Crossing the Line: Measuring Sexual Exploitation Across Advocacy and Sex Research Traditions

Abstract

Where is the line between permissible sexual seduction and sexual exploitation? This commentary argues that the answer cannot be settled by global labels such as unwanted sex, nonconsensual sex, rape, or abuse. Drawing on a collaboration between researchers working in violence-against-women and sex-research traditions, we examine three measurement problems that arise when sexual exploitation is defined behaviorally. First, consent must be distinguished from desire, because the terms unwanted, nonconsensual, and without permission may not measure the same thing. Second, measures must identify which sexual acts occurred and whose body was involved without making heterosexual female victimization the only template for harm. Third, coercion must be defined broadly enough to capture pressure, manipulation, vulnerability, authority, and constrained choice, but not so broadly that sexual agency disappears. We conclude that sexual exploitation is best measured by separating act, tactic, and context, allowing researchers to document contested boundaries transparently rather than hiding them behind imprecise labels.