Permission Denied; The Reality of Sexual Assault Rates of College Students

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Documentaries, rock stars and politicians have kept campus sexual assault in the headlines over the past year. The remarkably high rates of sexual victimization (e.g., 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted by the end of college) appear consistently across campuses. What hasn’t been examined to the same extent is whether these victimization rates are consistent across different ethnic groups. Prior research has also suggested that college students may put themselves at risk because of their participation in social activities that create situations where offenders may perceive them to be suitable targets (Schwartz & Pitts, 1995). This research will consider ethnic differences in engaging in consensual sexual activity, drinking and other potential risk taking behavior. Over 750 Criminal Justice students completed measures about sexual assault (SES; Koss, Gidycz & Wisniewsky, 1987), childhood victimization (CATS; Sanders & Becker-Lausen, 1995), consensual sexual behavior (DSFI; Derogatis, 1978), and high-risk behavior. Just under 60% of respondents were female and over 70% were freshman or sophomores. The group was ethnically diverse (43% Caucasian non-Hispanic, 32% Hispanic, 15% African American and 18% Asian/Pacific Islander). Implications for building this information into assault prevention programs will be discussed.

Authors

• Carol Ferranti, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Karisa Noel Pavan, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• M. Alexis Kennedy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas