Intimate Violence Among Underrepresented Groups on a College Campus

Abstract

Rape, sexual violence, psychological violence, and physical violence, among college students have been a concern. Lifetime events are often studied but not violence that specifically transpires while one is in college. Underrepresented groups such as Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, students who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual, and students who are members of racial and ethnic minorities have not been studied as extensively as White, heterosexual females. The authors used several measures to investigate the incidence of sexual violence, physical and psychological abuse among underrepresented groups in a random sample of 1,028 college students at a private, northeastern, technological campus in upstate New York, United States and analyzed victimization rates by gender, race/ethnicity, auditory status, and sexual orientation. Binary logistic regression analyses found that statistically significant differences are likely to exist between members of underrepresented groups and groups in the majority. The study found statistically significant associations between Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and students who were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientation with psychological abuse and physical abuse. Racial and ethnic minorities and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and other sexual orientation students were significantly more at risk for sexual abuse. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and other sexual orientation students, students who were members of a racial or ethnic minority, and female students were significantly more likely to be raped. Female heterosexual students were more likely to be the victim of an attempted rape. Suggestions for further research and policy implications are provided.

Intimate Partner Violence in a U.S. College Sample: Do Auditory Status and Gender Predict Victimization?

“…If we use the results from the model with all cases and no interaction effect from Table 3(a) and Table 4(a), we see that students that were Deaf or hard of hearing were 3 times more likely to report both psychological and physical abuse than hearing students. These findings are consistent with previous studies that have found that Deaf and hard of hearing students are significantly more likely to report abuse than their hearing peers (Anderson & Leigh, 2010;Porter & McQuiller Williams, 2011a;Porter & McQuiller Williams, 2011b), and highlight the importance for education among groups about their varying risks for different types of abuse. Students who are Deaf or hard of hearing, for example, may be exposed to "disability-specific forms of violence" by partners, such as destruction of communication devices (Powers et al, 2009(Powers et al, : p. 1041 (Anderson et al, 2011: p. 204).…”

“…For example, psychological abuse may include the perpetrator insulting the victim by calling the victim "hearing" or making fun of his/her sign language skills, signing very close to the victim's face (Anderson, 2014), or tying the victim's hands to prevent the victim from signing (Packota, 2000). Recent studies have demonstrated that IPV among the Deaf and hard of hearing community is an important issue (Anderson, 2010;Anderson, Leigh, & Samar, 2011;Porter & McQuiller Williams, 2011a, 2011b) that warrants further study. Disability theory would predict that persons with disabilities would be at a higher risk of physical or psychological abuse than those who did not have a disability.…”

“…Moreover, recent studies using college samples in the U.S. indicate that prevalence rates of experiencing intimate partner violence were more than doubled for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals when compared to hearing populations (Anderson, 2010;Porter & McQuiller Williams, 2011a;Porter & McQuiller Williams, 2011b). For example, in a recent study conducted by Anderson and Leigh (2010), a significantly higher proportion of Deaf women undergraduates at a college in Washington, D.C. reported IPV victimization (i.e., physical assault and psychological aggression) than hearing students in the previous year.…”

“…For example, in a recent study conducted by Anderson and Leigh (2010), a significantly higher proportion of Deaf women undergraduates at a college in Washington, D.C. reported IPV victimization (i.e., physical assault and psychological aggression) than hearing students in the previous year. Similarly, using randomized samples of over 1000 college men and women, including over 200 Deaf and hearing students at a large U.S. northeastern university, it was found that Deaf and hard of hearing college students were twice as likely to report psychological abuse and nearly two and a half times more likely to experience physical abuse at the hands of a partner than hearing students in the prior year (Porter & McQuiller Williams, 2011a;Porter & McQuiller Williams, 2011b). Studies of IPV among Deaf or hard of hearing college students at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. found psychological abuse to be more prevalent (30%) than physical abuse (11%) in their current relationships among 1 In the United States, Deaf people do not see themselves as having a disability, but rather have a culture and way of communication that is denied by the dominate hearing culture (Sadusky & Obinna, 2002).…”

Sexual Behavior and Sexual Risks Among Spanish University Students: a Descriptive Study of Gender and Sexual Orientation

“…Studies conducted in Spain have not assessed sexual victimization based on gender and sexual orientation. However, studies conducted in other countries have shown a higher prevalence of sexual victimization among women (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2007), as well as among gay/ lesbian participants than heterosexual participants (Hines et al 2012;Porter and Williams 2011).…”