A Feminist Analysis of Campus Sexual Assault Policies: Results from a National Sample

• Author: Ruth E. Fleury‐Steiner,Kathryn A. Branch,Katherine Kafonek,Tara N. Richards
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12236
• Published date: 01 February 2017
• Date: 01 February 2017

T N. R University of Baltimore

K A. B University of Tampa

R E. F-S  K K University of Delaware

A Feminist Analysis of Campus Sexual Assault

Policies: Results from a National Sample

Institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the

United States are obligated to address sexual

assault on campus under the Clery Act and Title

IX, and a recent surge in societal interestin sex-

ual assault among collegestudents has prompted

many IHEs to bolster their response. Little sys-

tematic information exists about IHEs’ sexual

assault policies and services and whether they

align with feminist-based models of advocacy.

This study examined annual security reports and

student handbooks and codes of conduct for a

nationally representative sample of 4-year IHEs

(N=387) and assessed IHEs’ responses to sex-

ual assault on college campuses throughthe lens

of a feminist-based organizational model. Find-

ings indicate that policies for the sampled IHEs

include a mean of 12 of 17 policy components’

aligned with feminist models, and 4% of sampled

IHEs include all 17 components. Implications

for improving IHEs’ responses to sexual assault

in ways consistent with feminist models are dis-

cussed.

B

Sexual assault is a serious problem on col-

lege campuses in the United States. Victims of

School of Criminal Justice, University of Baltimore, 1420

North Charles Street, LAP 519, Baltimore, MD 21201

(trichards@ubalt.edu).

Key Words: Advocacy, gender-basedviolence, Title IX.

sexual assault may suffer psychological and

emotional trauma, which can be long lasting

(Petrak, 2002; see Bordere, 2017), and the threat

of sexual assault impacts the larger college cam-

pus by creating an unsafe environment not con-

ducive to learning and student growth (Fisher

& Cullen, 2013). Further, highly publicized sex-

ual assault and rape cases may have an impact

on college reputations and create disincentives

for student enrollment. Given the prevalence

and consequences of sexual victimization, many

institutions of higher education (IHEs) have

enacted or reevaluated administrative policies

and codes of conduct in an effort to better

respond to victims and to comply with the

growing body of federal legislation regarding

gender-based violence (e.g., sexual assault, dat-

ing violence, domestic violence, stalking). How-

ever, little published research has focused on

university compliance with federal mandates

(for a discussion, see Gregory & Janosik, 2007),

best practices, or the degree to which univer-

sity compliance may affect survivors of sexual

assault.

The theory of gendered organizations pro-

vides a useful framework for analyzing IHEs’

policy and procedures regarding sexual violence

on their campuses (Acker, 1990). Similar to

Nichols’s (2011) application to examine domes-

tic violence organizations, our approach here

examines three possible models of gendered pro-

cesses present in IHEs. Organizations steeped

in a feminist gender-based model “recognize

104 Family Relations 66 (February 2017): 104–115

DOI:10.1111/fare.12236