FEATURED
ANALYSIS
A new study found the campus sexual violence rate is around one percent, which differs from the oft-cited claim that 1 in 5 women are victims of sexual assault or violence while in college.
Researchers with Washington State University “analyzed data from 2007 through 2022 from 61,869 women surveyed for the nationally representative National Crime Victimization Survey,” according to a paper in the Journal of American College Health.
The “6-month sexual violence victimization prevalence” for college students was .46 percent for both on-campus and commuter students. “Over that same period, among college-students, the 6-month rate for on-campus residents,” worked out to about one percent, the authors wrote.
Professors Kathryn DuBois and Amelie Pedneault, the authors of the study, framed their findings in terms of the increased risk for on-campus students. “The risk of sexual violence victimization for young women who attend college – especially for on-campus residents – now exceeds that for those who are not enrolled,” they wrote.
Later, the professors wrote “residing on-campus tripled the risk of sexual violence for college-enrolled women.” The victimization rate for commuter students was .33 percent, however.
The College Fix asked both professors about the significance of their research in light of past studies past studies of sexual violence on campus, which have often found a victimization rate closer to 1 in 5, or 20 percent, over four years in college. The Fix also asked both why they focused more on the greater risk to residential students instead of the lower rate overall for all college students than what had previously been reported.
DuBois told The Fix that the studies are not necessarily comparable, writing “our results cannot speak to earlier estimates of sexual violence occurring over a 4-year college ‘career’ because NCVS questions only deal with victimizations experienced during a 6-month period.
“As such, we really cannot say if 1-in-5 or 1-in-100 is a more reliable estimate of risk,” she wrote in an email on Monday.
She also explained why the study focused on the differences between on-campus and off-campus students instead of the overall risk for women.
DuBois wrote:
[W]e focused our discussion on the estimated risk for women living on-campus (1) because they now have the highest risk which, it can be argued, makes it the most discussion-worthy result and (2) because the audience of the journal is college health professionals — who would be more likely to be working with women living on-campus than women who are commuters. Also, given the abovementioned differences in time-at-risk as well as differences in study purpose, target population, and survey questions, it’s difficult to know what to make of our estimates relative to earlier research done on the subject.
The results differ from past surveys which have suggested that 1 in 5 women are victims of sexual violence on college campuses, although those studies have faced scrutiny for their design and plausibility, given reported campus crime stats.
For example, a study done by Research Triangle International in 2007 concluded that 19 percent of surveyed women experienced completed or attempted sexual assault since entering college. The study found that women in college were more likely to experience completed or attempted sexual assault compared to 16 percent of women who experienced it before college.
The lead author on that study, Christopher Krebs, conducted subsequent research for the Department of Justice which produced similar results.
Other studies and groups have also claimed 1 in 5 women are victims of campus sexual assault.
The Fix contacted Krebs and co-researcher Christine Lindquist by email and phone call over the course of two weeks to request comments on their studies. Neither responded the several requests for comment.
Campus sexual assault rates can be misleading, legal scholar says
However, a legal scholar who often writes about sexual violence on campus shared new insights into the controversy and the latest study.
Professor John Banzhaf said many reports of campus rape “are inflated since many sexual acts don’t involve force or the threat of force.” Most states define rape as requiring force or threat of force, the George Washington University emeritus professor told The Fix via email.
Moreover, Banzhaf said that sexual battery could mean the slightest touch that could be misunderstood as sexual in nature. “So the casual brushing back of a woman’s hair, a friendly pat on the buttocks during a game (which commonly occurs even among same-sex hetero participants playing baseball), accidentally brushing against a breast with an elbow, etc. could be reported as a sexual battery – although no prosecutor in his or her right might would ever prosecute it as such,” Banzhaf said.
Another flaw in past studies, Banzhaf said, is the definition of consent or its lack. Some say that compelled or coerced consent is not valid, which defines the succeeding sexual intercourse as sexual assault or rape.
However, “few would agree that a woman who agrees to sex to prevent her boyfriend from leaving her, so that he will continue to take her out on dates, to avoid him complaining to his friends about her unwillingness, etc., has been the victim of sexual assault, much less rape,” Banzhaf said.
Some women also experience “regret sex” when they may have consented to sex, but regret it, and therefore try to convince themselves that they could not have possibly consented to it, the professor said. They then claim to be victims of sexual assault or rape, claiming that they did not consent to it, when they actually did.
The professor also criticized campus rape-reduction programs because they rarely discuss avoiding alcohol or using a buddy system.
Citing a Chronicle of Higher Education story, Banzhaf said colleges are hesitant to warn women about the connection between getting drunk and unwanted sexual activity because they fear being accused of victim blaming.
