Bystander Intervention for the Prevention of Campus Sexual Violence: Opportunity, Frequency of Action, and Consequences for Confronting Those at Risk of Perpetration

Jill C Hoxmeier; Sarah McMahon; Julia Cusano

doi:10.1177/10778012231185546

Bystander Intervention for the Prevention of Campus Sexual Violence: Opportunity, Frequency of Action, and Consequences for Confronting Those at Risk of Perpetration

Violence Against Women. 2023 Jul 7:10778012231185546. doi: 10.1177/10778012231185546. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jill C Hoxmeier¹, Sarah McMahon², Julia Cusano²

Affiliations

¹ College of Health, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
² School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

PMID: 37415538
DOI: 10.1177/10778012231185546

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined students' (Campus 1, n = 1,153; Campus 2, n = 1,113) experiences with four situations of direct confrontation of those at risk for sexual assault perpetration. The most reported opportunity was to confront those making false statements about sexual assault; many students reported more than one opportunity to intervene in the past year. Bystanders intervened most of the time across the four situations examined in this study. The most reported consequence of intervening was that no further harm was caused. More nuanced measures can offer practitioners further information to tailor sexual violence prevention programs.

Keywords: bystander intervention; measurement; prevention; sexual violence.