An examination of the disparity between self-identified versus legally identified rape victimization: A pilot study

Abstract

Objective: Researchers compared rape victimization based on self-identification to the current, federal legal definition in a pilot study of college students. Methods: The sample was comprised of 1,648 (69.8% female; 30.2% male) college students who completed the SES-SFV online.Results: Based on the current, legal definition of rape, 9.4% (11.1% female; 5.2% male) of students had been raped since being enrolled, but only 2.9% of students self-identified as being raped. Moreover, 15.1% of students reported ever being raped, with females acknowledging higher rates (19.7%) than males (4.3%). Conclusions: Rape continues to be a major issue for colleges and universities. A serious concern is the disparity between the number of those who met the behavioral criteria for rape victimization based on the current, legal definition, but who did not self-identify as a victim. Universities must address this disparity by using multiple measures to assess the prevalence of sexual violence on campus.

Big Boys Don’t Cry: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Male Sexual Victimization

“…With regard to female victims, the likelihood of them labeling their experience as rape is higher when the experience includes the use of force with completed penetration, the victim shows forceful resistance, or when she is too incapacitated to stop the offender (Fisher, Daigle, Cullen, & Turner, 2003; Marsil & McNamara, 2016). Furthermore, in Fisher, Daigle, Cullen, and Turner’s (2003) study focusing on the characteristics of incidents that are likely to be considered as rape among female college students, sustaining an injury and the presence of a weapon increase the likelihood of the experience being acknowledged as rape.…”

“…An empirical study of how men describe their own victimization of child sexual abuse and adult rape found that only 24% of adult male victims self-label their experience as rape (Artime, McCallum, & Peterson, 2014). Marsil and McNamara (2016), examining the disparity between self-identified versus legally identified rape within a college student sample, show that the use of a legal definition of rape identifies three times as many victims compared with those who self-identify their experience as rape.…”

The Role of Title IX Coordinators on College and University Campuses

“…Sexual violence against college women continues to be a pervasive public health issue with approximately one in five women experiencing sexual assault and one in nine women experiencing rape while in college [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. In 2011, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) [ 4 ] issued a Dear Colleague Letter ( DCL ) [ 5 ] focused on the need to address sexual violence under Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 (Title IX) [ 6 ], which prohibits gender-based discrimination in educational programming or activities receiving federal funding.…”

Do Party Schools Report Higher Rates of Violence Against Women in Their Clery Data? A Latent Class Analysis

“…Underreporting of campus violent crimes against women was ubiquitous; Clery data from all classes of universities were remarkably lower than estimates of VAW based on self-reported data. For example, rates of rape on college campuses according to Clery data are remarkably lower than the estimate that one in nine women are raped in college (Cantor et al, 2015; Marsil & McNamara, 2016). This estimate of campus rape rates based on self-report data (i.e., 110 rapes per 1,000 students) is approximately 7,000-9,000% higher than the campus rape rates reported to campus officials from 2014-2016 (i.e., 1.14-1.50 rate per 1,000 students).…”

“…Violence against women (VAW) on college campuses continues to be a pervasive public health problem, with approximately one in five women experiencing sexual assault and one in nine women experiencing rape while in college (Cantor, Fisher, & Chibnall, 2015; Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000; Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987; Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2007; Marsil & McNamara, 2016; Muehlenhard, Peterson, Humphreys, & Jozkowski, 2017). In addition, research indicates that one in five students has experienced domestic violence with a current partner (Fisher et al, 2000; Koss et al, 1987; Krebs et al, 2007).…”