My master's thesis aimed to provide an insight into the complexity of asexuality and thus contribute to raising awareness in society, as not much research has been conducted on this topic in Slovenia. I explored what it means to be asexual in a society that places so much emphasis on sexuality. I was interested in the everyday difficulties asexual people face, what their needs are and what are the sources of their strength. I also explored what the role of social work can be in helping and supporting the asexual community. Above all, my research was driven by my desire to present asexuality as a concept in as much detail as possible. In the theoretical part, I first gave a definition of asexuality. I then describe the difference between different types of attraction and address the impact that living in a heteronormative context and in a hypersexualised society has on asexual people. I gave special attention to the coming out process and to existing research on the impact of asexuality on mental health. In the second part of the theoretical introduction, I focused on the challenges faced by the asexual community, namely societal pressures towards sexuality, discrimination and violence, inadequate media representation, challenges in establishing and maintaining partner relationships, and the position of asexuality within the LGBT+ community. I concluded my theoretical introduction with a presentation of social workers' work with the LGBT+ community, of which asexuality is a part of. In the empirical part, I present the findings of the qualitative research. I conducted nine interviews with two demisexual people, five asexual people and two aegosexual people. The research led me to the conclusion that asexuality is an invisible sexual orientation in society. The asexual community faces challenges such as insufficient representation in the media, non-existence within the education process, lack of awareness raising in society, stereotyping and non-acceptance of asexuality as a sexual orientation within certain sections of the LGBT+ community. On a private level, asexuals face challenges with coming out process and challenges in intimate relationships, such as pressure to be sexual and to adapt to their partner's needs. My findings on social work are that asexual people want to be accepted with understanding, empathy and validation of their personal experiences. It is essential that social workers accept and believe them.
|
