Assessing Sorority Women's Perceptions of Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assaults That Occur Within College Campus Greek Organizations

Involvement in college campus Greek organizations is associated with an elevated risk of experiencing sexual assault victimization. Experiencing sexual assault victimizaiton is associated with myriad of consequences that could be mitigated by reporting the experience to friends, campus authorities,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child sexual abuse 2023-04, Vol.32 (3), p.359-378
Main Authors: Marcantonio, Tiffany L., Hunt, Mary E., Schisler, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advisors
Barriers
Blame
Child
Child Abuse, Sexual
College campuses
College students
college women
Commitment
Crime Victims
Cultural factors
disclosing
Female
Fraternities
Fraternities & sororities
Friendship
Greece
Greek life
Humans
Interagency collaboration
Organizations
Police
reporting
Sex crimes
Sex Offenses
Sexual Abuse
Sexual assault
Sexual violence
Shame
Sociocultural factors
Sororities
Students
Universities
Victimization
Women
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Summary:Involvement in college campus Greek organizations is associated with an elevated risk of experiencing sexual assault victimization. Experiencing sexual assault victimizaiton is associated with myriad of consequences that could be mitigated by reporting the experience to friends, campus authorities, or police, yet researchers' understanding of reasons why women participating in Greek organizations do not report sexual assaults committed by a fraternity member is understudied. Thus, the goal of this study was to assess perceived barriers to reporting a sexual assault committed by a member of a fraternity. Women associated with Greek organizations from two large universities in the south and southwestern region of the US (n = 235) completed an online survey about sexual assault. Participants were asked to describe why they thought women assaulted by a fraternity member would not report their experience. An inductive and deductive coding process suggested women perceived barriers to reporting across intrapersonal (e.g. feeling afraid/shame), interpersonal (e.g. sorority sisters would ostracize them), organizational (e.g. reporting would jeopardize Greek life), community (e.g. reporting on campus/police is challenging) and societal levels (e.g. victim blame culture). Findings suggest larger socio-cultural factors may influence whether women would report a sexual assault committed by a fraternity member. Collaboration between Greek organizations, campus Fraternity and Sorority advisors, and sexual assault prevention advocates could help to provide a supportive environment for women when sexual assaults occur.
ISSN:1053-8712
1547-0679
DOI:10.1080/10538712.2023.2189195