From “Victim-Precipitated Rape” to “Date Rape”: How Far Have We Come?

Adolescent Risk Factors for Sexual Victimization

Longitudinal data were used to examine riskfactors for sexual victimization among 237 young adult rural women. In this sample, 8% reported experiencing forced sex (i.e., physically violent experiences) and a separate 22% reported experiencing coerced sex(i.e., external psychological manipulation, substance-related coercion, or internal psychological pressure.) Women who had more educated mothers had a greater probability of reporting forced sex. In addition, mothers’ education moderated the relationship between individual riskfactors and the probability of reporting forced sex. For women with less educated mothers, higher frequency of sexual activity during adolescence was related to an increased probability of reporting forced sex. For women with more educated mothers, higher frequency of sexual activity was related to a decreased probability of reporting forced sex. Frequency of sexual activity during adolescence was also related to coerced sex, with higher frequency of sexual activity predicting a greater probability of reporting coerced sex.

Differences in psychological health and family dysfunction by sexual victimization type in a clinical sample of African American adolescent women

We examined levels of sexual victimization among a sample of 249 14- to 19-year-old African American adolescent women. Victimization was common: 32.1% reported having been raped, 33.7% had experienced sexual coercion, and 10.8% reported an attempted rape. Only 23.4% had never been victimized. We investigated whether levels of psychological health and family dysfunction varied as a function of the type of sexual victimization. Girls who had been raped had lower levels of self-esteem and mastery and higher levels of depression compared to girls who reported no sexual victimization. Significantly higher levels of family cohesion and significantly lower levels of family support were reported by girls who had been raped versus girls who reported no sexual victimization. These findings are a starting point for future studies by providing evidence that levels of mental health and family dysfunction vary by the type of sexual victimization experienced.

The social construction of violence: the case of sexual and domestic violence

What counts as "violence" is socially constructed, has varied over time, and reflects power relationships. Informed by social constructionism, we illustrate these points using as examples sexual violence and domestic violence. We review changes in how society and social scientists have defined and understood these topics during the last 30 years. We then discuss 3 areas of continuing controversy: who should decide if sexual or domestic violence has occurred, what to count as sexual and domestic violence, and the role of gender in defining sexual and domestic violence.

Sexual coercion reported by women in three midwestern prisons

The study was an anonymous self-report survey of coercive sexual experiences of women incarcerated in three Midwestern prisons. Inmate populations were 295 (Facility 1), 113 (Facility 2) and 60 (Facility 3). Return rates were over 50%. Some prison staff were also surveyed. The 150 inmates in Facility 1 reported relatively high rates of sexual coercion: 27% had been coerced in the state system and 19% in their present facility. The 80 inmates in Facility 1 and 36 inmates in Facility 3 reported lower rates: 8% to 9% for prisons statewide and 6% to 8% for their present facility. One half of the perpetrators were females. Most incidents involved genital touching. About one fifth of the incidents were classifiable as rape. We concluded that the prison environment potentially fosters female sexual aggression among inmates and sexual exploitation by staff.