Acknowledging sexual victimization as rape: Results from a national-level study

Abstract

There has been ongoing debate on how women are counted when they do not acknowledge as rapes experiences that are characterized by the key components of rape. This article explores this methodological issue by using a two-stage measurement strategy with behaviorally specific screen questions to gather information on incidents of sexual victimization from 4,446 randomly selected female college students. Our results revealed that almost half of the completed rape victims considered the incidents rapes, yet few of the attempted rape or nonrape victims considered the incidents rapes. The results of a multivariate analysis highlighted the characteristics of incidents that are likely to be considered rapes. The findings buttress the assertion that women who are counted as rape victims have experienced such victimization.

Notes

The National College Women Sexual Victimization study, by Fisher and Cullen, was supported by award 95-WT-NX-0001 from the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. Joanne Belknap helped develop the sexual victimization survey for the National College Women Sexual Victimization Study. We also thank the reviewers for their comments and Mary Koss for her helpful personal communications with us. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bonnie S. Fisher

Bonnie S. Fisher is a professor in the Division of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her work examines the measurement of the sexual victimization of women, college students' victimization, and public opinion about corrections. She recently completed a study of university students' victimization in England with Dr. Rosemary Barberet.

Leah E. Daigle

Leah E. Daigle is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas. Her research focuses on the sexual victimization of women, the interactive role that human development and the environment play in the development and continuation of antisocial behavior, and gender differences in the antecedents to and consequences of criminal victimization and participation across the life course.

Francis T. Cullen

Francis T. Cullen is Distinguished Research Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology at the University of Cincinnati. His current research interests include the impact of social support on crime, the measurement of sexual victimization, and rehabilitation as a correctional policy. He is president-elect of the American Society of Criminology.

Michael G. Turner

Michael G. Turner is an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his Ph.D. in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. His areas of research include understanding delinquency and crime over the life course and victimization on campus.