1-in-4 female undergrads sexually victimized: survey

One in four undergraduate female students at leading research universities across the country have been subjected to nonconsensual sexual contact, a national survey concluded Tuesday, raising alarm for educators about the prevalence of sexual violence on campus.

The survey, published by the Association of American Universities, and Westat, a research firm based in Rockville, Maryland, sent questionnaires to 181,752 students from 33 colleges and universities.

Overall, 13 percent of the students at schools reported being victims of nonconsensual sexual contact, but the numbers varied significantly by gender and affiliation.

Around 25.9 percent of women undergraduates reported nonconsensual sexual contact by force or inability to consent, which was three times higher than for women graduates and professional students.

The percentage of undergraduate sexual assault male victims is twice as high as male graduates or professional students, 6.8 percent vs. 2.5 percent.

Among TGQN students, or those who identified as transgender woman, transgender man, nonbinary/genderqueer, gender questioning, or gender not listed, 22.8 percent of undergraduates and 14.5 percent of graduate and professional students reported this type of victimization.

"This is the largest college-based probability sample survey carried out on sexual assault and misconduct, and it is a testament to the commitment that America's leading research universities have to fighting these problems and improving the campus climate around these issues," said AAU President Mary Sue Coleman in a statement.

"The results provide cause for both hope and continued concern. They reveal that, while students know more about university-sponsored resources for victims of sexual assault and misconduct, they still aren't using these resources often enough," she added.

For example, compared with the results of the 2015 survey, there was an increase of 11.5 to 36.9 percent for undergraduate women and 12.4 to 40.3 percent for undergraduate men when it comes to understanding the definition of sexual assault and sexual misconduct.

Although 65.6 percent of the students said it was "very" or "extremely likely" that school officials would take a report of a sexual assault seriously, only 45 percent of those who reported nonconsensual sexual contact believed that was the case.

The survey also found that there was a slight increase in sexual assaults from 2015 to 2019, including an increase of 3 percent for undergraduate women, 2.4 percent for graduate and professional women, and 1.4 percent for undergraduate men.

The University of Southern California, which has been rocked by controversies related to alleged sexual assaults by a former campus gynecologist, reported that in the 2019 survey, 20.5 percent of undergraduate students have experienced at least one incident of nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force, compared with 19.3 percent in 2015.

In addition, 31 percent of female undergraduates, 10.2 percent of male undergraduates and 26.1 percent of TQGN students reported having such an experience in the school's 2019 survey.

"We are sharing these results with the campus community to confirm that we are committed to addressing this issue head-on in our efforts to build a community that is safe and protects our wellbeing," wrote Dr Sarah Van Orman, chief health officer at USC, and Winston B. Crisp, vice president of student affairs, in a letter to the school community Tuesday.

Stanford said 38.5 percent of undergraduate female students who have attended the school for four years or more have experienced some form of nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force. About 80 percent of perpetrators of nonconsensual sexual contact were other Stanford students.

"I am deeply troubled by many of the survey findings, as I'm sure you will be. We continue to see the prevalence of sexual assault and sexual harassment on our campus, and there is clear evidence that some groups of students are particularly affected at higher rates than others," wrote university Provost Persis S. Drell in a letter to students.

At the University of Madison-Wisconsin, the survey found that 26.1 percent of undergraduate women at the school reported experiencing some form of sexual assault; 11 percent reported experiencing assault by penetration.

"We're committed to doing all we can to ensure a safe living and learning environment. When sexual assault occurs, we will respond swiftly and with compassion, providing resources and support. Together, we can reduce sexual violence," wrote the school's chancellor, Becky Blank, on her Twitter page Tuesday.