Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Langford, Linda" <>]

Hi Jill,

 

Kilpatrick and colleagues conducted another study in 2006. It included both a community sample and college student sample, and they defined sexual assault differently than Fisher and colleagues. So it's possible to make some comparisons between the two sets of findings, but be sure to look at the definitions closely to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. Below is an excerpt from a draft document I wrote that provides some discussion of the findings, along with references, a couple of notes, and two additional resources.

 

 

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One study that used behaviorally specific questions is the National College Women Sexual Victimization study (NCWSV). The NCWSV, which surveyed a nationally representative sample, found that 1.7 percent of college women had experienced a completed rape and 1.1 percent an attempted rape over the previous seven-month academic year. (Fisher et al., 2000) Projecting these figures over an entire calendar year, the survey’s authors concluded that nearly 5 percent of college women might be victimized annually and one-fifth to one-quarter may be assaulted during their college years.(1)  Of those who had been raped, 22.8 percent had experienced multiple attacks. The researchers also calculated an incident rate (which refers to incidents rather than victims) of 35.3 per 1,000 college women. This suggests that, for every 1,000 women attending an institution, there may well be 35 incidents of forcible rape in a given academic year.

 

<snipped some text>

 

While the NCWSV asked about a broad range of sexually aggressive acts, the questions about rape focused on forcible rape (FR), or unwanted penetration by force or threat of force. Another study that included both community and college women, the National Women’s Study-Replication (NWS-R), used the same FR questions and also added specific screening questions to better detect rapes in which the victim was incapacitated by drugs or alcohol. (Kilpatrick et al., 2007; Kilpatrick and McCauley, 2009) The researchers classified these acts into two categories, drug and alcohol facilitated rape (DAFR) and incapacitated rape (IR). In DAFR, the perpetrator commits the rape after giving the victim alcohol or drugs in a deliberate effort to incapacitate her, while an IR occurs when a perpetrator assaults a woman who has taken alcohol or drugs voluntarily.

 

Results reported from the NWS-R are for completed rapes only (rather than completed and attempted rapes, as reported by the NCWSW.) The NWS-R found that 3.2 percent of college women experienced FR in the past year, which is similar to the NCWSV annual prevalence of 3 percent for completed forcible rapes (1.7 percent over 7 months, roughly doubled to estimate annual prevalence.) Importantly, however, the NWS-R found that 1.5 percent of college women had experienced DAFR and 2.1 percent reported IR. In total, 5.2 percent of the NWS-R college sample had experienced a completed rape in the past year (adding the three subtypes sums to more than 5.2 because some women experienced more than one type of rape.) Combining DAFR and IR, more college women experienced DAFR/IR in the past year (3.6 percent) than FR (1.6 percent).(2) Compared to the general population sample, DAFR/IR was nine times more prevalent among college women. In addition, the risk for mental health problems was similar between those who experienced DAFR/IR and FR. This study underscores the importance of considering DAFR and IR in addition to FR when creating campus-based sexual violence prevention efforts. (Kilpatrick, 2007)

 

Notes

1.  The authors caution that the 20-25 percent figure is an extrapolation from their results based on certain assumptions, for example, that an average college career lasts five years and the risk of victimization remains similar during the summer months and across each year. (Fisher et al., 2000)

2. See Kilpatrick et al., 2007, Exhibit 7, for detailed breakdowns of these findings. Some estimates represent *any* DAFR, IR, or FR (the proportion of victims who experienced each type of rape in the past year whether or not they also experienced another type) while others represent *only* DAFR/IR or FR (that is, each person was coded as experiencing either DAFR/IR OR FR.)

 

References

Fisher, B.S., F.T. Cullen, and M.G. Turner, The Sexual Victimization of College Women. 2000, U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice: Washington, D.C.

 

Kilpatrick, D.G., et al., Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study. 2007, National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Rockville, MD. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/219181.pdf

 

 

ALSO SEE (the first reference especially compares multiple studies, although it’s not specific to college students)

Kilpatrick, D. and J. McCauley, Understanding National Rape Statistics. 2009, VAWnet: The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women: Harrisburg, PA. http://new.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_RapeStatistics.pdf

 

McCauley, J., et al., Forcible, drug-facilitated, and incapacitated rape in relation to substance use problems: Results from a national sample of college women. Addictive Behaviors, 2009. 34(5): p. 458-462.

 

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

Best,

Linda Langford

 

 

Linda Langford, Sc.D.

Associate Center Director, Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention

www.HigherEdCenter.org

Evaluation Scientist, Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)

www.sprc.org/

55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA  02458-1060

voice (800) 676-1730 x2719 OR (617) 618-2719 (direct line)

fax (617) 928-1537

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Loftus, Jill SES DON-SAPRO [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 11:27 AM
To:
Subject: National Survey?

 

Does anyone know of a National survey that has been done regarding

sexual assaults on college women since the 2000 "The Sexual

Victimization of College Women" by U.S. Justice Department's National

Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics?

 

I am trying to compare some statistics from the Military Academies with

the general population of college women regarding the incidence of

unwanted sexual contact "completed sexual intercourse, anal or oral sex"

in a period of one academic year. 

 

Jill Vines Loftus

Director

Department of the Navy

Sexual Assault

Prevention and Response Office

703. 697. 2180