Challenging Slut-Shaming in Adolescence: An Action Research Study in a Secondary School

Abstract

Slut-shaming is a form of gender-based discrimination that stigmatizes individuals, particularly young women, for their actual or perceived sexual behaviour. Based on gender stereotypes and double standards, slut-shaming contributes to the internalization of sexual oppression and reinforces societal inequalities. The phenomenon of slut-shaming was investigated within the South-Italian socio-cultural context, in a secondary school, analysing its psychological and social consequences among adolescents.