Sexual violence in the lives of first-year university women in Canada: no improvements in the 21st century

Abstract

BackgroundSummarizes the frequency, type, and context of sexual assault in a large sample of first-year university women at three Canadian universities.MethodsAs part of a randomized controlled trial assessing the efficacy of a sexual assault resistance education program, baseline data were collected from women between ages of 17 and 24 using computerized surveys. Participants’ experience with sexual victimization since the age of 14 years was assessed using the Sexual Experiences Survey--Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV).ResultsAmong 899 first-year university women (mean age = 18.5 years), 58.7% (95% CI: 55.4%, 62.0%) had experienced one or more forms of victimization since the age of 14 years, 35.0% (95% CI: 31.9%, 38.3%) had experienced at least one completed or attempted rape, and 23.5% (95% CI: 20.7%, 26.4%) had been raped. Among the 211 rape victims, 46.4% (95% CI: 39.7%, 53.2%) had experienced more than one type of assault (oral, vaginal, anal) in a single incident or across multiple incidents. More than three-quarters (79.6%; 95% CI: 74.2%, 85.1%) of the rapes occurred while women were incapacitated by alcohol or drugs. One-third (33.3%) of women had previous self-defence training, but few (4.0%) had previous sexual assault education.ConclusionsFindings from the first large Canadian study of university women since the 1990s indicate that a large proportion of women arrive on campuses with histories of sexual victimization, and they are generally unprepared for the perpetrators they may face during their academic years. There is an urgent need for effective rape prevention programs on university campuses.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01338428. Registered 13 April 2011.

Efficacy of a Sexual Assault Resistance Program for University Women

“…Third, the rate of prior victimization among women who were enrolled in the study was higher than the rates generally reported in studies involving a random sample of participants. 4 This was anticipated and was minimized by recruiting through psychology courses that offered rewards for participation. Reductions in risk were observed among women with prior victimization and among those without prior victimization.…”

“…The full study protocol and the baseline characteristics and sexual assault histories have been published previously 4,22 ; the study protocol is also available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org. The first author assumes responsibility for the fidelity of the report to the protocol and the accuracy and completeness of the data.…”

“…The incidence of sexual assault is estimated to be between 20% and 25% over a period of 4 years and to be highest during the first 2 years. 3,4 Being sexually assaulted can result in post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcohol use, and decreased safer-sex practices, among other negative health outcomes. 5 In addition to the specific health consequences for the woman, 6 the social and financial costs to society are also high.…”

Reporting Unwanted Sexual Behaviour at a Post-Secondary Institution: Student Understandings of Campus Policy

“…This article aims to examine how students understand their university's sexual violence policy and the process of reporting sexual violence on campus. The work of DeKeseredy and Kelly (1993), DeKeseredy and Schwartz (1998), DeKeseredy, Schwartz, and Tait (1993), Dekeseredy, Schwartz, & Alvi (2000), Newton-Taylor, DeWit and Gliksman (1998), and Senn, et al (2014) are some of the only peer-reviewed research on campus sexual assault in the Canadian context. These authors did not investigate students' understandings of campus policies and responses regarding sexual violence.…”

Bashful Behaviours: The Association Between Perceived Vulnerability and the Dark Tetrad Personality Traits

“…In a study of 3187 university students, Brecklin (2004) noted that 57% of women reported being victims of childhood sexual abuse (<14 years old; Brecklin, 2004). These numbers transcend into adulthood, where some studies have found that between 53.5% to 58.7% of women have experienced some form of sexual victimization beyond the age of 14 (Brecklin, 2004;Senn et al, 2014). While the personality traits of victims of sexual violence map onto those identified above, that is, victims of sexual violence are less likely to be sexually assertive (Greene & Navarro, 1998;Livingston et al, 2007;VanZile-Tamsen et al, 2005) and may be socially avoidant (Classen et al, 2001), the personality traits of female victims of nonsexual violence has garnered limited empirical attention.…”