These summaries were written by SVPEP staff and are based on original papers published within the last 2 years. The information available on this web site is provided as a public service and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the Arizona Department of Health Services, or the University of Arizona. To conduct an individual search or locate older articles use the Search Summary Database which includes over 600 articles related to sexual violence.

Bletzer, K. V., & Koss, M. P. (2006). After-rape among three populations in the Southwest. Violence Against Women, 12, 5-29. [Posted January 2007]

Key Points: While women’s experience of surviving rape is similar across cultural and ethnic backgrounds, differences in their descriptions of the event may guide primary and secondary intervention strategies.

Summary: The way a person describes an experience can give insight to the meaning of the event in their life. This study included analysis of life narratives by 62 female sexual violence survivors from three ethnic/cultural groups of the Southwest: Mexican American, Native American (Southern Cheyenne), and  Anglo. All the women were low income, and the mean age of each group was about 35 years. Most of the women knew the perpetrator. Women in all groups described their feelings after rape as anger, defilement, and degradation. Few women reported the rape to police or talked to a mental health worker. When describing their long-term strategy for dealing with the rape, Anglo women were more likely to discuss taking control or leaving the memory of the event behind them. Native American women talked more about forgetting the incident or blocking it out. Mexican American women were less likely to describe active efforts to return to a “normal” life and talked more about the continuing effects of the rape on their lives. All of the women described difficulty in interpersonal relationships and in trusting men. The researchers recommended designing post-rape interventions that are sensitive to differences in sociocultural backgrounds, and educating community members to support survivors. 

Topics: racial/ethnic differences; survivors

Coker, A. L., Sanderson, M., Cantu, E., Huerta, D., & Fadden, M.K. (2008).  Frequency and types of partner violence among Mexican American college women.  Journal of American College Health, 56, 665-673. [Posted August 2008]
 
Key Points: Partner violence was prevalent among Mexican American women; however, a significant number reported that violence was not a problem in their relationship. 

Summary: Phone interviews were conducted with 149 women who were enrolled as college students near the Texas-Mexico border.  The interviews were structured to assess physical violence (PV), battering, sexual violence (SV), stalking psychological abuse, and lifetime physical violence.  Results indicated that 43% of women experienced some type of PV, 5.1% experienced SV, 19.7% were stalked and 30% experienced psychological abuse.  Co-occurrence of violence was evident among those who reported physical or sexual violence.  The probability of viewing violence as a problem increased with frequency of physical violence.

Limitations:  The sample size was small and women who participated in study may have been more or less likely to experience dating violence.

Topics: college, racial/ethnic differences, stalking, underserved populations

Decker, M. R., Raj, A., & Silverman, J. G. (2007). Sexual violence against adolescent girls: Influences of immigration and acculturation. Violence Against Women, 13, 498-513. [Posted October 2007]

Key points: Immigrant girls are twice as likely to experience recurring (past and present) sexual violence compared with non-immigrant girls. Acculturation (measured by language usually spoken at home) was not associated with sexual violence.

Summary: Researchers looked at data from Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveys conducted in 1999, 2001, and 2003 to identify associations between immigrant status, acculturation, and sexual assault among adolescent girls (N = 5,919). Fifteen percent of girls in the sample had experienced sexual violence (defined as “sexual contact against your will”). Immigrant girls had twice the risk for recurrent sexual violence compared with non-immigrant girls. Compared with the total sample (including other immigrants), immigrant girls aged 15 or younger and Black adolescent immigrant girls were at increased risk for recurrent sexual assault. Although researchers found significant sexual violence risks for all sexually active girls, sexually active immigrant Hispanic girls were at greater risk compared with nonimmigrant sexually active Hispanic girls. Recommendations for further studies included a break down of ethnic identification and country of origin (this study collapsed both); exploring the relationship of the perpetrators and victims; and separating and quantifying measures of consensual and non-consensual sexual activity.

Limitations: Respondents may not have distinguished between having had intercourse voluntarily or through force or coercion, which may have resulted in girls who had only experienced abuse being labeled sexually active. Researchers were unable to identify the relationship of the perpetrator to the victim. Highest-risk adolescents may not have been in school and may not have been represented in the study.

Topics: adolescent/high school; racial/ethnic differences; underserved populations

Fife, R. S., Ebersole, C., Bigatti, S., Lane, K. A., & Brunner Huber, L. R. (2008). Assessment of the relationship of demographic and social factors with intimate partner violence (IPV) among Latinas in Indianapolis.  Journal of Women’s Health, 17, 769-775. [Posted September 2008]
 
Key Points: Alcohol use by a woman or her partner was associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) among a sample of Latinas.

Summary: One hundred Latinas (76% from Mexico) who attended health fairs, educational sessions, and community health centers were recruited to complete surveys to examine the prevalence, demographic factors, and behaviors associated with IPV.  This exploratory, cross-sectional study: measured the prevalence of IPV in the Indianapolis Latino population and examined associations between demographic and other characteristics of IPV.  Among the participants, 51% reported some form of IPV.  Some of the forms of abuse that were reported were; yelling (38%), being followed (33%), having to ask permission to do things (18%), harassment (18%), and pushing/shoving/slapping (11%).  Women who reported IPV, 71% reported 1 to 3 forms of abuse.  Alcohol use by the woman or partner was found to be most significantly associated with IPV. 

Limitations:  Sample contained a small number of women in one community, who attended public events, and were willing to speak about IPV.  The sample also had missing data, only 75% answered all questions. An association does not mean that alcohol was the cause of IPV.

Topics: alcohol, racial/ethnic differences, underserved populations

Fitzgerald, M.M., Danielson, C.K., Saunders, B., & Kilpatrick, D.G. (2007).Youth victimization: Implications for prevention, intervention, and public policy. The Prevention Researcher, 14, 3-7. [Posted August 2007]

Key Points: Policies and practices are needed to minimize the harm of youth victimization by encouraging assessment, targeted prevention, and treatment interventions.  

Summary: The authors review national prevalence rates of youth victimization, including: sexual, emotional or physical abuse; witnessing domestic or community violence; property crime; and excessive punishment. They note gender and race/ethnicity differences in prevalence rates as well as mental health effects. Specific recommendations for assessing risk and resiliency factors as well as screening for victimization in clinical settings are given. The authors discuss the importance of targeted interventions for specific groups, and urge adoption of an ecological model. Finally, the authors discuss how public and organizational policies can help decrease the impact of victimization and increase the availability of supportive services for youth and their families.

Topics: adolescent/high school; effects; medical response; prevalence; prevention; racial/ethnic differences

Hines, D.  (2007). Predictors of sexual coercion against women and men:  A multilevel, multinational study of university students.  Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 403-422. [Posted July 2008]
 
Key Points:  The type of relationship between partners and societal sexual beliefs predicted forced and verbal sexual coercion for both women and men.  

Summary:  This study had several goals: to investigate rates of forced and verbal sexual coercion and sexual revictimization around the world, association between sexual coercion and adversarial sexual beliefs, and association between childhood sexual abuse and current victimization of sexual aggression in both men and women. Information was gathered from the International Dating Violence Study where questionnaires were completed by students in a classroom setting at various universities around the world.  The findings suggest that adversarial beliefs about romantic relationships were associated with sexual coercion for both genders.  The sites with high rates of hostile beliefs about the opposite sex observed a higher number of reports of verbal and forced sexual coercion victimization.    

Limitations:  This was a correlation study based on a sample of college/university women and men.

Topics:  male-female relations, prevention, prevalence, racial/ethnic differences

Moracco, K. E., Runyan, C. W., Bowling, J. M., & Earp, J. A. (2007). Women's experiences with violence: A national study. Women's Health Issues, 17, 3-12. [Posted February 2008]

Key Points: In a nationally representative sample of women, 60% reported experiencing some form of violence as adults; 10% had experienced violence in the previous year.

Summary: During 1997, telephone interviews were conducted with 1800 US women aged 18 years and over. Women were asked about stalking behaviors, physical assault, and sexual assault that they had experienced both during their adult lives and during the previous year. Data were weighted to account for demographic variations. Consistent with other national surveys such as the National Violence Against Women Survey, about one in six women reported having been sexually assaulted, and the perpetrator was three times more likely to be someone known to them than a stranger.  Racial/ethnic differences were also similar to other national findings, with Asian American and white women being less likely to experience violence than all other groups. Other risk factors for having experienced sexual violence included being less than 55 years old (young women aged 18-24 reported the most violence), living in a household that received public assistance, and being lesbian/bisexual.

Limitations: The sample was restricted to women living in households with telephones. Because the study was cross-sectional, the causal relationship of risk factors to types of violence experienced cannot be explored.

Topics: lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender; prevalence; racial/ethnic differences; risk

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Updated 09/30/08