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Primary Submission Category: Environmental factors
Heat and Sexual Autonomy: Temperature Shocks and Women’s Ability to Negotiate Sex
Authors: Jorden Jackson, Nigel James, Jasmin Abdel Ghany, Ursula Gazeley, Joshua Wilde,
Presenting Author: Jorden Jackson*
Rising global temperatures are reshaping daily life, deepening structural inequities and threatening population health. While prior research has linked heat exposure to increases in sexual assault and intimate partner violence, little is known about how heat exposure shapes women’s sexual autonomy within intimate relationships. This study examines whether exposure to unusually high temperatures affects women’s ability to refuse sex. We theorize that heat-induced stress, sleep disruption, and economic pressure may exacerbate gender imbalances, increasing emotional coercion, partner aggression and transactional vulnerabilities. Drawing on nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from 36 low and middle-income countries. We link these data to high-resolution climate records and conduct logistic regression analysis to test the association between anomalously hot weather and sexual autonomy. Preliminary results suggest that hot temperatures are associated with increased ability to refuse sex. In the next stage of our analysis, we will examine heterogeneous effects to assess whether education, employment, and urban residence buffer the impact of heat on sexual autonomy; results forthcoming.