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Examination of Sexual Violence Against College Women

NCJ Number
213265
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2006 Pages: 288-300
Author(s)
Alan M. Gross; Andrea Winslett; Miguel Roberts; Carol L. Gohm
Date Published
March 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the incidence of various forms of unwanted sexual experiences in a sample of college women.
Abstract
Since enrolling in college, 27 percent of the sample had experienced an unwanted sexual contact, including kissing, petting, and oral, vaginal, or anal intercourse. Over one third of these victims reported multiple forced sexual victimizations. These findings on the prevalence of sexual victimization are consistent with previous research results on sexual victimization among college students. Other findings indicated that African-American women experienced higher rates of sexual abuse than their White counterparts and that alcohol was more frequently involved in the unwanted sexual contact among Whites. The findings have implications for intervention programming that is concerned with tailoring efforts according to population characteristics. Participants were 903 undergraduate female college students recruited from introductory psychology courses and from sororities at a State university. Participants met in small groups where they completed a questionnaire developed by the Washington State University Sexual Assault Task Force for the assessment of unwanted sexual experiences. Statistical analysis techniques included a Fisher’s Exact Test. Tables, references