Sexual Aggression among Brazilian College Students: Prevalence of Victimization and Perpetration in Men and Women

Abstract

Despite the increased attention devoted to sexual aggression among college students in the international research literature, Brazil has no systematic studies on the prevalence of sexual aggression in college populations. The present research measured the prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization since age 14 among 742 first-year college students in Brazil (411 women). A Portuguese version of the Short Form of the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss et al., 2007) was administered to collect information from men and women as both victims and perpetrators of sexual aggression. The overall prevalence rate of victimization was 27% among men and 29% among women. Except for sexual coercion and attempted sexual coercion, there were no significant gender differences in victimization rates concerning nonconsensual sexual acts and aggressive strategies. In contrast, perpetration rates were significantly higher among men (33.7%) than among women (3%). The findings challenge societal beliefs that men are unlikely to be sexually coerced. Explanations are proposed for the disparity between male victimization and female perpetration rates based on traditional gender roles in Brazil.

Acknowledgments

The first author is grateful to the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation for the scholarship that facilitated the completion of this study. In addition, the authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Gracielle Farah, Lia Freitas, Myrelle Mirasyedi, and Jonathan Tudge in creating the Portuguese version of the Sexual Experiences Survey and of Raquel Marinho and Juliana Martins in the data collection phase.

Notes

*Gender difference based on χ² tests; p < .001.

**Gender difference based on t tests; p < .001.

¹For example, the use of “their clothes” in the original version of the SES was back-translated as “his/her clothes.” The final Brazilian version maintained “their clothes.” In addition, in the following sentence, “Even though it did not happen, I tried to have oral sex with someone or make them have oral sex with me without their consent by …”, the back-translator suggested the repetition of “I tried” before the verb “make.” Regarding the original form of SES, the verb was not repeated in the Brazilian version.

²All percentages are based on valid cases. Missing data were excluded from the count.

Source: Scoring based on Koss et al., 2008.

Note. Gender difference: *p < .05; **p < .01, controlling for number of sexual partners.

Note. Gender difference: *p < .05. Only heterosexual groups were compared.

Source: Scoring based on Koss et al., 2008.

Note. Gender difference: *p < .01; **p < .001.

Note. Only heterosexual groups were compared. Gender difference: *p < .001.

Note. For men, C = .36, p < .001; for women, C = .25; p < .001.

³ http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/latin-american-university-rankings/2011.

⁴https://sistemas.usp.br/anuario/tabelas/T03_04.pdf.

⁵ http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/estimativa2011/tab_Brasil_UF.pdf.