King’s College London has teamed up with asexual activist Yasmin Benoit to look at the attitudes of people towards the ace community
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY BASEIMAGE
An experimental study of 400 people found that as many as one in three participants believed that asexuality could be “cured” by therapy.
The research was carried out by the Policy Institute at King’s College London alongside aromantic-asexual activist and model Yasmin Benoit. In speaking to 400 participants, the study found that nearly 25% of people incorrectly viewed asexuality as a mental health problem.
Asexuality is defined as the experience of someone who has little to no sexual desire. In the 2021 UK census, around 28,000 people identified as asexual. Experts believe that this number is actually higher, estimating the actual number is around 1-2% of the population.
King’s new research about people’s attitudes towards the asexual community highlighted a number of misconceptions. A quarter of participants said that they believed that asexual people just hadn’t met the right person yet, and 11% actually said that they didn’t believe asexual people existed.
Stressing the number of misconceptions that the general public may have about asexual people, Yasmin Benoit spoke about the dangers that this can have on the community. “Acephobia – that is, discrimination, prejudice and negative attitudes towards those who identify as asexual – is not something that most people recognise or take seriously.”
She continued: “It’s something the asexual community are not protected from. My experiences with this kind of intolerance are well-documented, but there’s a huge lack of research into the phenomenon. It’s essential to raise awareness and collect data to create the change the asexual community needs. It’s an honour to be able to work with King’s College London on this research as a Visiting Fellow and be part of that progress.”
While the misconceptions towards the asexual community are worrying, there was hope within the research. The study found that 70% of people supported the recognition of asexual people in legislation.
Michael Sanders, Professor of Public Policy at the Policy Institute, added: “This study is the first that we’re aware of that makes use of these methods to assess people’s attitudes towards asexuality. The findings are troubling, both in that many people hold misconceptions about asexuality, and that they are happy voicing discriminatory views – at a greater rate than for other groups.”
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