In a worrying trend, women, particularly TV personalities, are openly admitting to an act that could be classed – on certain occasions – as a form of sexual assault on their partners.
Yet they are suffering little to no repercussions.
So often when we talk about sexual assault it’s in reference to a man assaulting a woman, which stands to reason given the disproportionate number of male assailants in these types of cases.
In the past year, 34,000 men have had an allegation of violence against women levelled against them – including rape, domestic violence and child abuse.
According to the British Crime Survey, the number of women sexually assaulted in the UK in a year is 800,000.
However, this doesn’t mean that women are immune from being a perpetator.
The questionable act currently under discussion refers to when a woman locks her legs around her male partner to force him to ejaculate inside her and prevents him from pulling out.
Although there is no formal name for this behaviour, it’s commonly known as ‘leg locking’ and is often done intentionally by women wishing to get pregnant even if their sexual partner doesn’t want to have a child or any additional kids.
A prime example was captured in the first season of Netflix hit Bridgerton. In episode six, the lead character Daphne manoeuvres herself on top of the Duke during sex, to prevent him from being able to pull out, because he does not want to have children.
When the scene first aired back in 2020, the episode received a lot of backlash, with viewers claiming it should have included a trigger warning, and that it wasn’t given the same treatment it would have if it were a man carrying out the assault.
Commenting on the episode at the time, the US-based NWA Center for Sexual Assault wrote: ‘This was absolutely sexual assault, and this is often what sexual assault looks like. Sexual assault most commonly occurs between people who know each other – not by a random stranger in a bush. They are often already in a relationship with each other, or whom have already consented to sex.
‘In the case of Daphne and Simon, while she did not intend Simon harm, what she did was not an accident but deliberate, because Daphne knew that Simon did not wish to ejaculate inside her, and yet she forced him to because she had him pinned down.’
While this is a fictional example, there are instances of women talking about it on reality TV, too.
In episode three of the latest season of Selling the OC, also on Netflix, real estate agent Austin Victoria’s wife, Lisa, openly admits to leg locking.
Austin had specifically expressed that he didn’t want another child because of the costs involved, saying: ‘I’ve decided I don’t want any more children… they’re too crazy. I’m not down, at all.’
In response, his wife stated that she did want another child, to which he replied: ‘I know, you leg locked me.’
Lisa then laughed, adding: ‘And I’ll keep doing it.’
While Austin went on to label this behaviour as ‘f**ked up’ in a later scene, he didn’t state or insinuate that he believed to be sexual assault.
Sex expert and therapist Gigi Engle tells Metro.co.uk that there’s a cultural misunderstanding of what sexual assault is, particularly when women are the offenders.
She explains: ‘We’ve seen leg locking talked about on TV and reality shows.
‘Women are saying they do this to get their partners to ejaculate inside them, and the reason people are so casual about mentioning this, is because we don’t have a very good understanding of sexual assault when it comes from women who are assaulting men.
‘When we’re talking about sexual assault, 99% of the time it’s going to be a man assaulting a woman or a man assaulting another man, and that’s the narrative.
‘The idea that a woman can even assault a man isn’t talked about, and it should be more, because forcing someone to ejaculate inside you when they have not consented is sexual assault.’
Apart from a systemic lack of sex education and awareness, leg locking is also a legally challenging issue.
Women cannot be charged with rape in the UK, as Section 1 of the 2003 Sexual Offences Act states that ‘rape involves penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth by a penis, therefore a woman can only commit this offence as an accomplice.’
Michelle Clarke, criminal barrister at Church Court Chambers, tells Metro: ‘In the right, fact-specific case circumstances, leg locking could potentially be sexual assault.
‘Leg locking presents an extremely difficult challenge for the prosecution. This is primarily because it is unlikely that there will be any independent witnesses, due to the intimate context and nature of the activity.
‘The CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) would only agree to prosecute after they had ascertained if there was a realistic prospect of conviction, such as, for example, if consensual filming had taken place, which would provide some additional evidential weight.’
While the so-called ‘pull-out method’ for contraception is not fool-proof (being around 80% effective), it is still used by many couples and individuals who do not intend to get pregnant or get their partner pregnant.
But if neither party is using protection, prosecuting a case of leg locking becomes near impossible.
Michelle explains: ‘If a man chooses to have unprotected sexual intercourse with a woman whom he knows was not using contraception, it is difficult to determine a set time when he could be said to no longer be consenting, unless there was some form of verbal or written agreement before this took place.
‘In any event, cases involving leg locking are very much fact specific – a woman can of course sexually assault a man, but it is the timing and circumstances that need to be considered [in a court of law].’
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