BA Hons thesis (University of Otago)

Gendered feminist theories have historically focused on a dominant expression of sexual violence, that being men as perpetrators and women as victims. A shift to include men and diverse genders and sexualities in the sexual violence space, from both within and outside of feminism, has seen some prevention education and public discourse of sexual violence adopt a gender-neutral framework. This gender-neutral approach is at odds with the gendered nature of sexual violence and poses the question, does omitting gender from discussions of sexual violence progress prevention discourse? This dissertation focuses on how to balance the tension between the need for inclusivity, with the gendered nature of sexual violence. Firstly, I outline prominent voices of feminist sexual violence theory, such as Susan Brownmiller, Catherine MacKinnon and Nicola Gavey, focusing on how they engage with and centre gender within their work. I also map feminist discourses of consent, discussing the proliferation of consent and how feminist theory has become critical of consent, diverging from activism and education. Secondly, I explore critiques of these theories, tracing literature that calls for inclusion of victims of all genders. Thirdly, I consider sexual violence prevention programs, organising the approaches based on how they engage with (or exclude) gender. Finally, I argue that through embracing the gendered nature of sexual violence and reconsidering our focus on consent as a framework for education, we can be inclusive of all victims while targeting the cultural scaffolding of sexual violence. (Author's abstract). Record #9201