Are Rapes and Sexual Assault Part of College Life?We like to think of college campuses as safe havens, but a new report funded by the Justice Department provides clear evidence that they are not, at least not for women students.
This study of "sexual victimization" was based on a telephone survey of 4,446 randomly selected women attending 2- or 4-year colleges and universities across the country during the 1996-97 school year. The goal was to measure sexual coercion and related problems since school began in fall 1996 -- on average, a 7-month time period.
Two percent reported that they had been raped and an addition 1 percent experienced an attempted rape. They did not necessarily use the word rape to describe their experience, which was defined as unwanted completed penetration by force or the threat of force. In addition to sexual intercourse, this definition includes forced oral sex, and forced penetration by objects. The total translates to 35 rapes/attempted rapes for every 1000 college women in an academic year.
Those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg, however. Ten percent of these women had been raped before the academic year started, and about 10 percent reported an attempted rape previously. These previous experiences sometimes were in college, and sometimes were prior to enrollment in college.
During the current academic year, the researchers found much higher rates of other kinds of sexual victimization involving physical force and nonphysical force. Sixteen percent reported that they were sexually victimized during the current academic year; 8 percent had experiences involving force or the threat of force, and 11 percent were victimized without force. (Some women reported both kinds of experiences, which is why the numbers do not add up to 16 percent).
Whether they were raped or harmed in other ways, most women knew the person who sexually victimized them -- approximately nine out of 10 offenders were boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, classmates, friends, acquaintances, or co-workers. Most incidents took place in living quarters, usually in the victim’s residence, although some took place in other dorms or apartments and 10 percent took place at a fraternity. Most incidents occurred off-campus, but often near campus. Threats also took place at bars, dance clubs or nightclubs, and work settings.
The study also looked at the behavior of the women, and found that certain behaviors put them at increased risk for being victimized. These behaviors included frequently drinking enough to get drunk, being unmarried, and previously being a victim of sexual assault.
Very few incidents were reported to the police. About two-thirds of the women told another person, but it was usually a friend.
Stalking was also common. The women were asked whether, since school began this year, "has anyone -- from a stranger to an ex-boyfriend -- repeatedly followed you, watched you phoned, written, e-mailed, or communicated with you in other ways that seemed obsessive and made you afraid or concerned for your safety?" Thirteen percent said yes.
In 1990, the US Congress passed the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act, which required colleges that participate in federal student aid programs to provide campus crime statistics upon request to applicants, students, and employees. Unfortunately, most campuses are reluctant to fully report crime, especially rapes, so the information available to guidance counselors and other youth workers, students, and their families is not accurate, as this report clearly indicates.
The Sexual Victimization of College Women
Bonnie S. Fisher, Francis T. Cullen, Michael G. Turner
Research Report December 2000
National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics
Available online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij or call 800-851-3420
National Research Center for Women & Families
1701 K St. NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006. (202) 223-4000
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