College Sexual Assault Research Articles

Alcohol Use, Rape Myth Acceptance, Rape Empathy, and Sexual Assault History Influence the Believability of a Hypothetical Victim's Report of Sexual Assault.

College sexual assault is a common problem, and survivors often do not report their experience to college campus officials or law enforcement for fear of not being believed. This study examined how contextual factors such as alcohol use and whether the perpetrator was described as a student-athlete or student, and rater characteristics, such as the history of sexual assault and attitudes toward rape, influenced college students' perceptions of the believability of a hypothetical victim's sexual assault account. In all, 449 (N = 449) undergraduates read a vignette describing a hypothetical sexual assault and were assigned randomly to one of four conditions with varying contextual features: college athlete-no alcohol, college athlete-alcohol, college student-no alcohol, or college student-alcohol. They then rated how much they believed the victim in the vignette had been raped (0 [not at all] to 100 [completely]). The presence of alcohol use in the vignette was associated with lower ratings of believability, and participants who were higher in rape myth acceptance and lower in rape empathy rated the hypothetical victim's rape account as less believable. In addition, women who had been raped previously rated the victim in the vignette as more believable than women with no history of sexual assault. Implications for how college campuses might respond more effectively to reported sexual assaults are discussed.

"'I am a Man. How Could I Possibly Have Been Raped?' Men Making Sense of Their Experiences With Sexual Violence".

Sexual violence among college students is an enduring issue that can shape adverse outcomes for victim survivors. The gender dynamics of college sexual assault and rape include rates of women overrepresented as victims and men as perpetrators. Dominant cultural frames reinforcing the (hetero)normative gendered sexual scripts of masculinity often preclude men from being considered as legitimate victims of sexual violence, despite evidence documenting their victimization. The present study contributes to knowledge of men's experiences of sexual violence by sharing the narratives of 29 college men survivors and how they make sense of their experiences. Through open and focused thematic qualitative coding, findings revealed how men struggled to understand their victimization experiences within cultural frameworks that exclude men as victims. Participants engaged in complex linguistic processes (i.e., "epiphanies") to process their unwanted sexual encounter, in addition to altering their sexual behavior after experiencing sexual violence. Findings can inform programing and interventions to be more inclusive of supporting men as victims.

The Red Zone Risk for College Sexual Assault: A Critical Review of the Literature.

The term Red Zone refers to a period of time thought to be high risk for sexual victimization upon entering college in the United States, although empirical evidence for a defined Red Zone has not been established. This article critically reviews empirical research from the last 20 years that investigates the temporality of sexual assault reported by undergraduate women. A keyword search of three major sociopsychological databases was conducted, and articles were included if they reported original empirical results of the timing of sexual assault on campuses, if they directly compared different class years, or if they reported on sexual assault by class year. Ten articles meeting criteria were evaluated in light of methodological, definitional, and measurement issues to assess whether support for a Red Zone of risk exists. We posit that the current extant literature does not provide clear empirical support for the concept of a Red Zone at the beginning of a woman's entry into college and lasting for the first month or two. However, extending the potential time frame for a Red Zone to include college women's first and second years has some merit, although the usefulness of considering half of a woman's college career as high risk for sexual violence is questioned. Importantly, investigations into the temporality of campus sexual assault (CSA) would benefit from the inclusion of multiple other risk factors as potential mediators/moderators to understand whether identifying a particular time frame is useful or whether social contexts and risk factors explain the significance of an identified time frame.

Barriers to addressing alcohol use in college sexual assault prevention: Where we stand and future steps.

The aims of this paper are two-fold. First, we review the current evidence on sexual assault prevention programming that also targets alcohol. Second, we identify barriers to including alcohol use in sexual assault programs and provide recommendations to overcome these barriers. We identified six sexual assault programs that also include alcohol use content, four of which have yet to be rigorously evaluated. To further refine sexual assault prevention efforts, we identified four barriers that need to be overcome including: (1) alcohol and sexual assault prevent efforts are currently siloed, (2) fear of victim blaming when integrating alcohol into programs for women, (3) a lack of evidence on how alcohol impacts bystanders, and (4) uncertainty about how to include content related to alcohol and sexual consent communicated. Researchers and preventionists with expertise in alcohol and/or sexual assault prevention need to work together with stakeholders and students on college campuses to overcome these barriers and address a key correlate of sexual assault.

"I Could Never Tell My Parents": Barriers to Queer Women's College Sexual Assault Disclosure to Family Members.

Queer women are at high risk of college sexual victimization, but they face barriers to formal support services. As a result, informal support is critical. This study uses data from 40 open-ended interviews to explore family members' reactions to queer women's disclosures and examine whether their family is a reliable source of informal support. Findings indicate that family reactions are often more harmful than helpful. In comparison to research focused on heterosexual survivors, we find family reactions to be more extreme and disparaging of queer survivors' sexual identities. In fact, family members' negative reactions may pose barriers to accessing formal services.

The effectiveness of American college sexual assault interventions in highly masculine settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sexual assault is prevalent on college campuses, with research showing that one in five undergraduate college women will be victims of sexual assault. Previous research has identified highly-masculine settings in higher education, such as fraternities and male athletic teams, as high-risk populations for sexual assault perpetration, resulting in the development of multiple interventions targeted at these groups. To date the effectiveness of these programs among this subpopulation has not been examined, as such, this systematic review examined the effectiveness of sexual assault interventions aimed towards fraternities and male collegiate athletic teams. To synthesize the existing scientific evidence five databases were searched resulting in a 5859-article screening. A total of 10 articles met full text criteria. Qualitative synthesis of these articles provided evidence to support the effectiveness of these programs in preventing sexual assault from these high-risk and highly masculine groups. A meta-analysis of five intervention effects among fraternity members indicated promising effects in the reduction of rape myth beliefs. Given the disproportionate number of sexual assault intervention programs aimed at fraternity members, future intervention programs should also target men in collegiate athletic teams. • Most sexual assault interventions are geared towards fraternity members. • There is a lack of sexual assault interventions aimed at male college athletes. • Sexual assault interventions were effective in reducing rape myth acceptance.

Barriers to recruitment and retention of undergraduate men as college sexual assault prevention peer educators

Objective: Male allies play an important role in sexual assault prevention, yet many college sexual assault prevention programs struggle to recruit and retain men. This study aims to identify barriers to recruitment and retention of male sexual assault prevention peer educators. Participants: Seventeen undergraduate male student leaders participated in this study during summer 2018. Methods: Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted, recorded, and transcribed. Response data were thematically analyzed. Results: Barriers to recruitment include perceived gender norms and discomfort with the topic of sexual assault. Barriers to retention include male peer educators’ perception that women are resistant to men discussing sexual assault. Suggestions for improving recruitment and retention efforts are also identified. Conclusions: Recruitment and retention of male sexual assault prevention peer educators may require recruitment approaches that are tailored to men and programmatic changes that position men as allies in sexual assault prevention.

Resilience to suicidal ideation among college sexual assault survivors: The protective role of optimism and gratitude in the context of posttraumatic stress.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms related to sexual assault have been linked to greater suicidal ideation, yet little is known about protective factors that may weaken this link and reduce thoughts of suicide in the context of posttraumatic stress. Drawing on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and prior research, psychological strengths associated with resilience, such as optimism and gratitude, have the potential to be associated with attenuated suicidal ideation among sexual assault survivors. We tested this possibility in a sample of 425 undergraduate women who reported unwanted sexual experiences during adolescence or adulthood. A linear regression analysis revealed that greater sexual assault-related posttraumatic stress symptoms in the past month were associated with greater concurrent suicidal ideation. However, moderation analyses revealed the link between assault-related posttraumatic stress and suicidal ideation was attenuated for individuals higher in optimism and gratitude. Further, at the highest levels of optimism and gratitude, there was no longer a significant association between posttraumatic stress and suicidal ideation. Given optimism and gratitude are modifiable strengths that individuals can develop and grow over time, these results suggest boosting optimism and gratitude may be a valuable way to attenuate thoughts of suicide in interventions for college women who have experienced sexual assault. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving Access to Postassault Healthcare for College Students: Creating a Campus-Based Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program.

National prevalence data indicate that college students are at a high risk for sexual assault, but most institutions of higher education do not provide postassault medical forensic examinations as part of student-facing healthcare services. College sexual assault patients might have access to sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) in local hospitals, if they are available where they are attending school, but unfortunately, many student victims do not have options for postassault health services. Creating campus-based SANE programs could address this gap in services and increase access to healthcare. In this article, we describe how we created a free-standing, campus-based SANE program at Michigan State University. We worked with a multidisciplinary community advisory board to identify core guiding principles to inform stakeholder engagement, program location decisions, program policies, training protocols, staffing plans, and collaborative partnerships with other disciplines (e.g., advocacy, law enforcement, prosecution, forensic sciences). We discuss how we navigated opening the program in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic and share lessons learned for creating campus-based SANE programs.

“It Probably Hurt More Than It Helped”

Sexual assault in the college context disproportionately impacts lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students. Title IX law requires that college campuses have a mechanism in place to respond to reports of sexual assault, and professional social workers are often embedded throughout this process as advocates on-campus and in the community. This study explores the experience and perceptions of LGBTQ survivors with the Title IX reporting process. A sample of 409 LGBTQ survivors of college sexual assault were recruited via social media. Results of bivariate analysis indicate that LGBTQ survivors who reported had less trust in college officials and a more negative perception of the reporting climate than those who did not. Further thematic analysis suggests that students who reported faced issues related to mandatory reporting policies and accountability in sanctioning. To improve the experience of survivors with reporting sexual assault to college officials, social workers can advocate for transparency at the institutional level and less stringent mandatory reporting policies.

"They are Assuming That We are Going to Accuse Them of Rape, and We are Assuming That They are Going to Rape us": A Developmental Perspective on Emerging Adults' Consent Conversations Post #MeToo.

Prevalence of sexual assault remains high on American college campuses, and sexual consent education is lacking within school-based sexual health education programming. Much empirical research has aimed to reduce sexual violence through a deeper understanding of college students' perceptions of sexual consent. However, researchers have not yet examined the impact of broader social discourse, such as that initiated by the #MeToo movement, on emerging adults' conceptualizations of sexual consent. Gendered focus groups were conducted with 34 college students at a large midwestern university in spring of 2019. Qualitative analyses using a phenomenological framework revealed a developmental process of consent education shaped by socialized sexual scripts and public discourse of the #MeToo movement. Four distinct themes emerged: (1) Introductions to Consent in Childhood, (2) Lack of Sexual Consent Education in Adolescence, (3) The Nuanced College Context, and (4) Consent in the Era of #MeToo. Findings reveal that consent is introduced in childhood, outside the context of sexuality, but is generally not revisited within the context of sexual consent by parents or educators during adolescence, leaving media messaging and socialized sexual scripts to serve as guides for sexual consent. This lack of sexual consent education in adolescence then leaves emerging adults unprepared for nuanced sexual experiences in the college context and unable to critically engage with public discourse surrounding consent such as the #MeToo movement, which has caused both fearful and positive outcomes. Findings support the need for earlier and more comprehensive education about sexual consent in childhood and adolescence and the need for college sexual assault prevention programs to include further instruction on navigating ambiguous sexual consent experiences.

Defining Sexual Consent: Perspectives from a College Student Population

The current investigation explored how college students define sexual consent, and the sources from which they developed these definitions. Thematic analysis generated five categories of consent definitions: permission, agreement, willingness, wanted-ness, and contextual elements (i.e., stipulations regarding the consent process; behaviors that require sexual consent). Participants’ sources from which they learned about the definition of sexual consent included: educational experiences, friends, family, school, media, personal experiences, and unsure/common sense. Findings highlight the complex nature of sexual consent as a communicative construct and the varied sources from which college students constructed their conceptualization of consent. Implications for college health and sexual assault programming, as well as for researchers looking to further explore the multi-faceted construct of sexual consent, are discussed.

Does a report = support? A qualitative analysis of college sexual assault survivors’ Title IX Office knowledge, perceptions, and experiences

AbstractUniversities in the United States are required to remedy sexual assault under Title IX. Thus, college sexual assault survivors have the option to report to their university's Title IX Office as a mechanism for seeking sanctions and accommodations. The current study examined what survivors think about the Title IX Office, the possibility of seeking help there, and experiences with the reporting processes. Additionally, we examined the intersection between survivors’ gender and sexual identity in their perceptions and interactions. We conducted qualitative interviews with 40 survivors at a large Midwestern University and analyzed these data using content analysis and thematic analysis. The majority knew about the Title IX Office and its function, but most did not use it. Campus climate often fostered service barriers, including the minimization of sexual assault, fear of negative treatment, and social–emotional concerns. Survivors who reported rarely saw accountability for their perpetrators and frequently experienced negative treatment from investigators. There were substantial inconsistencies in reporting processes across survivors. There were few differences in knowledge and barriers across sexual and gender identities, but only cisgender women reported. Findings suggest the value in reducing barriers fostered by the campus climate and establishing mechanisms for Title IX Office oversight and accountability.

Development of and Preliminary Evidence for a Psychological Service Barriers Measure Among College Sexual Assault Survivors.

Sexual assault is a widespread problem on college campuses, and survivors rarely use campus supports. However, there is no established measure of service barriers for this population. This study develops and provides preliminary evidence for a measure of psychological service barriers. Data were collected from 100 college sexual assault survivors. Results provide evidence for three factors: social-emotional barriers, negative treatment barriers, and minimization barriers. Additional tests offer evidence for consistency and reliability in these factors over time and across campus supports. This work offers preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of this measure and lays the groundwork for future validation research.

“Serious enough”? A mixed-method examination of the minimization of sexual assault as a service barrier for college sexual assault survivors.

“Serious enough”? A mixed-method examination of the minimization of sexual assault as a service barrier for college sexual assault survivors.

Settling for Less: How Organizations Shape Survivors' Legal Ideologies Around College Sexual Assault

Settling for Less: How Organizations Shape Survivors' Legal Ideologies Around College Sexual Assault

Partner Violence among Female Students Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Emerging Adulthood

ABSTRACT Studies examining college dating violence to date have focused exclusively on university settings where White students are overrepresented and Black students are limited. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which have traditionally matriculated Black American students, present a compelling case for study as empirical evidence has shown that Black females experience a higher rate of violence compared to their White counterparts. Using data from the Historically Black College and University Campus Sexual Assault (HBCU-CSA) Study, this study examined contextual and individual factors that were associated with partner violence victimization and perpetration among female undergraduate students attending HBCUs in their emerging adulthood. In sum, our study found a constellation of contextual factors (i.e., residence on campus, community engagement) and individual factors (i.e., depressive symptoms, adverse sexual experience, substance use, condom use, drug use before sex, ever been married) that were associated with partner violence among female undergraduate students attending HBCUs.

“A victim/survivor needs agency”: Sexual assault survivors’ perceptions of university mandatory reporting policies

AbstractIn institutions of higher education, mandatory reporting policies require certain employees to report students’ sexual assault disclosures to university officials, even if the student does not want to report. It is commonly assumed that these policies will benefit survivors, but there is a paucity of research to substantiate this assumption. The current study examined college sexual assault survivors’ perceptions of mandatory reporting policies, including three specific policy approaches (Universal, Selective, Student‐Directed). Interviews were conducted with 40 college sexual assault survivors and thematic analysis was used to analyze these data. Results found that the mandatory reporting policy approaches that survivors prefer, which limit the number of mandatory reporters and offer more autonomy and flexibility, do not align with the policy approaches most frequently implemented within institutions of higher education (i.e., Universal). Survivors anticipated more harms resulting from mandatory reporting than benefits (e.g., pushing survivors into disclosures before they are ready, increasing stress and anxiety, discouraging help‐seeking from trusted sources of support on campus). Survivors lacked substantive knowledge of their university's mandatory reporting policy. Findings suggest that policy makers at institutional, state, and federal levels should consider survivors’ perspectives when crafting such policies and institutions should increase educational efforts about mandatory reporting.

Daily and situational reports of substance use and dating violence among college students: A 10-week prospective study

IntroductionAlthough the association between substance use and dating violence is well-established in the research literature, there is limited research establishing the temporal co-occurrence of these variables. The primary objective was to examine the temporal relationship between alcohol and drug use and subsequent dating violence using a proximal effects model. MethodsThis prospective study obtained daily diary data and weekly situational reports on abusive relationship events and substance use from 72 college women in dating relationships over a 10-week interval. ResultsSignificant day-to-day associations were found between substance use and dating violence for women’s reports of their own behavior, and that of their male partners. The odds of dating violence were approximately 2.0 times higher on days when perpetrators drank alcohol. Women were approximately 2.0 times more likely to perpetrate dating violence when using drugs, and men were approximately 1.4 times more likely when they used drugs. Estimated blood alcohol concentration levels and binge drinking were associated significantly with dating violence perpetration for women’s reports of men’s behavior as well as for women’s reports of their own aggression. These findings held when examining severe versus minor dating violence as well as any versus no dating violence. ConclusionsThese results further support an association between substance use and partner aggression at daily and situational levels of analysis, extending prior clinical findings to a college dating sample. Taken with previous research findings, our results suggest the need for college sexual assault and dating violence prevention programs to target reductions in substance use.

Women’s disclosure of college sexual assault: Greek-life status does not influence disclosure

Objective Due to high prevalence rates of sexual assault among college-aged women and the benefits of disclosure (e.g., emotional well-being), it remains important to consider barriers to disclosure. The current paper aimed to examine if barriers to disclosure may be more salient to sorority women. Participants: We examined differences in rates of hypothetical willingness to formally disclose (N = 693) and actual formal/informal disclosure (N = 584) as well as mental health as a function of Greek-life status among college women. Method: Two separate online surveys were administered (October, 2016; January, 2017), respectively. Results: Findings suggest no significant differences in rates of hypothetical or actual formal/informal disclosure as a function of Greek-life status; however, Greek-life members reported lower mental health. Conclusion: Findings from the current studies suggest that institutional factors (e.g., campus climate) may serve as a barrier to disclosure. Limitations and future directions in this important area are discussed.