Between Consent and Coercion: A Grounded Theory of Theory of Meaning-Making and Communication after Ambiguous Sexual Violations

Nonconsensual condom removal (NCCR), or "stealthing," remains culturally and institutionally under-recognized despite its documented harms. This study draws on grounded theory interviews with 15 survivors to examine how they interpret and communicate experiences of ambiguous sexual harm. Survivors described embodied distress but often distanced themselves from the language of victimhood and engaged in social calibration to make sense of unlabeled violations. Findings reveal a culture of silent sacrifice, wherein survivors suppress personal harm to preserve social or relational stability. By centering survivors' meaning-making and examining how people navigate the space between consent and coercion without institutional or cultural support, this project contributes to feminist, critical, and communication scholarship, highlighting how harm is normalized through everyday interaction.