Can we really talk about "sexual violence" in the chemsex scene? Reflections from the chemsex users’ understandings and the gay sex culture

Abstract

Since ChemSex (deliberate sex under influence of drugs among gay, bisexuals and other men who have sex with men) became known at the media level, special attention has received from many sectors. Recently, the occurrence of "sexual assaults" has been mentioned from outside this community in contexts where it is practiced, but many men don’t understand as such the "sexual acts without consent (verbal)" that can occur. This essay seeks to understand, from a cultural perspective, why many men don’t recognize themselves as "victims" or "offenders" of "sexual assaults" in the ChemSex scene. As ChemSex is a practice that occurs within the gay sex culture, which has its own codes, norms, values, language, etc. that are different from those of the dominant culture (heterosexual), the meanings and understandings around physical contact and sex are different. Furthermore, since the intention is to have sex and due to the forms of dating (e.g. virtual) and meeting (e.g. sex venues), they understand that consents can be given differently than verbally or that are already tacitly given within the dynamics of the sexual and social relationship that are formed in these spaces, so they don’t recognize themselves as “victims” neither “offenders” of sexual assaults.