Abstract
Sexual assault is a persistent problem on college campuses that disproportionately impacts sexual and gender minority identified students. Objective: This study explores how circumstances of the crime, disclosure to informal sources, training and campus climate are associated with reporting sexual assault to college officials by these students. Participants: A total of 409 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning college students who experienced sexual assault while attending their current four-year college. Results: Chi-square and t-test analysis found that reporting to college officials was significantly associated with the type of assault experienced, disclosure to a campus advocates, disclosure to a parent/guardian, and the campus climate for LGBTQ students. Conclusion: These findings suggest that practitioners and college officials may support reporting behavior amongst sexual and gender minority identified students through enhanced campus support systems and strategic educational efforts.
Conflict of interest disclosure
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Connecticut.