A Profile of Double Victims: Sexual Coercion by a Dating Partner and a Stranger

Abstract

Victim profiles of sexual coercion might differ based on the type of perpetrator that initiates the coercion—namely, a stranger versus a dating partner. Some victims experience coercion from both types of perpetrators—referred to here as “double victims.” Survey data from 2,322 undergraduates at two relatively large U.S. universities in the Midwest and Southeast revealed in a multinomial logistic regression analysis that victims of distinct types of perpetrators had unique predictors as part of their overall profiles. Background characteristics associated with each type were identified. In comparison to nonvictims, a profile of double victims emerged—a White female who had been abused as a child, who had cohabited with a partner, used alcohol or drugs, had been emotionally abused by a partner, had lied to a partner, used the Internet to find a partner, had dated interracially, and had engaged in sex in a noncommitted relationship. Implications and limitations of these findings are included in the discussion.

Keywords:

• assault
• college students
• date rape
• sexual pressure
• vulnerabilities