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The Campus Sexual Assault Study examined whether undergraduate women's victimization experiences prior to college and lifestyle activities during college were differentially associated with the type of sexual assault they experienced: physically forced sexual assault and incapacitated sexual assault. Self-reported data collected using a Web-based survey administered to more than 5,000 undergraduate women at two large public universities indicated that victimization experiences before college were differentially associated with the risk of experiencing these two types of sexual assault during college. Women who experienced forced sexual assault before college were at very high risk of experiencing forced sexual assault during college (odds ratio [OR] = 6.6). Women who experienced incapacitated sexual assault before college were also at very high risk of experiencing incapacitated sexual assault during college (OR = 3.7). Moreover, women's substance use behaviors during college, including getting drunk and using marijuana, were strongly associated with experiencing incapacitated sexual assault but were not associated with experiencing forced sexual assault. Implications for education and prevention programs, as well as future research directions, are discussed.
Keywords: sexual assault; sexual victimization; sexual violence; risk factors; incapacitated
Much research has been published about the sexual assault experiences of college women, a group often characterized as being at high risk for sexual victimization. Although definitional and methodological variation renders comparisons across studies difficult, it has been suggested that college women are at a high risk of sexual assault, in large part, because of their close daily interactions with young men in a range of social situations that often involve alcohol or other drug consumption by the perpetrator, victim, or both (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000; Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987; for exception, see Baum & Klaus, 2005; for reviews see, Abbey, 2002; Adams-Curtis & Forbes, 2004; Testa & Parks, 1996). Researchers have consistently reported that a sizable percentage of women are sexually assaulted during their college years, with, on average, at least 50% of their sexual assaults involving the use of alcohol or other drugs by the perpetrator, victim, or both (Abbey, 2002; Fisher et al., 2000; Testa & Parks, 1996).
Several types of situations may render women incapable of providing consent for various sexual acts (e.g., touching, kissing, penetration, etc.). For example, women may be physically forced into sexual...