Sexual Coercion in India: An Exploratory Analysis Using Demographic Variables

A 14-item Sexual Coercion Inventory (SCI) wasadministered to an urban university sample in WesternIndia. Twenty-six percent of the sample reported a totalof 160 incidents of sexual coercion ranging in severity from unwanted kissing to sexualintercourse. The most common outcome was intercourse andwas followed by kissing and fondling. No genderdifferences were discovered regarding victim status ortypes of coercion tactics experienced. A MANOVAanalysis found no overall gender effect, but maritalstatus and protected class membership did have asignificant effect with people who are married andprotected class members reporting more sexual coercion.Reasons for the lack of an overall gender effect andlimitations of this research are discussed.