Data gathered from 150,000 students at 27 universities.
By Raif Karerat
The Association of American Universities on Monday released the results of a survey that asked students at 27 U.S. universities about their experiences with sexual assault and sexual misconduct, garnering responses from more than 150,000 students.
The survey found that more than 20 percent of women at an array of renowned universities were victims of sexual assault and misconduct in what is one of the largest studies ever conducted on college sexual violence.
Overall, 23 percent of undergraduate women at the participating universities said they had been physically forced — or threatened with force — into nonconsensual sexual contact. For undergraduate men, the percentage was 5 percent.
Unwanted sexual contact isn’t the only concern for female students; more than 60 percent reporedt being sexually harassed. The most common infringing behavior cited by the students was making inappropriate comments about their body, appearance or sexual behavior (37.7 percent); followed by sexual remarks, or insulting or offensive jokes or stories (29.5 percent).
Freshman women appeared to be at greater risk than older students for the most egregious sexual assaults involving penetration. About 17 percent of freshman females said they had been victims of this type of assault. For women asked about their senior year, the percentage was about 11 percent, the survey findings indicated.
Twenty-six participating institutions were AAU member research universities: Brown; California Institute of Technology; Case Western Reserve; Columbia; Cornell; Harvard; Yale; Iowa State; Michigan State; Ohio State; Purdue; Texas A&M; the universities of Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota at Twin Cities, Missouri at Columbia, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Southern California, Texas at Austin, Virginia, Wisconsin at Madison; and Washington University in St. Louis. According to USA Today, one nonmember, Dartmouth College, also participated.