Student and athlete preferences can help encourage reporting of sexual assault
Student-athlete preferences for reporting sexual violence: A discrete-choice experimental patient
Ellyson AM, Adhia A, Kroshus E, Wright DR. Patient. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-022-00600-z.
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Take home message
Student-athletes may be more likely to formally report sexual assault if there is a drug amnesty policy in place and students who commit sexual assault are more likely to be caught in violation of a school’s code of conduct.
Background
Sexual violence – defined as any sexual activity without consent or performed under duress – is common on American college campuses. Unfortunately, after sexual assault, someone rarely formally reports these events on college campuses. There are many reasons why someone might not want to report (stigma, fear of retaliation, not being believed). However, student-athletes may face unique sports-related barriers if their perpetrator is a fellow athlete, coach, or sports mentor. We know little about the features of reporting systems that would encourage a student-athlete who has experienced sexual violence to increase the likelihood of reporting.
Study aim
The authors surveyed collegiate athletes to determine how features of the reporting system influence decisions to formally report their sexual assault to their institution.
Methods
The authors surveyed 1,004 student-athletes from 10 NCAA Division I member institutions. The student-athletes answered questions about prior sexual violence and reported experiences and sociodemographic data (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, gender, team status, academic status). Participants also completed a discrete choice survey. This type of survey asks whether they would report sexual assault in a series of hypothetical situations that varied aspects of a facility’s reporting system. With this study, the researchers were able to determine which aspects are most likely to lead to someone formally reporting sexual violence.
Results
Overall, ~29% (n=288) reported a history of sexual violence. Overall, student-athletes reported that they would be more likely to report sexual assault if students who committed sexual assault were more likely to be caught violating the code of conduct. Furthermore, reporting would be higher if an institution had a substance use amnesty policy. Unfortunately, the aspects likely to influence reporting behavior varied widely among student-athletes and may be influenced by history of sexual assault, sport (male versus female), and competitive status. For example, students who reported a history of sexual violence were less likely to report formally and value aspects of the reporting system less than their peers. Students with a history of sexual violence reported greater interest in substance use amnesty policies, anonymous reporting, and survivor-initiated investigations than their peers without a history of sexual violence. Students at higher competitive levels reported that the most important characteristics were the likelihood of finding policy violations, survivor-initiated investigations, and amnesty for substance use.
Viewpoints
The authors found that overall substance abuse amnesty policies could potentially lead to higher reporting rates. Sexual violence is often associated with substance use (Foubert et al.). Therefore, providing amnesty policies for substance use could remove this barrier to reporting sexual violence. It was interesting to note the differences when considering the history of sexual violence, sports team contexts, and competitive status. This highlights the need for further research into these dynamics to better understand the preferences of this population and to generalize to the non-student-athlete population.
Clinical implications
This work emphasizes that student preferences should guide policies aimed at supporting students who experience sexual violence. Furthermore, physicians and administration must inform athletes of the policy to ensure everyone understands it and that there is full transparency about the policy and follow-up processes.
Questions for discussion
How does your school deal with reporting sexual violence? Does implement your school similar features to encourage reporting?
related posts
- Sexual violence in sports: Position statement of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
- It’s Not Boys Being Boys on College Campuses: Men in Fraternities and Sports Clubs Commit Sexual Violence at More Rates than Their Peers
- It’s not just happening in Hollywood, rape myths are becoming accepted on college campuses
Written by: Jane McDevitt
Review by: Jeffrey Driban
