Latin American Women´s Beliefs, Views and Ideas About Sexual Assertiveness: A Focus Group Study in Cuenca (Ecuador)

Abstract

In an attempt to extend our understanding of how social contexts co-create female sexuality in Latin America, the aim of the current study was to explore the beliefs, views, and ideas about sexual assertiveness in Latino emerging adult women. Seventeen women between 22 and 30 years old living in Cuenca, Ecuador, participated in focus groups. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data. Findings suggest that the overall views about sexual assertiveness in emerging adult women can be grouped into five categories: (1) gender role schemata; (2) concerns about the partner’s thoughts and reactions; (3) gendered attitudes towards the use of specific methods of contraception; (4) talking about sexual histories as a challenging task; and (5) replication of family patterns. The findings of this study are discussed within existing literature that highlights the influence of gender role schemata on sexual assertiveness. Finally, a plea for more culturally sensitive research is formulated as well as some educational – the need to reinforce sex education programs – and clinical – highlighting the ability to be sexually assertive from the start of a relationship – implications are mentioned.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to all the team members of the Humsex Project for their critical and constructive comments to the focus groups’ schedule.

Notes

² To guarantee the confidentiality of the identity of participants, the names of participants were changed by pseudonyms.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ecuador (SENESCYT), and also by the Institutional University Cooperation Programme (IUC) between the University of Cuenca 1100 (Ecuador) and the Flemish Universities through funding by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR-UOS).