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Description
Sexual violence is a widespread and significant problem on college campuses across America. Experiences of sexual violence can lead to repeat victimization, suicide, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Systematic under acknowledgment and underreporting by victims leads to inaccurate statistics regarding sexual violence. Additionally, research has historically focused on women as victims and men as perpetrators, which has further inhibited the understanding of sexual violence prevalence, risk and protective factors, and predictors of self-acknowledgment and reporting behaviors. Without a more complete understanding of the scope and prevalence of sexual violence, it is impossible to create effective prevention and intervention programs. In spring 2015, following the recommendations of The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, San Diego State University created and administered a campus-wide sexual violence climate survey. Over 9,000 students participated. Correlational analyses of this cross-sectional data revealed that men experienced significantly less sexual violence victimization than women (OR = 2.2, p < 0.001) and were also significantly less likely to self-acknowledge victimization (OR = 3.5, p < 0.001). No gender differences were found in reporting behaviors (p = 0.499, Fisher's exact test). Stronger acceptance of rape myths was found to be associated with lower levels of self-acknowledgement (OR = 1.03, p < 0.001) and reporting to authorities (OR = 1.05, p = 0.005). Higher levels of knowledge of campus policies and procedures were found to be associated with higher levels of self-acknowledgment (OR = 1.21, p < 0.001) but not reporting to authorities (p = 0.089). Gender was not found to moderate the relationship between rape myth acceptance and reporting behaviors (p = 0.570). The present study provides a much needed look into experiences of sexual violence victimization of both men and women in the context of a large university setting. The results of this study highlight the need for prospective longitudinal designs in future research on sexual violence on college campuses. Additionally, this study indicates a significant need for intervention and prevention programs geared toward male victims of sexual violence. Further implications for future research, policy changes, and intervention programs are discussed.
