Over 16 per cent of female college students report experiencing non-consensual vaginal penetration during their university years, according to an unpublished survey from Princeton University in 2008.
The “Sexual Experiences Survey” asked respondents how frequently they experienced various sexual scenarios that meet legal definitions of various sex crimes, according to Princeton’s student newspaper, the Daily Princetonian.
The survey was completed by 1,595 undergraduate and graduate students from the classes 2008-2011. Seventy per cent of the respondents were female.
More than 28 per cent of female undergraduate students reported they were touched in a sexual manner or had their clothes removed without consent.
Amada Sandoval, director of the Women’s Center at Princeton, told the Princetonian the results of the survey were not released because they matched national averages, and the school did not want to draw unwanted attention.
Sarah McCue, a member and support worker for the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre, said she’s not surprised by the rate of sexual assault, although she understands why some may be.
“We have to keeping doing research like this and keep talking about sexual assault and gender-based violence because there is a lot of doubt, still,” McCue said.
