Learn about college sexual assault. Explore campus sexual assault prevention and response resources.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Anyone can use this confidential service.
College campuses are plagued by sexual assault.
Female, trans, and gender-nonconforming students face more sexual violence.
Sexual assault victims may develop PTSD.
Students can prevent sexual assault by educating themselves.
Every year, millions of Americans experience sexual violence. Sexual assault remains a risk for college students.
The 2019 AAU Campus Climate Survey found 13% of U.S. colleges had nonconsensual sexual contact. Over 1 in 4 college women reported nonconsensual sexual contact.
Transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, and gender-questioning students reported high NSC rates.
College students should understand sexual violence, know their rights in case of assault, and be familiar with campus sexual assault resources due to safety risks.
Sexual Assault
Sexual assaults involve unwanted or offensive sexual contact. It's considered sexual violence, which includes sexual abuse, assault, and rape. State laws define these terms differently.
States may define first-degree rape and sexual assault as forcible sexual contact with a victim under 14 or incapable of consent. Every 68 seconds in the U.S., a sexual assault occurs.
18-34-year-olds are most at risk for sexual assault, accounting for 54% of cases. According to RAINN, 1 in 6 American women has been raped in her lifetime.
Male college students 18-24 are five times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than non-students. Transgender, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming students are 21% sexually assaulted.
College students and sexual assault.
Sexual assault victims can suffer mental and physical harm. How sexual violence affects college students.
Medical
Sexual assault survivors may experience various health conditions. PTSD, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts are common aftereffects.
These conditions can affect a student's self-esteem, relationships, and other aspects of their life.
Survivors may be too anxious to attend social events. Depression or PTSD can make school impossible or pointless.
Legal Challenges
Sexual assault victims can seek college and local disciplinary action. Survivors who seek justice must navigate an emotionally taxing and time-consuming process.
It's difficult to balance this lengthy process with schoolwork. Survivors may have taken classes with their attackers. They may need to adjust their course schedule unless their school requires it.
Other students may share social circles with their attackers, forcing them to avoid friends — especially if the attacker is given the benefit of the doubt during proceedings.
Many schools have a campus culture that stigmatizes sexual assault victims.
Crime underreporting
RAINN says most college-age victims don't report sexual violence. Especially college-aged women. 20% of college women report sexual assaults.
Embarrassment and fear of reoccurrence may prevent college women from reporting assaults.
Men report sexual assault at low rates, possibly due to shame, humiliation, or the stigma of being vulnerable.
Most sexual assault perpetrators are family members, acquaintances, or people the victim knows. Strangers commit 19.5% of rapes.
If a survivor knows their attacker, they may not report the assault out of fear for their safety or social repercussions.
Relationship-related sexual assault?
RAINN says 33% of rapes are committed by a partner. Relationship sexual violence includes intimate partner rape, domestic violence, and marital rape.
Sexual violence often occurs alongside emotional and/or physical abuse. Knowing warning signs can help survivors identify unhealthy relationship behaviors and get help.
Sexual assault victims who know their attackers struggle in relationships. 84% of victims of intimate partner sexual violence report future professional or emotional issues.
After Sexual Assault
Sexual violence can have lasting effects on survivors, their friends and family, and witnesses. The following sections describe what students can do.
Sexually Assaulted?
Below are steps to take after a sexual assault.
Surviving sexual violence can cause fear and disorientation. Attack victims should leave the scene and seek safety.
Predators often know their victims, so survivors should document any communication. Authorities can use kits to confirm the perpetrator's DNA, so victims shouldn't change or shower.
Local authorities can help victims who report at the hospital. They can also call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) for sexual assault help. Students who don't want to call the police can use JDoe or Callisto.
Many facilities only allow 72-96 hours for forensic evidence collection, so immediate medical attention may be crucial. Doctors can collect samples to identify the offender. Healthcare facilities offer STI screening and HIV-prevention medicine.
If You Know a Sexual Assailant
Now, safety is paramount. Help the victim escape the attacker. Safeguard the victim.
Many victims blame themselves. The sexual assault was not the survivor's fault.
Be a good listener. Thank the victim for sharing. Say you believe them and they're not alone.
Take detailed notes if you saw the attacker or the sexual assault. Accompany the survivor to a hospital and ensure they see trauma specialists.
Notify the victim. Counseling and support groups should be recommended.
Following an Assault
Consider the following options after a sexual assault.
If you live with an abusive partner or feel unsafe, make arrangements with your dorm staff, a safe home, or friends to move. Don't tell your attacker where you'll live to prevent future attacks.
Contact campus health services for a sexual assault counselor. Call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) to speak with a hotline counselor.
Title IX-funded colleges and universities must respond immediately to sexual violence reports. Students can sue failing schools. Legal action requires the victim to come forward and expose their experience, but it can raise awareness and hold the perpetrator accountable.
Sexual assault recovery
Sexual assault survivors struggle to resume normal activities. Trauma victims should work with their doctors, counselors, and instructors to take time off from school to recover.
Scars can be painful reminders even after physical wounds heal. Survivors may suffer from depression and PTSD.
With help, survivors can cope with aftereffects.
Due to trauma, sexual assault victims should seek help. Survivors may not think they need counseling, but emotional and mental fallout can be sudden, especially during high stress.
How do we address campus sexual assault?
Students, institutions, and parents can help end sexual assault on college campuses.
Student Activities
Assault survivors aren't to blame. Any gender or age can experience sexual violence. Assaulters often seek power and control.
Students can prevent sexual assault by understanding what it is and not abusing others. They can also stop sexual assaults if they witness them and protect others and themselves.
Female college students may consider enrolling in the Enhanced Access, Acknowledge, Act program, which teaches techniques to reduce the risk of sexual assault by a friend when bystanders are absent.
Some colleges offer educational workshops for students and departments with trained sexual assault responders.
Any student, faculty, or staff member can get a Safe Sound Pro Personal Safety Alarm at https://safepersonalalarm.net/ to alert others that they are in danger or sexual assault risk.
SafeSound Pro can be carried in a purse, pocket, or belt. It can be used to call for help, warn of danger, or scare off an attacker.
The personal alarm fits in a purse, pocket, or belt. It can be used to call for help, warn of danger, or scare off an attacker.
Boston University's Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center offers counseling, group sessions, and a crisis hotline.
School Actions
Colleges and universities continue to fight sexual assault.
Some schools hire security guards to patrol the campus and provide transportation so students don't travel alone. Some schools offer safety apps with emergency resources.
Colleges may teach students how to avoid sexual violence. Green Dot teaches bystanders how to reduce violence.
Some institutions host events to teach students how to prevent sexual assault during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The government addresses campus sexual assault. Clery Act requires schools to release crime statistics and safety policies. Title IX outlines how schools must respond to sexual harassment, discrimination, and violence.
Colleges and universities must file annual reports with sexually-based crime statistics, but not all do. 89% of 11,000 colleges failed to disclose rape statistics, according to AAUW's 2016 Clery Act analysis.
Parents can...
Parents and guardians often worry about their college-bound children being sexually assaulted.
Age-appropriate education can reduce children's exposure to sexual violence by defining inappropriate touching and identifying body parts.
They can also create a culture of consent and respect for the child's body and others' bodies within the family and their extended circles.
Parents and guardians should review unsafe situations, ways to reduce the risk of assault, and ways to communicate whereabouts with friends and family before students leave for college.
Parents and incoming college students should ask about amnesty clauses, Title IX training, resources, and student training.
Parents can educate their children with online resources. End Rape on Campus discusses risk reduction and how parents can help.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center provides a guide for parents and guardians seeking student support.
Educating and preventing sexual assault
Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
RAINN runs this anonymous phone line and chat system. The resource helps sexual assault survivors, their partners, family, and friends.
Domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Call this free, confidential hotline if you're in an abusive relationship. Or text START to 88788.
AAUW's Sexual Assault Toolkit
This AAUW resource helps faculty and staff lead sexual violence prevention discussions with students.
Horizontally
Safe Horizon, a national violence prevention network, offers crisis hotlines, community programs, and counseling centers.
Sexual Assault and Harassment on Campus
This AAUW resource teaches students how to seek legal action for sexual violence on campus.
The NCDV
NCADV helps domestic sexual violence victims.
RAINN Activism
RAINN provides resources for students who want to combat sexual violence on campus.
Sexual Assault FAQs
Unreported sexual assaults?
Most U.S. sexual assaults go unreported. RAINN reports that only 310 of 1,000 sexual assaults are reported. 25% of sexual assaults result in incarceration.
What's the most common college sexual assault?
Most sexual assaults on college campuses involve threats, violence, or incapacitation. Incapacitation includes being drugged with Rohypnol (the "date rape drug") or being too drunk to give consent.
What's the Campus Sexual Assault Bill of Rights?
All private and public colleges that use federal student aid programs must provide basic rights to sexual assault victims on campus. Sexual assault survivors will be told they can speak with law enforcement outside campus security.
Other rights include access to third parties during questioning and notification of disciplinary action. Victims should receive counseling and options for changing their residential and academic situations.
Sexual consent. Included?
Legal sexual consent varies by state, but visit it means people engaging in sexual acts have given clear, verbal consent.
Permission is ongoing. A person can consent to an act once but not again. Someone can consent to kissing but not penetration.
Legal age and mental capacity are required for consent.
Crime-committer behavior
Because there are different types of sexual assault and categories of sexual perpetrators, perpetrators do not all exhibit the same behaviors. 8 out of 10 sexual assaults are by known perpetrators.
Some sexual perpetrators are opportunists who may attack a drunk person who can't consent. Others may sexually assault or "steal" people.