CAP MAX 35 PERS.

One of the primary purposes of the CSA Study was to determine the prevalence of various types of sexual assault. Of particular interest was the prevalence of DFSA. It is quite clear that a sizeable proportion of undergraduate women (11.1%) have experienced sexual assault when they were incapacitated and unable to provide consent, but the large majority of these victims had not been given a drug without their knowledge prior to the assault. The large majority (n = 566, 84%) of the 651 women who experienced incapacitated sexual assault were victims of AOD-enabled, rather than drug-facilitated, sexual assault. Only 31 (0.6%) of the 5,446 undergraduate women who participated in the CSA Study reported being sexually assaulted after being given a drug without their knowledge or consent since entering college. There are no estimates in the literature to which this figure can be

compared, but given the attention that DFSA and “date rape drugs” have received in the media in recent years, this estimate is almost certainly lower than some might have expected. Clearly, undergraduate women are at much greater risk of sexual assault that occurs in the context of voluntary consumption of alcohol and/or drugs or that is physically forced than sexual assault that is drug facilitated.

The phenomenon of being given a drug without one’s knowledge is, however, not

necessarily rare among our sample. A total of 308 women in our sample of 5,446 (5.3%) reported being given a drug without their knowledge or consent since entering college and the drugs most likely to be administered were Rohypnol and GHB, which are commonly referred to as date rape drugs. Women being given a drug without their knowledge or consent appears be a legitimate concern for universities and students, but it is unclear whether widespread concerns about DFSA can be justified empirically.

Another interesting finding generated by the CSA Study is that the prevalence of

experiencing sexual assault is higher since entering college (13.7%) than before entering college (11.3%). However, our survey was done at a single point in time and during a time period when collegiate experiences are more salient, so it may be that subjects had

difficulty recalling sexual assaults that occurred before entering college. On the other hand, it is important to point out that our “since entering college” estimates do not reflect the sample’s entire collegiate experience because the sample includes freshman, sophomores, and juniors (and even seniors had not completed their senior year), which means that the true rate of sexual assault during the entire college experience is likely higher. When subsetting to seniors, the data show that 368 women (26.1% of seniors) reported experiencing attempted or completed sexual assault since entering college. Ninety-two (7.0%) seniors were victims of physically forced sexual assault since entering college, and 223 (16.0%) seniors were victims of incapacitated sexual assault since entering college. It is important to note, however, that although the cumulative prevalence estimates of sexual

The Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) Study

assault are understandably highest for seniors, the “past 12 month” prevalence estimates of sexual assault are highest among sophomores.23 _{This pattern indicates that women who are} victimized during college are most likely to be victimized early on in their college tenure. This finding is consistent with a recent study employing a convenience sample of university women, which found that 84% of the women who reported sexually coercive situations experienced the incident during their first four semesters on campus (Gross, Winslett, Roberts, & Gohm, 2006).

Not surprisingly, the CSA Study found that the prevalence of sexual assault among male college students was considerably lower than similar estimates for women. A total of 50 males (3.7%) reported being victims of completed sexual assault since entering college. The majority of these victims (90.2%) were victims of incapacitated sexual assault. Estimates of the sexual victimization of adult males are sparse in the literature, so it is difficult to

compare the CSA Study findings to those produced by existing research.

Our multivariate analyses identifying risk factors for sexual assault among university women indicate that several factors are differentially associated with specific types of sexual

assault. Specifically, compared to whites, Hispanic women were more likely to be victims of physically forced sexual assault. Years in college and the number of dating partners were both positively associated with experiencing physically forces sexual assault and

experiencing physically forced and AOD-enabled sexual assault. Victims of AOD-enabled assault and both types of assault more frequently attended fraternity parties, got drunk, had ever been given a drug without their consent, and were frequently drunk during sex since entering college. Victims of AOD-enabled sexual assault only were more likely to have used marijuana. In contrast, none of these risk factors were significantly associated with being a victim of forced sexual assault. Ever having been threatened, humiliated, or

physically hurt by a dating partner was a risk factor for all three measures of sexual assault. Interestingly, having been a victim of forced sexual assault before entering college was a risk factor for being a victim of forced (but not AOD-enabled) sexual assault since entering college, and having been a victim of incapacitated sexual before entering college was a risk factor for being a victim of AOD-enabled (but not forced) sexual assault since entering college. Other studies have found that previous victimization is a risk factor for future victimization, but this is the first study we are aware of that has determine that being a victim of a certain type of sexual assault puts one at risk of being a victim of that type of sexual assault, and not necessarily another type of sexual assault. In other words, the risk posed by previous victimization is specific to the type of victimization experienced.

Descriptive analyses of the context, consequences, and reporting of sexual assault also confirm that differences exist between forced and incapacitated sexual assault. For example,

23_{While the “past 12 month” prevalence is also high among freshmen, they were excluded from these} comparisons of sexual assault prevalence because they had not experienced 12 months of college.

6-2

Section 6 — Conclusion and Recommendations

forced sexual assaults were more likely to involve a black perpetrator, whereas incapacitated sexual assaults were more likely to involve a white perpetrator. Forced

assaults were also more likely to be perpetrated by a stranger to the victim or an ex-dating partner or ex-spouse, whereas incapacitated sexual assaults were more likely to be

perpetrated by a friend or acquaintance of the victim. Additionally, more than a quarter of incapacitated sexual assault victims were victimized by a member of a fraternity. Not surprisingly, victims of incapacitated sexual assault were considerably more likely to have been using alcohol before and be drunk during the assault. Incapacitated assaults were more likely to happen at a party and between midnight and 6 a.m., whereas forced sexual assaults were more likely to happen between noon and midnight. Victims of forced sexual assault were more likely to be injured and to consider the incident to be rape.

Victims of forced sexual assault were more likely to report the assault to friends or family, crisis centers, and law enforcement, but they were also less satisfied with how the report was handled and more likely to regret reporting the assault than incapacitated sexual assault victims who reported their assaults. Overall, victims of forced sexual assault were also more likely to make changes in their lives in reaction to the assault, such as dropping a class, moving, and changing majors, and were more likely to seek psychological counseling as a result of the victimization.