Sexual Assault & Stalking in US Colleges and Universities: Does Institution Size and Location Matter?

• In Event: Campus Sexual Assault

Abstract

Recent incidents of rapes in the U.S college campuses have received immense national attention. Per official data, there are nearly 12,000 postsecondary institutions with an approximate 20 million student population enrollment. Each of these institutions has varied population sizes, and many of them are situated within cities, suburbs, towns and rural areas. Prior research has examined the linkage between the location of a college (urban v. rural setting) and the campus crime rate. It has also suggested that those crime problems are linked to internal characteristics such as economic status, social environment and the size of the campus. In this study, using the Campus Security & Safety Data, we study specifically the reporting of campus sexual crimes such as rape, fondling, and stalking and examine its association with the type of institution, student population size, and the degree of urbanization. Policy implications are discussed.

Author

• Manish Madan, Stockton University