Abstract
Approximately 50% of young women worldwide, particularly those aged 18-24, have encountered slut-shaming, experiencing varying degrees of harassment in both online and offline environments. In South Africa, research on slut-shaming is limited, especially among Coloured women, leaving a gap in understanding the daily lives and experiences of young Coloured women and girls. This study aims to explore the experiences of slut-shaming of young Coloured women and girls in Westbury, Johannesburg and the impacts on their sexuality as well as to make recommendations on addressing and possibly decreasing the prevalence of slut-shaming. This research study is qualitative in nature and individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight young Coloured women from the Westbury community in Gauteng. The data uncovered various forms of slut-shaming experienced by participants, occurring in both physical interactions and on social media platforms. These experiences were tied to negative stereotypes, such as associating people of colour with violence and drug abuse, perceiving women in revealing attire or men's clothing as involved in sex work, adherence to traditional values, religious taboos surrounding sexuality, and the expectation among parents and elders to correct young women expressing their sexuality. Moreover, the findings revealed that slut-shaming led to detrimental consequences like social isolation and stigma, with implications for participants' mental health, contributing to issues like depression and low self-esteem. In light of these findings, recommendations were made for workshops and sexual education integrated into school curriculums to address the prevalence of slut-shaming. The study contributes to our theoretical and empirical understanding of the impact of slut shaming on the sexuality of young Coloured women and further adds to the field of feminist and gender studies.