpetration

Join us for this Joint MAEVe and UoM Criminology Seminar, where visiting Professor David Gadd presents on "Is Consent as Simple as Tea? Psychosocial Reflections on Men’s Accounts of Sexual Violence Perpetration"

In-person and online tickets available!

Location: William MacMahon Ball Theatre (Room 107), Level 1, Old Arts Building (Building 149), Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne

Online: Zoom link provided upon registration

Abstract
Why do some men sexually assault women? Can their behaviour be explained exclusively through reference to inadequate understandings of consent? Or are more complexly gendered power dynamics in play? In this presentation I reflect on the narrative accounts provided to me over the last 25 years by men who have disclosed sexual assaults they have perpetrated on women and girls: assaults often perpetrated with impunity, the tellers evading detection, arrest, conviction and, in some cases, without any acknowledgment that what they had done was wrong or illegal. I argue for a more dynamically psychosocial analysis of how insecurities and trauma inform misogyny and masculinities, alongside an intersectional analysis of which men get criminalised for sexual assaults. I also advocate for public engagement strategies that ask men to reflect upon the benefits of being brave and curious enough to ask prospective partners not just what they will consent to, but also what they really want.

Presenter Bio

David Gadd is Professor of Criminology at the University of Manchester. He is best known for his in-depth interview research with domestic abuse perpetrators, hate crime offenders, and human traffickers and for advocating for a psychoanalytically-informed psychosocial approach to criminological problems. David is currently conducting research variously on: male prisoner-survivors of sexual assault; the evaluation of ADVANCE-D on Probation; preventing exploitation and trafficking. His latest book (with Rose Broad) is entitled Demystifying Modern Slavery and was published by Routledge in 2023.