Australian women talk about non-romantic sex

Abstract

Non-romantic sex is widespread and occurs in a wide variety of forms. We analyse semi-structured interviews in which 15 Australian women describe a range of non-romantic sexual arrangements and consider their implications for women’s ability to negotiate sexual safety. We identify four overlapping categories of non-romantic sex: one night stands, ‘the lines are blurred’, ongoing non-romantic arrangements and alternative non-romantic sex. The benefits and limitations for women of each type of non-romantic sex are considered, with a focus on their implications for physical and emotional sexual health and safety.

Keywords:

• heterosexual non-romantic sex
• qualitative analysis
• sexual health
• women Australia

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Erratum

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the women who generously participated in this study. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Claire Moran

Claire Moran is completing a PhD in the School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia.

Christina Lee

Christina Lee is Professor of Health Psychology in the same School.