Campus Sexual Assault Information Sheet

 

Sexual violence is any act (verbal and/or physical) which breaks a person's trust and/or safety and is sexual in nature. The term "sexual violence" includes: rape, date/acquaintance rape, incest, child sexual assault, ritual abuse, marital or partner rape, sexual harassment, exposure, and voyeurism. Sexual assaults are acts of violence where sex is used as the weapon. Victims/survivors of sexual violence are forced, coerced and/or manipulated to participate in unwanted sexual activity.


Sexual assault on college and university campuses is occurring at an alarming rate. The majority of these are date/acquaintance rapes perpetrated against women by men. Date/acquaintance rapists often believe myths such as: women owe men sex if they spend money on her; some women play hard to get and say no when they mean yes; and women enjoy being pursued by an aggressive male. Additionally, alcohol and drugs as well as gendered communication may be factors in these sexual assaults. Regardless, it is NEVER the victim/survivor's fault no matter what she wore, where she was, whether or not she fought back, or whether or not she and/or the perpetrator were drinking. Perpetrators are 100% responsible for their actions.

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

  • 1 in 4 women in college today have been victims of rape, and almost 90% of them knew their assailants (Ms. Study, Mary P. Koss, http://pubweb.ucdavis.edu/documents/RPEP/koss.htm. I Never Called It Rape, Robin Warshaw, NY: Harper & Row, 1988).
  • Of these women, only 27% identified themselves as rape victims (Warshaw, 1988).
  • In a survey of 930 women living in San Francisco, conducted by researcher Diana Russell, 44% of the women questioned had been victims of rape or attempted rape, 88% knew their attackers (Warshaw, 1988).
  • The risk of rape is four times higher for women aged 16 to 24, the prime dating age, than for any other population group (Warshaw, 1988).
  • A woman has a 4 times greater chance of being raped by someone she knows than by a stranger (Warshaw, 1988).
  • 1 in 12 college-age men admit having fulfilled the prevailing definition of rape or attempted rape, yet virtually none of these men identify themselves as rapists (Warshaw, 1988).
  • 60% of male college students "indicated some likelihood of raping or using force in certain circumstances." (Predicting Self-Reported Likelihood of Sexually Abusive Behavior: Attitudinal vs. Sexual Explainations, Briere and Malamuth, Journal of Research in Personality, 17, 1983, in Dating Violence, Ed. Barrie Levy, Seatte, WA: Seal Press, 1991).
  • 75% of campus sexual assaults involved the consumption of alcohol by the victim and/or the perpetrator. The percentage is probably higher due to victims blaming themselves or blacking out. Sexual Assault on Campus: The Problem and the Solution, Carol Bohmer and Andrea Parrot, NY: MacMillan, 1993).
  • In a 1995 study done at the UW-Madison Campus, 2.9% of the 616 woman sample experienced at least one incident of intercourse or oral sex against their will during the 1994-1995 academic year. 12.1% of the Seniors said they had experienced at least one incident of intercourse or oral sex against their will while attending UW-Madison (Laurel Crown, 1995).
  • 26% of the men who acknowledged committing sexual assault on a date reported being intoxicated at the time of the assault. Another 29% reported being "mildly buzzed," for a total of 55% who were admittedly under the influence of alcohol. In the same study, 21% of the college women who experienced sexual aggression on a date were intoxicated at the time of the assault. Another 32% reported being "mildly buzzed," for a total of 53% who were under the influence of alcohol ("Date Rape & Sexual Aggression in Dating Situations: Incidence and Risk Factors," Charlene L. Muelenhard and Melanie A. Linton, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol.34, No.2, 1987).
  • From a sample of sorority women, 24% had experienced an attempted rape, 17% were victims of a completed rape. Almost half of these rapes and attempted rapes were perpetrated in a fraternity house ("Sexual Victimization Among Sorority Women: Exploring the Link Between Sexual Violence and Institutional Practices," Stacey Copenhaver and Elizabeth Grauerholz, Sex Roles, Vol.24, Nos.1,2, 1991).
  • Men in fraternities appear to engage in more non physical coersion and use of drugs and alcohol as a sexual strategy than did "independents" ("Social Contexts and Social Learning in Sexual Coercion and Aggression: Assessing the Contribution of Fraternity Membership," Scot Boeringer, et al., Family Relations, Jan. 1991).

 

 

This information sheet was revised in 1997 by the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault (WCASA). WCASA is a membership organization of sexual assault centers and other organizations and individuals throughout Wisconsin who are working to end sexual violence. For information sheets on additional topics or for membership information, contact WCASA, 123 East Main Street, Madison, WI 53703 (608) 257-1516. For more information about sexual assault or to receive support around a sexual assault experience, contact your local sexual assault program. This sheet may be reproduced and is available in alternative formats.