Bystander Perceptions of Same-Gender Versus Mixed-Gender Rape: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

Although most people’s rape scripts include a male perpetrator and female victim, sexual assault can occur among individuals of any gender. Because events that violate the typical rape script (e.g., same-gender sexual assault) are often overlooked, this pilot study focused on outsider perceptions of same-gender versus mixed-gender rape scenarios in a convenience sample. Participants were randomly assigned to read 1 of 4 hypothetical rape scenarios, which were identical except for the genders of the perpetrator and victim. Participants responded to questions regarding blame attribution, event label, recommended outcome for the perpetrator, likelihood of victim revictimization, and likelihood of perpetrator recidivism. Results indicated that participants who read a scenario depicting a same-gender rape were significantly more likely to label the event as rape and endorsed significantly greater likelihood of perpetrator recidivism than participants who read a mixed-gender scenario. Thus, individuals viewed same-gender and mixed-gender rape differently. Regardless of the scenario they read, only 57.8% of participants labeled the event as rape, indicating that only a little over half of participants viewed nonconsensual oral sex as rape. The implications of these results, particularly for the bystander intervention model, are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• gender
• homosexuality
• perceptions
• rape
• sexual assault