Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in a study led by Dr. Cicely Marston, interviewed 130 teenagers aged 16-18 in order to "explore expectations, experiences and circumstances of anal sex among young people." The study, published in BMJ Open, revealed that anal heterosex was typically "painful, risky and coercive, particularly for women." Not only that, but interviews also showed that this atmosphere of coercion was considered to be normal and expected by those engaging in anal sex.
"The idea that women would generally not wish to engage in anal sex," write researchers, "and so would need to be either persuaded or coerced, seemed to be taken for granted by many participants." Researchers go on to point out that though "mutually pleasurable anal practises" are possible, they've observed that girls' pleasure is often "absent in narratives of anal heterosex."
To read more about this troubling trend among teenagers, click through to this article in The Independent.
