Sexual Violence on College Campuses

Students attending a college or university are at a vulnerable place in their lives. The majority of students are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, which is a significant developmental period. For the majority, this is their first time away from home where they need to provide for themselves to some capacity. It is also the first time that the majority of young people are experiencing life outside of the rigid high school structure. Many students are in unfamiliar environments surrounded by unfamiliar people. Overall, this is an age range where many people transition into being an independent adult, which can be difficult to navigate. 

Prevalence

Many survivors choose to not report or disclose that they have been sexually assaulted. This is a completely valid and okay choice to make, however, this can make it hard to know the true scope of sexual violence, considering that 90% of college students choose not to report sexual assault.¹ Thus, rates of sexual assault on-campus are likely higher than research tells us it is. Research estimates that 44% of on-campus crimes are sexual assaults.²

Studies show that 26% of undergraduate women and 7% of undergraduate men report experiencing sexual assault during college. Additionally, 25% of transgender or gender non-conforming students experience sexual assault during college. These rates can be even higher for minority students and students whose identity intersects with multiple marginalized groups. For example, 64% of multiracial transgender or gender non-conforming students are sexually harassed on-campus and so are 58% of gay men.³

Sexual assault among university students is prevalent, especially during the period of time from the start of the fall semester until Thanksgiving break in the United States. This period of time is known as the Red Zone, and it is when more than 50% of sexual assaults happen on-campus.

Party Culture

While some students begin partying in high school, others do not. For many students, the first semester of college is their first time experiencing party culture. Party culture is the environment surrounding many college campuses that promotes partying, usually involving alcohol and/or drugs. This culture is synonymous with binge-drinking and hooking up simultaneously, both of which are often encouraged and celebrated. Students who weren’t exposed to party culture as teens, may engage in risky behaviors because of their newfound freedom. 

Party culture can increase sexual assaults for a variety of reasons. Firstly, parties increase access to drugs and alcohol, which can lead to drug/alcohol-facilitated sexual assault. Parties are also held in loud, chaotic, and dark environments, where sexual violence can go unnoticed by peers. The culture surrounding hook-ups in this environment is also harmful, with many peers encouraging hooking-up while drinking and treating sex like a conquest. Power imbalances between upper and lower classmen and between sororities and fraternities can also exacerbate these issues.

Media, such as TV, movies, and books, communicate social norms. When most movies and TV shows about college portray constant partying, drinking, and hookups, it sets students up to perceive party culture as the norm or the ideal, which is not the case for every student or campus. They may get the impression that partying will facilitate their ability to hookup with other students. Students may feel like they are missing out if they aren’t also engaging in these behaviors.

Party culture can serve as a barrier to reporting. Students are often afraid to report if something happens while they’re under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol because they worry about getting themselves or others in trouble. However, some schools have amnesty policies which protect underage students from disciplinary action when they seek assistance for something that occurred while consuming substances.

Roommate Abuse

Many college students decide to dorm or get an apartment with other students, meaning that they often become roommates with people they didn’t know prior to rooming with them. While this can be a great way to find a close friend during the difficult adjustment period, it can also be a time when students experience domestic violence. Domestic violence can happen between any two individuals who live together, such as college roommates.  

Drug/Alcohol-Facilitated Sexual Assault

Drug/alcohol-facilitated sexual assault is when substances are used to impair someone’s ability to consent or when sexual assault is perpetrated against someone who is unable to provide consent due to substances. Substances can make it harder to give and receive consent, can be used to remove one’s ability to consent, or can embolden perpetrators to enact acts or violence.

Many students, approximately 75%, report having been under the influence of substances when they were sexually assaulted. Research estimates that 10% of students believe that they were given a substance by someone else without their consent with the intent to sexually assault them. Additionally, between 56-66% of students believe that the person who perpetrated the assault was under the influence when the violence took place.³

Substances can be a barrier to reporting due to school policy as well as victim-blaming. Those who are under the influence when assaulted are often told, directly or indirectly, that they are to blame for being under the influence in the first place. In reality, everyone should be able to engage in substance use, regardless of legality, and not be sexually assaulted.

Greek Life

Greek organizations are student clubs at colleges and universities intended to socially and academically support students. These organizations are segregated by gender. Young men can join a fraternity, and young women can become a member of a sorority. Students join these organizations by first spending time with prospective fraternities and sororities during the beginning of the fall semester. Then, members of the prospective sorority or fraternity “bid” or invite someone to become a member, and by accepting the invite, they become a “pledge” before they are fully initiated as a member. This period of time is known as “rush,” and it is no coincidence that rush overlaps with The Red Zone.

While these organizations can look different between chapters and campuses, they are often inherently tied to party culture. Rush events often center around drinking and partying, and potential pledges are set on proving themselves to current members in order to secure a spot. Sometimes, this involves hazing, which can be sexually violent. 
Sexual violence is more prevalent among members of greek life. Sorority women are 74% more likely to be sexually assaulted than those not in a sorority.⁵ Men in fraternities are three times more likely to commit sexual assault than those who are not.⁶ These issues can be exacerbated by the fact that fraternities are allowed to host events with alcohol, while sororities are not. This puts the fraternity men in charge of the alcohol and makes sorority women dependent on fraternities if they want to party with substances.

Impact on Education

Sexual violence can significantly impact education. Research reports that 75% of transgender or gender non-conforming students, 62% of women, and 48% of men had their education negatively impacted after experiencing sexual assault.³ Their education is impacted firstly due to the emotional distress and inability to focus that often follows a traumatic event. Additionally, survivors may become triggered or fear for their safety if the perpetrator lives in their dorm, shares the same classes, or simply because they are present on-campus. As a result, students may not attend classes.

The negative effect sexual assault can have on their education can result in long-term consequences. They may have lower grades or a lower GPA, which can cause them to lose scholarships. Low attendance can result in getting dropped from a class, which can change whether they are on-track to graduate or not. If the perpetrator is in the same major, the survivor may switch their major, which can change their career plans.

Some survivors may need to, or be encouraged to, take a leave of absence or switch schools entirely. Leaving can cause a student to ultimately drop out of college altogether. Reporting or seeking support doesn’t decrease the likelihood of this happening, as 40% of survivors took a leave of absence, switched schools, or dropped out after seeking support from their school. In fact, 35% of students reported that Title IX encouraged them to take a leave of absence.⁷

Anyone can experience sexual violence in any setting, including during college or university. Students deserve access to education free from sexual violence. To learn more about the issues surrounding campus sexual assault and how to play an active role in shifting the culture, check out PAVE’s Shatter The Red Zone Summits.

Sources

1. Fisher, B. S., Cullen, F. T.,, & Turner, M. G. (2000). The sexual victimization of college women. Retrieved from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf 
2. National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Criminal Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved [date], from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a21.
3. Cantor, D., Fisher, B., Chibnall, S., & Harps, S. (2020). AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct . 
4. Kimble, M., Neacsiu, A. D., Flack, W. F., & Horner, J. (2008). Risk of Unwanted Sex for College Women: Evidence for a Red Zone. Journal of American College Health, 57(3), 331–338. https://doi.org/10.3200/jach.57.3.331-338
5. Fierberg, D., & Neely, C. (2018). A need for transparency: Parents, students must make informed decisions about greek-life risks. In H. Nuwer (Ed.), Hazing: Destroying young lives (pp. 42-49). Indiana University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j. ctt20d87tz.8
6. Foubert, J.,Newberry, J., & Tatum, J. (2007). Behavior differences seven months later: Effects of a rape prevention program on first-year men who join fraternities. NASPA Journal. 44. 728-749. 
7. Nesbitt, S., & Carson, S. (2024). The Cost of Reporting: Perpetrator Retaliation, Institutional Betrayal, and Student Survivor Pushout. In AdvocatesForYouth.org. https://www.advocatesforyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Know-Your-IX-2021-Cost-of-Reporting.pdf