Sexual Aggression among Brazilian College Students: Prevalence of Victimization and Perpetration in Men and Women

Abstract

Despite the increased attention devoted to sexual aggression among college students in the international research literature, Brazil has no systematic studies on the prevalence of sexual aggression in college populations. The present research measured the prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization since age 14 among 742 first-year college students in Brazil (411 women). A Portuguese version of the Short Form of the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss et al., 2007 ) was administered to collect information from men and women as both victims and perpetrators of sexual aggression. The overall prevalence rate of victimization was 27% among men and 29% among women. Except for sexual coercion and attempted sexual coercion, there were no significant gender differences in victimization rates concerning nonconsensual sexual acts and aggressive strategies. In contrast, perpetration rates were significantly higher among men (33.7%) than among women (3%). The findings challenge societal beliefs that men are unlikely to be sexually coerced. Explanations are proposed for the disparity between male victimization and female perpetration rates based on traditional gender roles in Brazil.

Frequency of self-reported sexual aggression and victimization in Brazil: a literature review

“…Nearly 70% of adult rape cases occurred between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM. These data differ sharply from those provided by studies in the general population or convenience samples, where both women and men report sexual victimization by intimate partners, occurring in domestic settings, and where other forms of coercion were applied (e.g., taking advantage of victim's incapacitated state) 13,14 . Besides the underreporting problem, the IPEA report did not included victims treated at private clinics, which mainly serve the middle and upper classes in Brazil.…”

“…The highest previous-year incidence rate was reported by a sample of university students (38.5% in women and 34.5% in men) 38 . Three other studies also reported high victimization rates in university students 14,39,40 .…”

“…However, in the first study the difference was only statistically significant in males 13 . In the second, the samples of homo-and bisexuals were too small to test for statistical significance 14 .…”

“…Twenty-six studies included women only, four studies men only, and 11 studies both women and men (Table 2). Five studies addressed same-sex sexual aggression 13,14,29,34,35 , and 12 studies provided information on race issues 3,13,21,23,24,26,30,32,34,35,36,37 .…”

“…Two studies included female respondents only, three studies included men and women, and four studies included men only. Specific social groups were addressed by seven studies: university students 14,38,40,43 , pregnant women 44 , men who have sex with men 35 , and HIV-positive men who have sex with women 45 .…”