Dataset Information

Sexual harassment and assault among university students in Norway: a cross-sectional prevalence study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The aim of the current study was to provide estimates of both overall and specific forms of sexual harassment among male and female college and university students.

Design and setting

Data stem from a recent national student health survey from 2018 for higher education in Norway (the SHoT study (Students' Health and Wellbeing Study)).

Participants

50?054 full-time students (69.1% women) aged 18-35?years participated, yielding a response rate of 31%.

Main outcome measure

Sexual harassment was defined according to Norwegian legal regulations, and was assessed by self-report on seven items covering verbal, non-verbal and physical sexual harassment. We also collected data on the timeframe and frequency of the sexual harassment, in addition to the formal position of the perpetrator of the harassment.

Results

Lifetime sexual harassment was reported by 24.2% (women 31.3%, men 8.0%), while 16.7% (women 21.6%, men 5.7%) reported having been sexually harassed within the past year. The most common forms of lifetime (ever having experienced) sexual harassments were 'sexual expressions, suggestions or comments about your body' and 'unwanted touching, hugging or kissing' (both 15.4%), while rape and rape attempt were reported by 3.4% and 2.1%, respectively. Exposure to all forms of past-year sexual harassments was significantly more common among women and the youngest age cohorts. Fellow students committed the past-year sexual harassment in 18%-29% of the instances, while a university staff member was reported to have committed the harassment in 0.6%-4.6% of cases.

Conclusion

Given the potential consequences suffered by those exposed to sexual harassment and assault, both the institutions and student welfare organisations should intensify their efforts to put the theme on the agenda and provide both legal and health services to victims of sexual harassment. The low response rate means that care should be taken in interpreting and generalising the findings to the whole student population.

SUBMITTER: Sivertsen B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6561608 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Sexual harassment and assault among university students in Norway: a cross-sectional prevalence study.

Sivertsen Børge B Nielsen Morten Birkeland MB Madsen Ida E H IEH Knapstad Marit M Lønning Kari Jussie KJ Hysing Mari M

BMJ open 20190609 6

<h4>Objective</h4>The aim of the current study was to provide estimates of both overall and specific forms of sexual harassment among male and female college and university students.<h4>Design and setting</h4>Data stem from a recent national student health survey from 2018 for higher education in Norway (the SHoT study (<i>Students' Health and Wellbeing Study</i>)).<h4>Participants</h4>50 054 full-time students (69.1% women) aged 18-35 years participated, yielding a response rate of 31%.<h4>Main ...[more]

PMID: 31182445

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Project description:ObjectiveThis study investigates the frequency of sexual harassment among female nurses in the Greek health system and the nurses' reluctance to report their experiences.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingGreece.Participants1264 female nurses of working age across different settings responded to the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) web-based format between October 2020 and February 2021. The period investigated by the SEQ was the participant's entire professional life. The final sample consisted of 1217 nurses with valid data on the frequency of sexually harassing behaviours (gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, sexual coercion) and the reasons for not reporting sexual harassment.Main outcome measuresThe frequency of sexual harassment was measured in a 5-point Likert Scale (1: very often, 2: often, 3: occasionally, 4: rarely, 5: never), the decision to report/not report sexual harassment was measured in a yes/no format and the impact of sexual harassment on the physical, mental and job-related performance was measured in a 5-point Likert Scale (1: very positively, 2: positively, 3: moderately, 4: negatively, 5: very negatively).Results70% of the nurses have experienced sexual harassment at least once in their working lives, while the most frequent type is gender harassment. Male doctors are the most common perpetrators. T-tests and analysis of variance showed that private and younger nurses were more likely to experience sexual harassment while divorced nurses with 1-5 years of experience dealt with sexually coercive behaviours more frequently. 30% did not report sexual harassment because of the fear of negative consequences and beliefs that no action will be taken against the perpetrator. Multiple regression analyses showed that unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion explain the victim's physical and job-related adverse outcomes. Cronbach's α was 0.939.ConclusionsThe results show that sexual harassment rates are high in the Greek health system, while many victims do not report their experiences to the authorities. This emphasises the need to implement drastic measures on behalf of the National Health Service (NHS) policy makers towards helping victims speak up without the fear of negative consequences. Nurse managers are called to implement effective policies against sexual harassment.

Project description:BackgroundMost research on military-related sexual assault is based on the United States military and has important limitations, such as low response rates. We sought to estimate the lifetime prevalence of sexual assault, assess its relation to military service and identify the circumstances, correlates and associations with mental disorders of military-related sexual assault among Canadian military personnel.MethodsWe used the 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey, a cross-sectional representative survey of Canadian Regular Force personnel (n = 6696). The sample was weighted to be representative of the entire Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force population in 2012 (n = 67 776), as per Statistics Canada requirements. We assessed lifetime trauma exposure and past-year mental disorders using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. We defined lifetime military-related sexual assault as forced sexual activity or unwanted sexual touching that occurred on deployment or in another military workplace, or was perpetrated by Department of National Defence or Canadian Armed Forces personnel. We defined all other sexual assault as non-military-related sexual assault.ResultsSelf-reported sexual assault was more prevalent among women (non-military-related sexual assault 24.2%, military-related sexual assault 15.5%) than men (5.9% and 0.8%, respectively). About a quarter of women with military-related sexual assault reported experiencing at least 1 event on deployment. After covariates were controlled for, military-related sexual assault was independently associated with any lifetime and any past-year mental disorder (adjusted odds ratio 2.9 and 3.0, respectively) and lifetime and past-year posttraumatic stress disorder (adjusted odds ratio 4.3 and 4.1, respectively).InterpretationCanadian military women are at increased risk for sexual assault and military-related sexual assault relative to their male counterparts. Deployment may be a period of elevated risk for military-related sexual assault, and women who reported military-related sexual assault are more likely to have experienced mental disorders, especially posttraumatic stress disorder.

Dataset Information

Sexual harassment and assault among university students in Norway: a cross-sectional prevalence study.

Objective

Design and setting

Participants

Main outcome measure

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Sexual harassment and assault among university students in Norway: a cross-sectional prevalence study.

Similar Datasets

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