“The Red Zone”

Flack, William F.; Caron, Marcia L.; Leinen, Sarah J.; Breitenbach, Katherine G.; Barber, Ann; Brown, Elaine N.; Gilbert, Caitlin T.; Harchak, Taylor F.; Hendricks, Melissa M.; Rector, Catherine E.; Schatten, Heather T.; Stein, Heather C.

doi:10.1177/0886260508314308

Cited by 77 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Incapacitation due to drugs or alcohol and use of force were the most common perpetrator tactics. The results are suggestive of a ‘red zone’ [2], whereby the occurrence of sexual victimization was higher among women who were recruited later in the academic year (winter semester) than earlier (fall semester). A comparison to the best U.S. studies conducted within the last 15 years confirm these findings [5].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research suggests that the risk of sexual assault is particularly high for university women especially in the first year or two, which some authors have termed the ‘red zone’ [1,2]. In a representative sample of female students at Canadian universities, Dekeseredy and Kelly [3] found that more than one in four women have been sexually assaulted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sexual violence in the lives of first-year university women in Canada: no improvements in the 21st century

et al. 2014

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BackgroundSummarizes the frequency, type, and context of sexual assault in a large sample of first-year university women at three Canadian universities.MethodsAs part of a randomized controlled trial assessing the efficacy of a sexual assault resistance education program, baseline data were collected from women between ages of 17 and 24 using computerized surveys. Participants’ experience with sexual victimization since the age of 14 years was assessed using the Sexual Experiences Survey--Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV).ResultsAmong 899 first-year university women (mean age = 18.5 years), 58.7% (95% CI: 55.4%, 62.0%) had experienced one or more forms of victimization since the age of 14 years, 35.0% (95% CI: 31.9%, 38.3%) had experienced at least one completed or attempted rape, and 23.5% (95% CI: 20.7%, 26.4%) had been raped. Among the 211 rape victims, 46.4% (95% CI: 39.7%, 53.2%) had experienced more than one type of assault (oral, vaginal, anal) in a single incident or across multiple incidents. More than three-quarters (79.6%; 95% CI: 74.2%, 85.1%) of the rapes occurred while women were incapacitated by alcohol or drugs. One-third (33.3%) of women had previous self-defence training, but few (4.0%) had previous sexual assault education.ConclusionsFindings from the first large Canadian study of university women since the 1990s indicate that a large proportion of women arrive on campuses with histories of sexual victimization, and they are generally unprepared for the perpetrators they may face during their academic years. There is an urgent need for effective rape prevention programs on university campuses.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01338428. Registered 13 April 2011.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual violence in the lives of first-year university women in Canada: no improvements in the 21st century

et al. 2014

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“…In a study of hook up culture, Flack et al (2007) found that 23 % of women and 7 % of men reported one or more episodes of unwanted, possibly compliant sex since starting college. Moreover, Katz et al (2012) found that 16 % of women and 3 % of men reported complying with sex at least once within the first 2 months on campus; two-thirds of those who were compliant reported consenting to unwanted sex during a hook up.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

(Hetero)sexual Compliance with Unwanted Casual Sex: Associations with Feelings about First Sex and Sexual Self-Perceptions

Katz

Schneider

2015

Sex Roles

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Sexual compliance involves willing consent to unwanted sex. The current study examined experiences and correlates of compliant sex with casual partners. Guided by sexual script theory, feelings about first partnered sex and sexual self-perceptions were identified as possible correlates of compliance. Potential moderating effects of gender also were explored. Sexually active heterosexual undergraduates (N=258) in the northeastern U.S. responded to self-report measures of desire, pleasure, and emotional discomfort associated with first partnered sex, sexual self-awareness, sexual refusal efficacy, and compliance with vaginal and oral sex. About a third of the sample reported complying with casual sex at least once. Overall, very few participants who complied with a casual partner also complied with a committed partner. More women than men complied with giving oral sex to a casual partner; there were no gender differences in compliance with either vaginal sex or receiving oral sex. Emotional discomfort with first partnered sex was positively associated with compliant casual sex only among women. Although women reported less desire and pleasure associated with first partnered sex than men, neither desire nor pleasure from first sex were associated with casual compliance for either gender. Refusal efficacy was negatively associated with compliant casual sex for both women and men. The implications of these findings for future research and educating college students about compliance and its correlates are discussed.

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“…While initially much of this received knowledge was based on anecdotes (e.g., see Ostrander & Schwartz, 1994), more recent empirical work supports the existence of a “red zone,” a time period of arguable length near the beginning of the student's time at college in which female students are at a heightened risk of sexual assault (Flack et al, 2008). While the literature on the red zone is still in its infancy, identifying the exact parameters of this time period and investigating the mechanisms underlying the temporal relationship are crucial for more effective institutional rape prevention efforts, allowing colleges to more effectively direct their rape prevention resources to contexts and student populations that are most at risk.…”

Section: Introduction and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some argue that the red zone covers the first year (Schwartz, 1997), and college materials on the red zone tend to emphasize this time period specifically (Flack et al, 2008). Empirically, Kimble, Neacsiu, Flack, and Horner (2008) use a sample of 50 first-year and 52 second-year students and find a significantly higher rate of victimization for first years, and Armstrong, Hamilton, and Sweeney (2006) use a qualitative approach to come to the same conclusion.…”

Section: Introduction and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship Between Sexual Victimization and Year in School in U.S. Colleges

Cranney

2014

J Interpers Violence

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It is the conventional wisdom among some universities that the highest risk of sexual assault is in the first or possibly second year in school. While initially belief in this pattern was primarily based on anecdote, recently some attempts have been made to more systematically and quantitatively test the existence of a “red zone,” a time of heightened risk of sexual assault sometime near the beginning of a female student's time at the college. However, most of these studies have been conducted with relatively small convenience samples from single schools and have had conflicting results. Here, I test the red zone hypothesis using self-reported sexual victimization data with a large sample (∼16,000) drawn from 22 schools as part of the Online College Social Life Survey. To investigate the specific mechanisms responsible for the red zone, I separately test for the existence of a red zone for four different types of sexual victimizations: physically forced intercourse, attempted forced intercourse, unwanted intercourse when incapacitated, and unwanted intercourse due to verbal pressure. Within these categories, I separately address sexual victimization that occurred while hanging out and sexual victimization during a party. Prior literature has emphasized the role of parties in the increased risk of assault for freshman. While I find some evidence for this in the higher estimates for sexual victimization at a party, the freshman effect remains for other types of sexual victimizations, suggesting that the red zone is not easily attributable to a single mechanistic cause, but to more generalizable factors. With one exception, I find that the red zone does not extend into the sophomore year.

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“The Red Zone”

Cited by 77 publications

References 17 publications

Sexual violence in the lives of first-year university women in Canada: no improvements in the 21st century

Sexual violence in the lives of first-year university women in Canada: no improvements in the 21st century

(Hetero)sexual Compliance with Unwanted Casual Sex: Associations with Feelings about First Sex and Sexual Self-Perceptions

The Relationship Between Sexual Victimization and Year in School in U.S. Colleges

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