New Report Finds Campus Sexual Assault and Misconduct Decreased
Credit: Jon Lovette / Stone / Getty Images- The rate of sexual assault and misconduct has decreased since 2019, according to the 2024 Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Awareness survey.
- More than 40,000 students across 10 institutions — including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford — took part in the survey.
- While the rate of nonconsensual sexual contact declined, so did the percentage of students who felt knowledgeable about the definition of sexual assault and how to report cases, the findings show.
The rate of sexual assault and misconduct on college campuses has decreased over the past five years, according to findings from the 2024 Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Awareness survey.
More than 40,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students completed the survey from 10 schools:
- California Institute of Technology
- Georgetown University
- Harvard University
- Iowa State University
- Stanford University
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Virginia
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Yale University
The report found that almost 19% of undergraduate women experienced nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent, a decrease of 6.8 percentage points from 2019.
Additionally, slightly over 21% of undergraduate gender nonbinary, transgender, questioning, or self-identified students (GNTQSI) reported nonconsensual sexual contact, a decrease of 4.7 percentage points since 2019.
Across the surveyed schools, the rate of nonconsensual sexual contact for undergraduate women varied, ranging from 9.4-25.3%. Overall, undergraduates were 2-3 times more likely to report nonconsensual sexual contact compared to graduate or professional students, depending on gender.
The report acknowledges that the decrease in nonconsensual sexual contact may be partially attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly during the 2020-2021 academic year when most college students were taking classes online and not living on campus.
However, the sustained decline of rates in the current academic year suggests that something else must have changed.
The rate of sexual harassment also fell in the past five years, according to the survey, with 29.8% of undergraduate women reporting sexual harassment, down from 31.5% in 2019, and 18.9% of graduate or professional women reporting, a decline from 21.9% in 2019.
Gender nonbinary, transgender, questioning, or self-identified students had the highest rates of reported:
- Sexual harassment (47.1% of undergraduate, 32.6% of graduate or professional GNTQSI students)
- Intimate partner violence (23.2% of undergraduate, 9.3% of graduate or professional GNTQSI students)
- Harassment (16.9% undergraduate, 9.5% graduate or professional GNTQSI students)
Students Say They Are Less Informed
This year, roughly 80% of incoming and returning students reported that they had participated in a training or information session concerning sexual assault and other sexual misconduct.
However, just under 30% of students reported feeling “very” or “extremely” knowledgeable about the definition of sexual assault, where to get help, and how to report it.
Between 2019 and 2024, the percentage of undergraduate men who reported being “very” or “extremely” knowledgeable about the definition of sexual assault declined by 7.2 percentage points, with similar decreases reported from undergraduate women and GNTQSI students.
That percentage also declined among graduate and professional students, decreasing 6.6 percentage points for graduate or professional women and 3.9 percentage points for graduate or professional men.
Comparable declines were found in students’ reported knowledge of where to get help if someone they knew experienced sexual assault or misconduct, how to make a report, and what happens when a report is made.
Students Are Less Confident in Their Institutions
Additionally, women and GNTQSI students were less likely to believe that a report of a sexual assault would be taken seriously by school officials.
Among undergraduates, 45.4% of women and 34% of GNTQSI students believe it was “very” or “extremely” likely school officials would take a report of a sexual assault seriously. In contrast, 67.6% of men believed the same.
This marks a significant decrease since 2019, when 54.6% of women, 49.7% of GNTQSI, and 75.8% of male undergraduate students believed school officials would take such reports seriously.
In total, 22.5% of students said that sexual assault and sexual misconduct were either
“very” or “extremely” problematic at their school. However, that percentage varied significantly based on affiliation and gender.
While 34% of undergraduate and 16% of graduate women found sexual assault and sexual misconduct “very” or “extremely” problematic at their school, only 20% of undergraduate and 12% of graduate men said the same thing.
GNTQSI students had the highest levels of dissatisfaction, with 49% of undergraduate and 32% of graduate students saying that sexual assault and sexual misconduct were either “very” or “extremely” problematic at their school.