Sexual assault incidents among college undergraduates: Prevalence and factors associated with risk
Unfortunately, campus sexual assault is widespread and still real on our college and university campuses. Thankfully, efforts have been made to rectify this issue, most importantly, affirmative consent standards, but sadly gender and the different kinds of relations customary now to name a few, prevent success in this matter. Today, women are still tricked into having unwanted sex and regrettably, after much research, we still don't have answers on clarifying what these women heart that persuade them to say yes when in their hearts the answer is no!
Research on sexual consent is scarce, especially as it relates to unwanted sex and the relation with verbal coercion. The purpose of this article is to discuss how multiple forms of unwanted sex can be conceptionally examined and the need for policy implications and areas for future research are discussed.
Holland, K. J., & Cortina, L. M. (2017). "It Happens to Girls All the Time": Examining Sexual Assault Survivors' Reasons for Not Using Campus Supports. American journal of community psychology, 59(1-2), 50–64. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12126
In this podcast we discuss the recently published 'Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, England and Wales: year ending March 2020'.The report from the Office for National Statistics is concerned with: Information from the Crime Survey for England and Wales on the amount, type and nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration (including attempts) experienced since the age of 16 years.
In the first part of a two-part episode, we speak with Dr. Jennifer S. Hirsch and Dr. Shamus Khan, authors of the book Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study on Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus. Sexual Citizens was named one of National Public Radio’s Best Books of 2020. In this episode, we discuss the principles of the book and its key concepts: sexual projects, sexual citizenship, and sexual geographies.
Recent studies are shining a light on the increasing incidents of sexual assault on college campuses. There are a couple of studies being done at HBCUs that highlight the prevalence and risk factors associated with sexual assault. The current study was conducted with the idea to increase available evidence by determining prevalence, correlates, and outcomes of sexual assault at a single HBCU. A total of 264 undergraduate students from an HBCU in the mid-Atlantic region were selected to participate in the study with the majority of participants being female (71%), African American (91%), and seniors (41%). After providing informed consent, participants completed a Climate Assessment survey administered by the university’s Office of Diversity. Results of the study revealed that since beginning college approximately 20% of students had sexual contact without consent. Among the individuals sexually assaulted, 20% reported they were incapacitated or under the influence of alcohol at the time of the assault. Around 17% of those assaulted experienced a physical injury and/or poor mental health outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression, flashbacks). Results further established that a lack of reporting the sexual assault was due to a variety of issues such as, embarrassment, afraid of retaliation from the perpetrator, and believing it was a private matter. The study reinforces the necessity to address sexual assault on HBCU campuses through strong prevention/ intervention programs, and address barriers to reporting incidents.
https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence
Sexual assault is occurring on college campuses at a rate of over 20% in women and 5% in males. Many choose not to come forward, but the focus of this discussion is the students who are brave enough to come forward whose cases are mishandled by the universities themselves. We Believe You is a collection of first-hand accounts of sexual assault on campus created by Annie E. Clark and Andrea L. Pino at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill).
Clark, A. E., & Pino, A. L. (2016). We Believe You!. Holt Paperbacks.
President Obama addressed this situation during his term with his administration taking several steps towards decreasing the assault rates on the college campuses and increasing the report rates.
National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). President Obama Launches the “It's Us” Campaign to End Sexual Assault on Campus. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog
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