Feminist Research with Student Activists: Enhancing Campus Sexual Assault Research

• Author: Kathleen H. Krause,Stephanie S. Miedema,Rebecca Woofter,Kathryn M. Yount
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12239
• Published date: 01 February 2017
• Date: 01 February 2017

K H. K, S S. M, R W,  K M. Y

Emory University

Feminist Research with Student Activists:

Enhancing Campus Sexual Assault Research

Addressing sexual assault on university and col-

lege campuses in the United States is a national

priority. To date, research on campus sexual

assault overwhelmingly focuses on students as

objects of study: as survivors, perpetrators, and

bystanders of sexual assault. This focus has

largely overlooked students who act as agents

of change, mobilizing to alter campus norms

around consent, prevention, survivor support,

and institutional response. In this article, we

encourage feminist scholars to incorporate stu-

dents as advocates against sexual assault and to

invite students to be collaborators in research.

We discuss a student-led organization and our

ongoing collaborative study with the organiza-

tion to illustrate how feminist researchers can

feature student engagement with campus sexual

assault at the grass roots. We conclude with rec-

ommendations to expand the national research

agenda on campus sexual assault.

Addressing sexual assault on university and

college campuses in the United States is a

national priority (Ali, 2011; White House Task

Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault,

2014, 2017). By taking a public health approach

to address sexual assault, researchers have

focused on developing prevention strategies

largely through survey and intervention research

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education,

Emory University (k.h.krause@emory.edu).

Key Words: Campus sexual assault, feminist research meth-

ods, student activism.

(Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; Fisher,

Cullen, & Turner, 2000; Krebs, Lindquist,

Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2007; Salazar,

Vivolo-Kantor, Hardin, & Berkowitz, 2014),

but also through qualitative interviews (Dem-

ing, Covan, Swan, & Billings, 2013; Harned,

2005). Research on campus sexual assault

largely treats students as objects of study—as

survivors, perpetrators, and bystanders of sexual

assault—overlooking students’ prevention and

intervention ideas and efforts on their campuses.

Students act as agents of change, advocat-

ing against campus sexual assault and transform-

ing campus norms about consent, prevention,

support for survivors, and institutional response

(Dick & Ziering, 2015; Jackson, 2014). In recent

years, student-led movements gained attention

in the national media (N. Anderson & Svr-

luga, 2015; Sieben, 2011, Zimmerman, 2016).

Violence prevention researchers who produce

the majority of research about campus sexual

assault, however, have largely overlooked such

initiatives. We encourage feminist researchers

to focus on student activism and to collaborate

with student activists to more fully understand

campus sexual assault from the perspectives

of those who mobilize on its front lines. By

centering student activism within a research

agenda and including students as collaborators

in conducting research, the processes through

which students challenge and redirect conver-

sations around sexual assault can be under-

stood, and evidence can be garnered that guides

broader institutional strategies for prevention

and response.

Family Relations 66 (February 2017): 211–223 211

DOI:10.1111/fare.12239