“My Life is Controlled by a Lingering Thought in My Head That it Could Happen Anytime”: How Women Navigate Fear of Sexual Violence on Campus

Abstract

The problem of sexual violence on college campuses is a substantial one. While statistics vary on the prevalence of campus sexual assault (CSA), the evidence suggests an epidemic level of sexual violence in the United States’ colleges and universities. For women of traditional college age (18–25), experts estimate 20–25% of women will be sexually assaulted during their time in college. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how the fear of sexual violence shaped woman-identified individuals’ experiences in higher education. Drawing from a power-conscious approach to understanding sexual violence within college and university contexts, this study found that the fear of sexual violence was a looming presence in participants’ everyday lives. Participants discussed feeling a burden to protect themselves from sexual violence as well as feelings of powerlessness to prevent it if their safety precautions fail. Implications for practice discuss the importance of taking a power-conscious approach to addressing sexual violence on campus.