Sexual Violence and Women’s Education: Examining Academic Performance and Persistence

Trauma, violence & abuse, 2014

The literature has documented the widespread nature of sexual assault victimization among college women. While the aftermath of violence against university women has also received focus, that is, documenting trauma-related sequelae; risk factors; reporting patterns; and legal interventions, the impact on academic performance has not received adequate attention in the literature. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the association of rape and sexual assault with academic performance among college women. Its specific aims included the following: to compare high school and college sexual assault experiences with collegiate grade point averages (GPAs) at key points in time; to examine any differences in GPA by type of sexual assault; to urge researchers studying retention and persistence patterns or sexual assault among college students to ensure that the relationship between the two is included in research designs; and to recommend that academic institutions expand program...

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2017

Sexual assault, partner abuse, and stalking are major problems on college campuses. Past research has demonstrated a host of physiological and psychological outcomes associated with victimization; however, there has been little research conducted on the potential academic outcomes associated with victimization. The purpose of this study was to measure the relation between academic outcomes and experiences of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking victimization among college students. A sample of 6,482 undergraduate students currently enrolled at one of eight universities in New England was surveyed using items from the subscales of the College Persistence Questionnaire (Academic Efficacy, Collegiate Stress,

Journal of American college health : J of ACH, 2018

To examine the well-documented mental and physical health problems suffered by undergraduate women sexually assaulted while on campus with an exploration of how the trauma impacts a survivor's lifetime education trajectory and career attainment. In November and December 2015, researchers recruited US participants using an on-line crowdsourcing tool and a Listserv for sexual violence prevention and response professionals. Of 316 women who completed initial screening, 89 qualified to complete a Qualtrics survey. Eighty-one participants completed the on-line survey, and 32 participated in phone interviews. Ninety-one percent of the participants reported health problems related to the assault that they attributed to difficulties they faced in their attainment of their education and career goals. The findings suggest the importance of simultaneously examining the effects of human capital losses and mental and physical health problems attributed to the costly public health problem of ...

Brief presented to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women for its study on violence against young women and girls in Canada Enquête Sexualité, Sécurité et Interactions en Milieu Universitaire (ESSIMU) : Ce qu’en disent étudiant.es, enseignant.es et employé.es [Study on sexuality, security and interactions in a university setting (ESSIMU): What students and employees are saying]

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2019

A multisite survey conducted at eight campuses of a southwestern university system provides the data for the present study, total N = 17,039 with 1,869 gender and sexual minority (GSM) students. Sexual violence was measured using the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), and analysis included both the participant’s risk of experiencing sexual violence and the extent (or total count) of sexual violence experienced. This study poses the following research questions: What effects do gender identity and sexual orientation have on the risk and extent of sexual violence among students and, among victims, what is the relationship between gender identity/sexual orientation and mental health (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression) and academic environment (disengagement and safety) outcomes for university students? Multilevel, random effect hurdle models captured this sequential victimization dynamic. GSM and cisgender heterosexual (CH) female students are predicted to be 2.6 and 3 tim...

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2008

Little attention has been given to repeat violent and sexual victimization among college women. Using two national-level data sets, the authors find that a small proportion of college women experience a large proportion of violent and sexual victimizations. Women are more likely to experience repeat sexual victimization than repeat violence incidents. Repeat victimization tends to happen in the same month of the initial victimization, and the most likely next type of victimization is by far the same type of victimization. Comparing incident-level characteristics of repeat incidents to single incidents, there are few differences, with the exception that, in a larger proportion of single incidents, women took self-protective action. Implications for prevention and educational programs are discussed. Downloaded from Leah E. Daigle is an assistant professor of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University. Her most recent research has focused on the development and continuation of offending and victimization over time, sexual victimization of college women, and gender differences in the antecedents to and consequences of criminal victimization and participation across the life course. Bonnie S. Fisher is a professor in the Division of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati and a senior research fellow at the Criminal Justice Research Center. Her most recent work examines the extent and nature of repeat sexual victimization among college women, assesses the efficacy of the protective action-completion nexus for sexual victimization, and assesses the extent and nature of workplace victimization.

Canadian Journal of Higher Education

This article presents a portrait of sexual violence on university campuses (SVUC) at six universities in Québec (Canada) and explores differences and similarities in the experiences of students, professors and employees. Data are drawn from the Enquête Sexualité, Sécurité et Interactions en Milieu Universitaire (ESSIMU). They reveal disturbing rates of SVUC among students (36.2%), professors (38.8%) and employees (38.7%). The results show that the hierarchical status of perpetrators was higher than that of victims for a significant proportion of professors (33%) and employees (50.7%). When asked about the type of assistance they would want in the event of SVUC, the majority of students, professors and employees affirmed they would want support during the reporting/complaint process, information about available recourse within the university to report the incident, and psychological support provided by a resource outside the university.

This Report is an examination of the police and institutional responses to sexual violence at Ontario university campuses. It is based on a comprehensive desk study of the extant literature as well as site studies at three Ontario universities: Carleton University, Lakehead University and the University of Waterloo. The study was conducted over a four-month period (March-June 2016) and includes approximately 120 hours of interview data. We interviewed three respondent groups: (1) campus administrators and service providers (n=50), (2) campus and local police (n=29), and (3) sexual violence survivors (n=18) and students (n=29).

2018

Sexual assault involves any behavior where one individual makes sexual contact with another without explicit consent (Department of Justice, 2017). More than 20% of females and 11% of males in undergraduate programs are victims of sexual assault annually. Sexual assault can significantly impact survivors’ academic performance and progress and may result in a survivor dropping out of school. Despite the many support services available on most campus, more than 90% of sexual assault incidents are left unreported. Sexual assault can have devastating and long-term effects on its victims. Even with proper policies and practices (e.g., Title IX), students within colleges and universities do not report or seek support services. This integrative literature review explores literature on how sexual assault impacts victims.