An astonishing 18 percent of young women reported suffering unwanted sexual contact, verbally coerced sex, rape or attempted rape within a two year period. More worryingly, the survey from the University at Buffalo indicated that most (66 percent) of the victimization was perpetrated by an intimate partner.
The survey also found that sexual victimization by intimate partners and non-intimate partners were two completely separate phenomena with two different sets of risk factors. "Because risk factors for the two different types of sexual victimization differ, considering them separately allowed us to see who is vulnerable to which type of experience," said Maria Testa, lead investigator on the study.
Testa and her colleagues investigated whether women's substance use, sexual activity and lack of assertiveness in refusing sexual advances might contribute to sexual victimization by both intimate partners and non-intimate partners. An intimate partner was defined as a boyfriend/dating partner, husband, ex-boyfriend or ex-husband. All other perpetrators were classified as non-intimates and included acquaintances and friends, and more rarely, relatives, groups and strangers.
The researchers found that the factors that predicted victimization from intimates were different than the factors that predicted victimization from non-intimates. Predictors of intimate partner victimization included being married or living together, prior intimate partner victimization and difficulty refusing a partner's request for sex. Thus, women who experience this type of sexual victimization are at risk of experiencing it multiple times, by virtue of remaining in relationships with sexually aggressive men.
Perhaps predictably, a predictor of victimization by a non-intimate perpetrator was binge drinking. "One explanation for this may be that a perpetrator who is not intimately acquainted with a victim is more likely to take advantage of a woman's intoxication as a way to facilitate having sex with her," speculated Testa. "Women who are heavy drinkers or binge drinkers typically drink outside the home and in the presence of others who are drinking, reflecting a lifestyle that poses greater risk from men they don't know."
Testa suggests that prevention strategies to reduce sexual victimization by non-intimate partners should be designed to reduce heavy episodic drinking, as well as the number of sexual partnerships, especially in populations such as female college students.
Related articles:
Assertiveness And Being Heard
Intimate Partner Violence: The Silent Epidemic
Drink Spiking? It Used To Be Called Rape
Alcohol A Big Contributor To College Victimization
Source: University at Buffalo
