Intersectionality and Perceptions About Sexual Assault Education and Reporting on College Campuses
| Author | Samantha A. Wallace,Meredith G. F. Worthen |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12240 |
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
M G. F. W S A. W University of Oklahoma
Intersectionality and Perceptions About Sexual
Assault Education and Reporting on College
Campuses
A mixed-methods design with an intersectional
feminist framework was used with 1,899 stu-
dents at a large Southern university to critically
examine (a) how students view the issue of
sexual assault on their own campus, (b) how
they perceive the status of reporting sexual
assault to campus ofcials, and (c) how they
are responding overall to a campus-wide sexual
assault education program. Some privileged
groups, especially heterosexual men, were less
informed than others about sexual assault and
less supportive of campus sexual assault edu-
cation. In contrast, some marginalized groups,
including lesbian, gay, and bisexual students,
perceived campus sexual assault to be a more
serious issue than did other groups, but they
were also most critical of heteronormative
biases in most campus programing. Non-White
students were most supportive of sexual assault
education. Empirically driven implications for
campus sexual assault programs are provided.
Sexual assault remains a serious issue on college
campuses despite the growing attention from
university administrators, student-led programs
and initiatives, and various media outlets. Some
Department of Sociology, University of Oklahoma, 780
Van Vleet Oval Kaufman Hall 331, Norman, OK 73019
(mgfworthen@ou.edu).
Key Words: Campus sexual assault, intersectionality, rape
myths.
college students are known to be at a higher
risk of experiencing sexual assault than oth-
ers (e.g., Black women are at a higher risk
than Asian women, bisexual women are at a
higher risk than heterosexual women, sorority
women are at a higher risk than non-sorority
women; Cantor et al., 2015; Minow & Einolf,
2009), but less is known about how student
awareness and perceptions about sexual assault
may vary by social identity. Furthermore,
although many universities have implemented
educational campaigns focusing on sexual
violence, few empirical studies have explored
how student responses to such initiatives vary
across social identities. Moreover, because most
campus sexual assault education programs are
designed around heteronormative relationships,
some students—particularly lesbian, gay, and
bisexual (LGB) students—are especially vulner-
able to remaining undereducated about sexual
assault despite the presence of campus-wide
education programs (Worthen & Baker, 2014).
Evidence-based investigations are therefore
needed to develop a clear understanding of
intersectionality with regard to student aware-
ness, perceptions of reporting, and responses to
campus sexual assault education. This knowl-
edge can help maximize impact by informing
education programs and positioning them to
promote cultural change on college campuses.
A consideration of how social positions in
society, including gender,sexuality, race, ethnic-
ity, and class identities (among others), shape
perspectives, life experiences, and trajectories
180 Family Relations 66 (February 2017): 180–196
DOI:10.1111/fare.12240
Intersectionality and Perceptions of Sexual Assault 181
ts within an intersectionality paradigm (e.g.,
Collins, 2000; Crenshaw, 1991; Davis, 2008).
The intersectionality framework utilized here
acknowledges differences across these identities
as well as power imbalances embedded within
them. Furthermore, we consider the ways multi-
ple marginalized identities interact to disadvan-
tage certain individuals (Collins, 2000). In par-
ticular, a feminist approach to intersectionality
acknowledges the importance of gender-based
oppression and the simultaneous and interacting
effects of other identities on negative life expe-
riences and oppressive circumstances. Of spe-
cial consideration here is a framework that cen-
ters “issues of difference and diversity” (Davis,
2008, p. 71) as they relate to sexual assault.
Thus, our approach to addressing college cam-
pus sexual assault investigates how social iden-
tities converge and differentially situate individ-
uals’ experiences.
The purpose of the present study is to uti-
lize an intersectional feminist framework to crit-
ically examine how students’ social identities
affect their awareness of and perceptions about
sexual assault, as well as their responses to
a campus-wide sexual assault education pro-
gram, with the ultimate goal of drawing empir-
ically based implications to address diversity in
sexual assault prevention programming. This is
particularly important because most published
research to date on the topic has focused on
heterosexual encounters involving women vic-
tims and men perpetrators (Worthen & Baker,
2014). Consequently, we know little about how
bisexual women, a group at heightened risk of
experiencing sexual assault (Cantor et al., 2015),
perceive sexual assault on their college cam-
puses and how they are responding to sexual
assault education. More generally, the dearth of
research on social identities in the context of sex-
ual assault leaves educators and campus leaders
ill equipped to design and implement preven-
tion programs that address the varied needs of
diverse student populations. Thus, the present
study addresses this gap in the literature and pro-
vides empirically driven program implications
by utilizing a framework that acknowledges the
intersectional lives of college students. Specif-
ically, gender, sexual identity, race, ethnicity,
college group afliations (e.g., student athletics,
Greek life, LGBTQ ally program participation),
and the intersections of these social identities are
investigated. The following research questions
guided this study: (a) How do students view the
issue of sexual assault on their own campus? (b)
How do students perceive the status of reporting
sexual assault to campus ofcials? and (c) How
are students responding to campus-wide sexual
assault education programming?
I C S
A
Campus sexual assault is well researched, yet
perspectives that focus on intersectionality have
been largely overlooked. Thus, we highlight
the importance of intersectionality for under-
standing student (a) awareness of sexual assault
(including rape myth acceptance and consent
knowledge), (b) perceptions of reporting campus
sexual assault, and (c) responses to college sex-
ual assault education programs.
Intersectionality and Student Awareness
of Sexual Assault
In general, students are aware that sexual assault
happens on college campuses (Banyard, Plante,
& Moynihan, 2005). However, studies of cam-
pus sexual assault awareness tend to be descrip-
tive. For example, much research has examined
gender differences and found that women are
more likely than men to be aware of issues
associated with campus sexual assault (Potter,
Moynihan, Stapleton, & Banyard, 2009) and to
believe that sexual assault is a problem at their
own university (Cantor et al., 2015). In addition,
transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming, and
questioning (TGQN-identied) college students
are more likely than non-TGQN-identied men
and women to believe that sexual assault is a
problem at their own university (Cantor et al.,
2015).
These descriptive ndings indicate that
some groups of college students tend to be
more informed about sexual assault than
others and, moreover, those who are more
likely to experience sexual assault are more
likely to believe that sexual assault is a prob-
lem at their own university (Cantor et al.,
2015). However, the lack of research on
the intersectional experiences of students is
surprising. For example, TGQN-identied stu-
dents are nearly six times more likely than
non-TGQN-identied men and three times more
likely than non-TGQN-identied women to
report that sexual assault is an “extreme” prob-
lem at their own university, and nearly one in
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