Citation

Hoxmeier JC. Violence Gend. 2016; 3(4): 202-207.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/vio.2016.0008

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

College students report high rates of sexual assault and relationship abuse victimization, which is associated with a wide range of negative health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine students' reported sexual assault and relationship abuse victimization among male, female, and transgender undergraduate students, using data from the Fall 2014 National College Health Assessment. Just over 9% of participants (n = 1805) reported having experienced nonconsensual sexual touching, nearly 4% (n = 767) experienced an attempted sexual penetration, and just over 2% experienced completed sexual penetration in the previous 12 months. Chi-square analysis showed that students' gender was significantly related to nonconsensual sexual touch, attempted penetration, and completed penetration. Logistic regression showed that female and transgender students had significantly greater odds of reporting nonconsensual sexual touch (OR = 3.5 and 4.1, respectively), attempted penetration (OR = 4.4 and 5.3, respectively), and completed penetration (OR = 4.05 and 4.9, respectively) compared with male students. Regarding relationship abuse, just over 8% (n = 1622) of students reported emotional abuse, whereas just under 2% (n = 378) reported physical abuse, and just over 2% (n = 426) reported sexual abuse by romantic partner. Chi-square analyses showed that students' gender was significantly related to emotional and sexual abuse, but not physical abuse victimization. Logistic regression showed that female and transgender students had significantly greater odds of reporting victimization of relationship emotional abuse (OR = 1.9 and 1.7, respectively) and sexual abuse (OR 2.5 and 6.1, respectively) compared with male students, but not physical abuse. The findings suggest that transgender students, in addition to female students, are vulnerable to a range of victimization, and prevention efforts should consider their needs in outreach and programming efforts to better serve this population.

Language: en