The Intersectional Trajectories of Help-Seeking among Sexually Victimized College Men

• Author / Creator

  Cima, Samantha

• Though victimized less than women and gender non-conforming individuals, college men are four to five times more likely to experience sexual assault than men who have not attended post-secondary (Forsman, 2017). Despite this increased risk, little is known about sexually assaulted college men’s intersectional help-seeking trajectories. Help-seeking is essential to the survivor’s healing journey, including whether symptoms are worsened or alleviated, yet sexually victimized men often delay or avoid connecting with informal and formal supports (Mennicke et al., 2022). Sexually assaulted college men’s help-seeking tendencies are, therefore, a worthwhile focus. My dissertation evaluates how college men’s gender privilege intersects with race, sexuality, and disability status to mobilize different pathways of informal and campus help-seeking following sexual victimization. I analyze 2019 data provided by the Association of American Universities (AAU), which surveyed students at 33 institutions across the United States about experiences of sexual assault. I use the theoretical lenses of intersectionality, masculinities theory, and the social ecological model of help-seeking to contextualize my results.
  I first provide rates of college sexual assault (CSA) by gender, sexuality, race, and disability, followed by a descriptive analysis of the sociodemographic characteristics of sexually victimized college men. I find that one in four women and transgender/gender non-conforming students, compared to one in fifteen college men, are sexually assaulted during their degree. Queer and disabled men experience higher rates of CSA than heterosexual or non-disabled men. Rates of CSA are slightly higher among other/multi-racial men; however, Asian men are less likely to report sexual assault than men of other races. These results confirm that marginalized group membership increases risk of CSA. Interestingly, most college men in this sample are sexually assaulted by women; this is largely swayed by sexuality, where heterosexual men are most often assaulted by women, gay men by other men, and bisexual men by both men and women.
  I then conduct a series of logistic regression models to analyze how race, sexuality, and disability predict different trajectories of informal and campus help-seeking among sexually victimized college men, as well as if help-seeking depends on the assault occurring within Greek housing, alcohol consumption, minimization of the assault, and perceptions of campus supports. Over half of sexually victimized college men are predicted to engage in informal help-seeking, versus one-third who are predicted to connect with campus resources. Disabled queer men of colour – especially disabled bisexual Asian men – appear to have greater odds of campus help-seeking than more privileged men, who have heightened odds of accessing informal supports. Greek housing and alcohol consumption increase odds of informal help-seeking, but able-bodied Black men with other sexualities (e.g., asexual) seem to be the least likely to access informal supports. Alcohol consumption and minimization decrease odds of campus support use, though disabled queer men of colour still appear to have higher odds than more privileged men. Greek housing, however, has no effect on campus help-seeking. Holding positive perceptions of campus support diminishes odds of campus help-seeking; this could be due to reverse causality, where accessing campus supports creates positive perceptions among the men who use them.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • help-seeking
  • college men
  • college sexual assault
  • intersectionality
  • social ecological model
  • masculinities

• Graduation date

  Spring 2024

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-mm5d-wy94

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.