The Red Zone Risk for College Sexual Assault: A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

The term Red Zone refers to a period of time thought to be high risk for sexual victimization upon entering college in the United States, although empirical evidence for a defined Red Zone has not been established. This article critically reviews empirical research from the last 20 years that investigates the temporality of sexual assault reported by undergraduate women. A keyword search of three major sociopsychological databases was conducted, and articles were included if they reported original empirical results of the timing of sexual assault on campuses, if they directly compared different class years, or if they reported on sexual assault by class year. Ten articles meeting criteria were evaluated in light of methodological, definitional, and measurement issues to assess whether support for a Red Zone of risk exists. We posit that the current extant literature does not provide clear empirical support for the concept of a Red Zone at the beginning of a woman’s entry into college and lasting for the first month or two. However, extending the potential time frame for a Red Zone to include college women’s first and second years has some merit, although the usefulness of considering half of a woman’s college career as high risk for sexual violence is questioned. Importantly, investigations into the temporality of campus sexual assault (CSA) would benefit from the inclusion of multiple other risk factors as potential mediators/moderators to understand whether identifying a particular time frame is useful or whether social contexts and risk factors explain the significance of an identified time frame.

A Web-Based Sexual Violence, Alcohol Misuse, and Bystander Intervention Program for College Women (RealConsent): Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The college students who identified as women in our sample most likely underwent their respective colleges’ required SV prevention programming, which incoming first-year students are mandated to complete the summer before the semester begins. In addition, campus administrative offices such as residence life, student health services, and student affairs may have also implemented additional trainings and awareness events throughout the fall semester during the high-risk period known as the red zone [ 34 , 51 , 52 ]. The red zone describes the heightened risk of exposure to SV for first-year college students who identified as women during their fall semester [ 34 , 51 , 52 ].…”

“…In addition, campus administrative offices such as residence life, student health services, and student affairs may have also implemented additional trainings and awareness events throughout the fall semester during the high-risk period known as the red zone [ 34 , 51 , 52 ]. The red zone describes the heightened risk of exposure to SV for first-year college students who identified as women during their fall semester [ 34 , 51 , 52 ]. As the study participants were recruited from 3 separate universities, it is likely that students were exposed to other SV prevention messaging during the study implementation period [ 34 , 52 ].…”

“…The red zone describes the heightened risk of exposure to SV for first-year college students who identified as women during their fall semester [ 34 , 51 , 52 ]. As the study participants were recruited from 3 separate universities, it is likely that students were exposed to other SV prevention messaging during the study implementation period [ 34 , 52 ]. It is plausible that these external events affected overall exposure to SV incidence at follow-up, resulting in inadequate statistical power and contributing to the null findings.…”

“…Eligible participants were (1) those who self-identified as women, (2) aged 18 to 20 years, (3) single, and (4) entering their first year of college. The eligibility criteria reflect the high risk of exposure to SV among first-year college women as well as the specific period of elevated risk for exposure to SV, which is the fall semester, also known as the red zone [ 34 ].…”

Timing of Sexual Assault Disclosure: A Study of College Women

“…The current study examined the correlates of delayed disclosure of adolescent sexual assault among a sample of first year college women with a history of sexual victimization since age 14. First year college women are ideal for inclusion in research addressing sexual violence given the high rates of victimization during this time of college (Follingstad et al, 2022). Potential correlates of the timing of disclosure aligned with ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1992), and included individual, assault-related, and micro-systems characteristics.…”