Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons^™

Domestic Violence In The Mountain West, 2026, Isabelle G. Graham, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents 2026 data on domestic violence in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The World Population Review report, “Domestic Violence by State 2026,” reports data on the percentage of women and men in each state who report experiences of domestic violence in their lifetime.This fact sheet highlights state-level data on different forms of domestic violence reported across the Mountain West.

The Normalization Of Sexual Exploitation, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Taming The "Dartmouth Animal", Kira Lynn Parrish-Penny

Sociology Undergraduate Senior Theses

Reflecting on Dartmouth College’s tumultuous early years of coeducation in the 1970s, former president John Kemeny remarked that several students “took it on as a sort of mission to make life miserable for women students when they first arrived… from verbal abuse to … raids on women’s dormitories and… doing everything possible that a minority of students can do to make the women feel unwelcome.” Using archival data from the Rauner Special Collections Library, this thesis explores two questions: (1) how were norms and values around masculinity constructed at Dartmouth? (2) How did this construction of masculinity shift over the …

Examining Theoretically Derived Mechanisms Underlying The Relationships Between Sexual Arousal, Alcohol Use History, And Sexual Aggression, Kailey Ann Richner

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Various interventions have attempted to reduce the rates of sexual violence perpetrated by college men; however, meta-analyses suggest interventions need to further evaluate theoretically derived mechanisms to improve outcomes (Malamuth et al., 2018; DeGue et al., 2014; Vladutiu, et al., 2011). To address this concern, the present study utilized the Integrated Theory of Sexual Offending (ITSO; Ward et al., 2016; Ward & Beech, 2008; 2006) to explore mechanisms underlying the relationships between sexual arousal, alcohol use history (AUH), and sexual aggression. Working memory, impulsivity, and affective forecasting paradigms were selected to map onto the ITSO’s neuropsychological mechanisms. The interaction between …

Navigating Sexual Consent In Japan, Samara Mizutani Cesar

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Employing an exploratory sequential research design, including focus groups and an online survey, this thesis explores the factors influencing how Japanese people navigate the gray zones of sexual consent. This study not only addresses gaps in the literature on sexual consent but also provides a preliminary understanding of Japanese individuals’ perceptions, beliefs, behaviors, and experiences in ambiguous sexual interactions, which is particularly meaningful given Japan’s recent legal revisions and changing sociocultural landscape. Findings indicated the impact of traditional sexual scripts on consent perceptions, with gender and relationship norms contributing to the dismissal of sexual assaults within specific relationships. It was …

Study Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Realconsent2.0: A Web‑Based Intervention To Promote Prosocial Alcohol‑Involved Bystander Behavior In Young Men, Laura F. Salazar, Dominic J. Parrott, David Dilillo, Sarah J. Gervais, Anne Marie Schipani‑Mclaughlin, Ruschelle Leone, Kevin Swartout, Lauren Simpson, Renita Moore, Tiffany Wilson, Nyla Flowers, Haley Church, Amanda Baildon

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background Sexual violence (SV) is a significant, global public health problem, particularly among young adults. Promising interventions exist, including prosocial bystander intervention programs that train bystanders to intervene in situations at-risk for SV. However, these programs suffer from critical weaknesses: (1) they do not address the proximal effect of alcohol use on bystander decision-making and (2) they rely on self-report measures to evaluate outcomes. To overcome these limitations, we integrate new content specific to alcohol use within the context of prosocial bystander intervention into an existing, evidence-based program, RealConsent1.0. The resulting program, RealConsent2.0, aims to facilitate bystander behavior …

Gender Roles, Sexual Cognitions, And History Of Victimization: A Preliminary Model Of Reporting Behavior Among College Students, Randi Spiker, Eu Gene Chin

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Sexual cognitions that flow from gender roles and previous history of victimization are strong predictors of sexual assault victimization. Because these cognitions reside within the individual themselves, we hypothesized that these same cognitions will also be predictors of subsequent reporting behavior to formal campus supports. An online self-report survey for assessing student awareness and perception of sexual safety was administered in a random stratified sample of college students (N = 98; 78% female). Participants were shown a hypothetical vignette involving a quid pro quo sexual harassment incident involving a student and were asked to rate their likelihood of making …

Experiencing Moral Distress Within The Intimate Partner Violence & Sexual Assault Workforce, Rachel J Voth Schrag, Sophia Fantus, Sarah Leat, Saltanat Childress, Leila Wood

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Moral distress (MD) refers to the psychological disequilibrium that emerges when institutional policies and/or practices conflict with an individual's professional values and ethics. MD has been interrogated frequently in health care and ancillary medical settings, and has been identified as a critical barrier to enhanced organizational climate and patient care. However, little work has investigated experiences of MD among members of the intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) workforce.

METHODS: This study investigates MD in a sample of IPV and SV service providers via secondary analysis of 33 qualitative interviews conducted with service providers in the summer …

University Media Coverage Of Rape Cases And Its Contribution To Victim Blaming, Chelsea Cheyenne Hays

Student Theses and Dissertations

In this study I focus on whether the media has any effect on victim-blaming in the universities setting. I looked particularly at Ivy league universities due to their prestige. I focus on how they handled the assault, the language used by the media for the perpetrator and the survivor. In this study the university that I studied were Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and Stanford University. I used a critical content to analysis to find emerging themes throughout national newspapers, The New York Times and USA Today. I also looked at the student newspaper for each university. My findings concluded that …

White Male Privilege In The Perpetration Of Sexual Violence: An Exploratory Study Of Young Adults, Emily Elizabeth Camp

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This exploratory study examined how racism and sexism among privileged White men intersect and vary to influence factors associated with sexual violence (SV) perpetration. Specifically, this study examined the interconnection of racism and sexism via latent profile analysis (LPA), how profile groups differentially predict attitudinal responses to a victim in an acquaintance rape SV vignette regarding victim blame and rape minimization (e.g., rape myth acceptance), rape proclivity, and bystander intentions to help, and whether or not these attitudes change based on the victim’s race (i.e., White or Black). The sample included 628 young adult, White, heterosexual, cis-gender men currently living …

‘They Did Not Have To Burn My Sister Alive’: Causes And Distribution By State Of Dowry Murder In India, Peter Mayer

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Dowry, the money, goods, property, or gifts given by the bride’s family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage, is a common custom in South Asia. Although it is illegal to demand—or offer—a dowry in India, it is a nearly universal custom in many parts of the country. If, after marriage, a husband’s family feels that the wife’s dowry was insufficient, they may harass or inflict other forms of domestic violence on her to put pressure on her family to provide an additional dowry. At its most extreme, this violence may lead to the murder of …

Effect Sizes And Intra-Cluster Correlation Coefficients Measured From The Green Dot High School Study For Guiding Sample Size Calculations When Designing Future Violence Prevention Cluster Randomized Trials In School Settings, Md. Tofial Azam, Heather M. Bush, Ann L. Coker, Philip M. Westgate

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Purpose: Cluster randomized controlled trials (cRCTs) are popular in school-based research designs where schools are randomized to different trial arms. To help guide future study planning, we provide information on anticipated effect sizes and intra-cluster correlation coefficients (ICCs), as well as school sizes, for dating violence (DV) and interpersonal violence outcomes based on data from a cRCT which evaluated the bystander-based violence intervention ‘Green Dot’.

Methods: We utilized data from 25 schools from the Green Dot High School study. Effect size and ICC values corresponding to dating and interpersonal violence outcomes are obtained from linear mixed effect models. We …

How College Men Describe Their Understanding Of Sexual Assault, Sarah Anolik

Dissertations, 2020-current

Despite the proliferation of many vital bystander intervention programs across the country, approximately one in four college women will experience sexual violence. Though it was once believed that a small minority of men were responsible for the vast majority of sexual violence, an estimated 12%-25% of college men report having used sexual violence as an undergraduate student. Research across disciplines suggests several factors associated with the perpetration of sexual violence. While numerous studies have explored these constructs quantitatively on and off college campuses, there have been far fewer qualitative studies that provide insight into how men who have perpetrated violence …

Male-To-Female Sexual Violence In Rural Communities: A Sociological Review, Walter Dekeseredy Dr.

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The extant sociological literature on male-to-female violence in rural communities reveals that the bulk of the empirical work on this problem focuses mainly on non-lethal physical assaults, such as beatings. Much more research on sexual violence is sorely needed. The main objective of this review is twofold: (1) to describe the current state of international sociological knowledge about male sexual violence against adult women and (2) to suggest new directions in research and theory.

Addressing Sexual Violence In K-12 Education, Taylor Bowie

McNair Scholars Manuscripts

Sexual assault has been widely recognized as a public health crisis for decades. Since at least the late 1980s, rates of sexual violence have been steady around 25% of women experiencing it by their freshman year of college. Our past and most prevalent prevention methods have consistently shown to be useless, as rates of violence have not decreased, and the results often do not lead to increased understanding about sexual assault and violence intervention. In recent years, college campuses have started to implement a new prevention education known as the bystander model. While the literature generally agrees it has some …

The Myth Of The "Gray Area" In Rape: Fabricating Ambiguity And Deniability, Maddie Brockbank

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Sexual violence is a pervasive issue identified on post-secondary campuses. Existing research focuses almost exclusively on an American context and quantitatively explores the frequency with which sexual assault occurs on campuses. As men are overrepresented as perpetrators, it is necessary to investigate their perspectives on the issue. The present study qualitatively examines the perspectives of white, heterosexual, male students to facilitate dialogue about sexual violence on university campuses in Ontario. Several themes emerged, specifically pertaining to negotiations of consent, a perceived “grey area,” peer influence, and how the social construction of masculinity fosters specific beliefs that excuse sexually violent beliefs, …

Critical Reviews Of Flawed Research On Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Measurement Of Bystander Actions In Violence Intervention Evaluation: Opportunities And Challenges, Heather M. Bush, Samuel C. Bell, Ann L. Coker

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Purpose of Review

This review discusses design and methodological challenges specific to measuring bystander actions in the evaluation of bystander-based violence prevention programming. “Bystanders” are defined as people who are present immediately before, during and/or after a violent event, but are not a perpetrator nor the intended victim. Bystander-based violence prevention programs seek to prevent or mitigate violent events by empowering bystanders to intervene on acts of violence and social norms that promulgate violence.

Recent Findings

Effective bystander-based violence prevention programs demonstrate increased bystander intentions, actions, and attitudes [Bringing in the Bystander: Banyard et al. J Community Psychol. 2007;35:463-481; iSCREAM: …

Never Again! Surviving Liberalized Prostitution In Germany, Sandra Norak, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article, co-authored by a six-year survivor of the sex trade industry in Germany (Sandra Norak) and a psychologist and trauma therapist (Ingeborg Kraus), provides perspectives on the difficulty of withstanding the coercion of traffickers and the difficulties of exiting prostitution in a country in which prostitution has been legalized, normalized and made “a job like any other.” This normalization persuades survivors to believe their traffickers that it is a legitimate occupation and encourages them to endure the violence. Liberalization also has prevented the development of needed trauma services to those seeking to exit the sex trade industry.

Bystander Program Effectiveness To Reduce Violence Acceptance: Rct In High Schools, Ann L. Coker, Heather M. Bush, Candace J. Brancato, Emily R. Clear, Eileen A. Recktenwald

Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Publications

Bystander-based violence prevention interventions have shown efficacy to reduce dating violence and sexual violence acceptance at the individual level yet no large randomized controlled trial (RCT) has evaluated this effect at the high-school level and over time. This rigorous cluster-randomized controlled trial addresses this gap by evaluating intervention effectiveness at both school and individual levels. Kentucky high schools were randomized to intervention or control conditions. In intervention schools educators provided school-wide ‘Green Dot’ presentations and bystander training with student popular opinion leaders. Each spring from 2010 to 2014; 73,044 students completed anonymous surveys with no missing data on relevant outcomes. …

Cultural Competency For Native Women At Southern Minnesotan Anti-Violence Advocacy Programs, Alissa Shape

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Violence against Native American women is heavily documented within the state of Minnesota. However, there is limited research documenting the processes advocates use to help Native women. Though there has been an increase in organizations dedicated to addressing the intersections of race and gender-based violence, much is unclear regarding the extent to which different types of programming are implemented across the state. Thus, this research study examined the implementation of cultural competency, a type of anti-violence programming, by advocates at one organization in Southern Minnesota. I hypothesized that advocates at the organization would have limited resources for implementing cultural competency …

Campus Climate Sexual Assault Survey (2015) Analysis, Felicia Rosin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The issue of sexual assault has garnered widespread attention in recent years, as is evident by the growing number of high-profile cases and mainstream social movements. With this increasingly bright spotlight, it is no surprise that The University of Akron has interest in improving the sexual violence education programs offered to students. In 2015, the university conducted a survey to gather information on the campus climate surrounding sexual assault. This analysis dives into a deeper analysis of the data gathered in an attempt to pinpoint areas that require the university’s attention. The analysis covers topics identified by Dean of Students …

The Public Health Harms Of Pornography: The Brain, Erectile Dysfunction, And Sexual Violence, John D. Foubert

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Prostitution Narratives: Stories Of Survival In The Sex Trade, Edited By Caroline Norma And Melinda Tankard Reist, Abigail Bray

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Safety Within Residence Halls At A Midwestern College Campus, Alissa R. Shape, Ellen Hammerschmidt, Jade Anderson, Stephanie Feldman

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Sexual violence is a widespread issue in American society. Though sexual violence takes many forms, the topic of campus sexual violence is especially pressing as it has occupied a fair amount of controversy in American media. The experience of sexual violence for college students is often traumatic as they navigate through the administrative systems and criminal justice systems of their respective communities. From a feminist perspective, students that become victims of campus sexual violence are often met with institutional resistance and inadequacies. The purpose of this study was to assess college students’ feelings of safety in residence halls. This research …

Just As Aggressive Off-Field?: A Look At Football Player’S Aggression In Relation To Sexual Assault, Emily Sturgess

University Honors Program

Over the past several years, many athletes, football players in particular, have been accused of sexually violent acts. This article explores various aspects of an athlete’s life that could influence their decisions and potentially play a role in their choice to commit sexually violent acts. The four areas of research include biological makeup of an athlete, an athlete’s sense of entitlement, environmental factors and whether athletes are actually punished according to their crime. Research was conducted using previously published areas from a variety of fields including psychology, health, and racial and ethnic studies journals, as well as law reviews. Examples …

Investigating Sexual Violence As A Weapon Of War In The Democratic Republic Of Congo (Drc) Through Critical Discourse Analysis, Amanda R. Kaste

Student Publications

This paper addresses the large-scale sexual violence that has taken place (and still continues) within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) using critical discourse analysis. Disturbing statistics have resulted in the identification of the DRC as the "rape capital of the world," and a variety of national, regional, and international actors have employed sexual violence as a weapon of war. Victims frequently receive little assistance, perpetrators act without fear of serious repercussions, and the government of the DRC fails to successfully implement relative legislation. Through an investigation of the discourse surrounding victims, perpetrators, and political institutions respectively, I will develop …

Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault In The United States: A Human Rights Based Approach & Practice Guide, Women's Rights Project, Human Rights Institute, Human Rights Clinic

Human Rights Institute

This Guide provides an overview of human rights law’s approach to addressing gender-based violence. Section I distills the core human rights principles related to gender-based violence, focusing on the “due diligence” standard: a comprehensive framework to address human rights violations in a systemic and proactive manner, whether committed by private or governmental actors. Section II discusses the value added of human rights principles in the U.S. context, and identifies concrete ways to integrate core human rights principles into domestic policy. Section III describes seminal international law cases related to gender-based violence. Section IV concludes by offering several resources on human …

Prevention: Sexual Violence Against Adolescent And Young Adult Women, Kimberly K. Mcclanahan, Marlene B. Huff, Hatim A. Omar, Joav Merrick

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Every Other Day, Sarah M. Connelly

SURGE

There is a problem on our campus—a problem of sexual assault and its perpetuation due to unnecessary silence. Current compulsory education on the topic through AlcoholEdu and First-Year Orientation are often turned into jokes because of course everyone knows not to rape and not to put yourself in a dangerous situation. The concept doesn’t seem real until a Campus Safety Alert reports that one of our students has been sexually assaulted. But even then, we get those so infrequently that it couldn’t be that much of an issue, right? [excerpt]