Racial/ethnic variations in the polyvictimization of college women: results from a large-scale campus climate survey

Abstract

Social scientific knowledge of the extent, distribution, causes, and consequences of various types of gendered interpersonal violence against North American college women has markedly advanced since the early 1980s. Nevertheless, major research gaps still exist, including a conspicuous absence of quantitative and qualitative data on racial/ethnic variations in female students’ polyvictimization experiences. Using results of the Campus Quality of Life Survey conducted at a large doctoral institution in the South Atlantic region of the United States, this article shows that ethnic minority and White female students are equally at risk of experiencing multiple types of victimizations of different kinds, such as stalking, sexual harassment, physical violence, and sexual assault.

Keywords:

• Race/ethnicity
• polyvictimization
• campus climate surveys

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank William J. Flack, Rosemary Gido, Janice Joseph, Alison Marganski, Jill Rosenbaum, and Jason Williams for their assistance.

Declarations statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to declare.

Funding

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.