Examining Women’s Sexual Assault Victimization Experiences since Entering College via Two Behavioral Assessments

ABSTRACT

Measuring sexual assault experiences is considered a methodological challenge in survey research. Researchers can test the validity of sexual assault measures by comparing responses to different, albeit related, measures of sexual assault to determine if they identify similar groups of women. The goal of this study was to compare two measures of sexual assault victimization to determine if women report experiencing sexual assault in both assessments. Cisgender college women (n = 902) completed two separate measures of sexual victimization: the Sexual Coercion Inventory (SCI) and Sexual Experience Survey-Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV). Responses to both measures were coded to identify different sexual assault experiences (i.e., unwanted touching, attempted, and completed oral, vaginal, or anal rape) resulting from verbal coercion, threats of force, and use of force since enrolling in the university. Results suggested the SES-SFV produced higher overall rates of sexual assault experiences than the SCI. Specifically, the SES-SFV elicited more non-consensual sexual experiences resulting from threats and use of force, whereas the SCI elicited more non-consensual sexual experiences resulting from verbal coercion. Findings suggested discrepant responding across the two measures. Development of comprehensive sexual assault measures that fully capture women’s victimization experiences is warranted.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ The SES does assess a variety of sexual assault experiences; however, the measure has been critiqued for its assessment of behaviors that do not result from physical force or intoxication.

² The authors examined correlations between the SES and the SCI.

³ The SES-SFV does include a second item that can reflect coercion: “showing displeasure, criticizing my sexuality or attractiveness, getting angry but not using physical force after I said I didn’t want to.” However, this item wording is not reflected in the SCI and, thus, was not included in our analysis.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded in part by the Arkansas Bioscience Institute (ABI). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of ABI.