Abstract

Sexual consent is central to cases of sexual assault and rape. Logically, sleeping persons cannot consent; yet there has been scant research examining the experience of sexual touching while sleeping. The current research is the first known to specifically examine sexual touching with a sleeping partner, with a goal of understanding the contextual features surrounding, responses to, and perceptions of the legality and acceptability of these behaviors. Undergraduate participants from two universities (N = 724) completed several measures assessing their experience of sexual touching while sleeping, the context, sexual precedence, responses, and their perceptions of such touching. A significant proportion reported waking up to someone touching them sexually (n = 233; 32.2%), including genital touching and penetration, and about one in ten (n = 71; 9.8%) reported completely sleeping through a sexual act. Participants had been touched sexually while sleeping by a range of individuals from spouses to strangers, but it was more common among established sexual partners. Perceptions of legality and acceptability of sexual touching while sleeping were influenced by relationship context and sexual precedence. Meanwhile, immediate, longer-term, and affective responses to specific sexual touching while sleeping incidents varied by both relationship type and sexual precedence. This research provides important avenues for education and prevention efforts, particularly in light of the discordance between perceptions of legality and acceptability and current conceptualizations of consent and legal statutes.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-26-2026

Publication Title

Sexes

First Page

26

Download

Share

COinS