UK and Australian University Students’ Perceptions of the Nature of Sexual Assault and Intervening Behavior

Danielle Labhardt; Sarah Brown; Emma Holdsworth; Nadine McKillop; Douglas Howat; Christian Jones

doi:10.1177/08862605231212171

UK and Australian University Students’ Perceptions of the Nature of Sexual Assault and Intervening Behavior

Danielle Labhardt, Sarah Brown, Emma Holdsworth, Nadine McKillop, Douglas Howat, Christian Jones

School of Life Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

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Abstract

Sexual assault is a global problem, with the risk highest among university students. Bystander intervention preventing sexual assaults has primarily been researched using quantitative methods to understand what factors influence it. However, both sexual assault and bystander intervention are complex with many subtle and overlapping issues that, when analyzed qualitatively, can offer new insights. The current study aimed to explore and develop a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of students’ perceptions of sexual assault and bystander intervention across two universities, one in the United Kingdom and one in Australia. Thirty-nine university students (19 in the United Kingdom; 20 in Australia) took part in one-to-one semistructured interviews. Using inductive thematic analysis, two overarching themes were identified: (a) navigating the complex dynamics of sexual assault; and (b) decisions to intervene or not to intervene. Findings suggest that the complexity and ambiguity around sexual assault can forestall bystander intervention. As such, increasing education, awareness, and discussions around sexual assault and bystander intervention is vital to increase awareness of the problem and mobilize action from bystanders to prevent sexual assault.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1952-1975
Number of pages	24
Journal	Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Volume	39
Issue number	9-10
Early online date	14 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231212171
Publication status	Published - May 2024

Bibliographical note

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Keywords

sexual assault
bystander intervention
prevention
consent
qualitative
student perceptions

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10.1177/08862605231212171Licence: CC BY

PublishedFinal published version, 680 KBLicence: CC BY

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abstract = "Sexual assault is a global problem, with the risk highest among university students. Bystander intervention preventing sexual assaults has primarily been researched using quantitative methods to understand what factors influence it. However, both sexual assault and bystander intervention are complex with many subtle and overlapping issues that, when analyzed qualitatively, can offer new insights. The current study aimed to explore and develop a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of students{\textquoteright} perceptions of sexual assault and bystander intervention across two universities, one in the United Kingdom and one in Australia. Thirty-nine university students (19 in the United Kingdom; 20 in Australia) took part in one-to-one semistructured interviews. Using inductive thematic analysis, two overarching themes were identified: (a) navigating the complex dynamics of sexual assault; and (b) decisions to intervene or not to intervene. Findings suggest that the complexity and ambiguity around sexual assault can forestall bystander intervention. As such, increasing education, awareness, and discussions around sexual assault and bystander intervention is vital to increase awareness of the problem and mobilize action from bystanders to prevent sexual assault.",

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UK and Australian University Students’ Perceptions of the Nature of Sexual Assault and Intervening Behavior

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