The Sexual Victimization of College Women. Research Report
Date
2000
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Abstract
The National College Women Sexual Victimization (NCVS) study attempted to build on and surmount the limitations of existing research on the sexual victimization of college students. In addition to the study of sexual victimization, the study investigated how rape estimates that use the two-stage process of behaviorally specific questions and incident reports compared with estimates drawn from survey responses. The study results were based on a telephone survey of a randomly selected national sample of 4,446 college women in 1996. Twelve types of sexual victimization, from completed rape through stalking and verbal forms of sexual victimization, were studied. Survey responses suggest that many students encounter sexist and harassing comments and that many have a good chance of being stalked or enduring some form of coerced sexual contact. During any given academic year, 2.8% of women will experience a completed or attempted rape. Study results also show that a methodology that uses behaviorally specific screen questions in combination with an incident report yields considerably higher estimates of completed, attempted, and threatened rape than are found using the telephone methodology of NCVS. Most sexual victimization occurred when college women were alone with a man they know, at night, and in the privacy of a residence. Several factors appeared to increase the likelihood of being victimized. (Author Abstract)
Description
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Technical Report
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Keywords
Violence Against Women, Incapacitated Rape, Sexual Abuse, Incidence, Prevalence, Young Adult, University
Citation
Fisher, Bonnie S. ; Cullen, Francis T. ; Turner, Michael G. (2000). The Sexual Victimization of College Women. Research Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. NCJ-182369