Survey Results: Sexual Assault

In both administrations of the survey, for undergraduates, the majority of sexual assaults occurred in the Fall semester:

• 68% for undergraduate women in 2015; 71% for undergraduate women in 2021
• 65% for undergraduate men in 2015; 69% for undergraduate men in 2021

The rate of assault in both survey administrations is highest for students in their first year and the window for the next greatest risk is the Fall semester of students’ second year at CU.

Although the rates for sexual assault are lower in 2021, reports of experiencing more than one incident increased from 2015 for undergraduates and for graduate men; however, this could be due to making it easier to report multiple assaults in the 2021 survey.

In addition, assault characteristics in 2021 were more severe in several ways:

• In 2021, for men and women at both career levels, there was an increase in the percentage of participants reporting that perpetrators had used their incapacitation, physical threats or intimidation, and/or force as tactics to facilitate the sexual assault incident.
• Results indicate that unlike in 2015, for the majority of students intentional touching (only) was not the most commonly reported assaultive behavior. In 2021, rates for nonconsensual intentional touching (only) decreased for all groups and being made to perform sexual acts increased for all groups.

In 2021, the most common locations where the assault took place were:

• Undergraduate women
  
  • Greek chapter house 30%
  • Someone else’s off-campus residence 22%
  • My campus housing 18%
• Undergraduate men
  
  • My campus housing 25%
  • Someone else’s off-campus residence 21%
  • Greek chapter house 15%
• Graduate women
  
  • My off-campus residence 20%
  • Someone else’s off-campus residence 20%
  • Boulder bar, club, restaurant 20%
• Graduate men
  
  • In the US, outside of Colorado 44%

The majority of assaults did not take place at a university-related event. Among undergraduates who had been sexually assaulted at a university-related event, the most common event was Greek-associated:

• Undergraduate women
  
  • Not related to a CU event 54%
  • Greek-associated event 35%
• Undergraduate Men
  
  • Not related to a CU event 70%
  • Greek-associated event 12%
• Rates for graduate students are too low to include here

The percentages of undergraduate participants who reported being sexually assaulted since coming to CU Boulder, along with the gender of the perpetrator, are presented below. Sexual assault rates decreased among both LGBTQ+ and Not LGBTQ+ undergraduates⁴ from 2015 to 2021⁵.

• Among Not LGBTQ+ women
  
  • Sexual assault rates decreased from 27% in 2015 to 13% in 2021.
  • The majority of these participants were assaulted by a man in both 2015 and 2021 (98% in both years).

• Among Not LGBTQ+ men
  
  • Sexual assault rates decreased from 5% in 2015 to 2% in 2021.
  • The majority of these participants were assaulted by a woman in both 2015 (87%) and 2021 (78%).
• Among LGBTQ+ women
  
  • Sexual assault rates decreased from 30% in 2015 to 17% in 2021.
  • The majority of these participants were assaulted by a man in 2015 (93%) and 2021 (95%).
• Among LGBTQ+ men
  
  • Sexual assault rates decreased from 12% in 2015 to 5% in 2021.
  • The majority of these participants were assaulted by a man in 2015 (51%); a plurality were assaulted by a man in 2021 (48%).

• For graduate women, sexual assault committed by a stranger was most common in 2015 (27%), whereas the perpetrator being another graduate student was most common in 2021 (33%)—note that “other graduate student” was not a response option in 2015.
• For graduate men, assaults committed by a stranger or an acquaintance were most common in 2015 (each 26%), whereas a current or former romantic partner was most frequently the perpetrator in 2021 (38%).

Rates for other categories of perpetrator type cannot be displayed because the number of graduate student participants who reported any other specific perpetrator type is less than 10.

⁴ Due to the small number of survey participants (n < 15) who have self-identified in the CU records system as agender/do not gender identify, gender queer/non-conforming, non-binary, gender not listed, trans female/trans woman, trans male/trans man, or two spirit, results for this group cannot be disaggregated in this report. For this reason, assault rates are disaggregated by LGBTQ+ identity and by gender as indicated in CU records as man/male and woman/female.

⁵ Please note that national sexual assault rates for trans people are substantially higher than for cisgender individuals. Due to the small number of trans students who participated in the survey, it is not possible to disaggregate their results in this report. Still, it is likely that the prevalence of sexual assault among trans CU students is also higher than for cisgender CU students.

In general, reporting of any kind increased from 2015 to 2021.

The percentage of participants indicating that they did not tell anyone about the sexual assault they experienced decreased from 2015 for men and women graduates and undergraduates.

• Undergraduate women: 33% to 13%
• Undergraduate men: 52% to 21%
• Graduate women: 41% to 21%
• Graduate men: 56% to 33%

For all groups, the most common person that participants told was a roommate or friend.

Looking at confidential resources (OVA, CAPS, Wardenburg, or an off-campus confidential resource), the most commonly identified resources used by students were:

• Undergraduate women: off-campus resource (2015, 15%; 2021, 19%)
• Undergraduate men: off-campus resource (2015, 11%; 2021, 14%)
• Graduate women: CAPS (2015; 21%); off-campus resource (2021, 32%)
• Graduate men: OVA/CAPS/off-campus resource (2015, 15%); off-campus resource (2021, 33%)

The increase in use of off-campus resources from 2015 to 2021 may be related to students being remote during parts of the pandemic.

Except for graduate men, the percentage of participants who reported working with OVA increased from 2015 to 2021 (overall 11% to 14%):

• Undergraduate women: 12% in 2015; 14% in 2021
• Undergraduate men: 4% in 2015; 9% in 2021
• Graduate women: 10% in 2015; 16% in 2021
• Graduate men:15% in 2015, 11% in 2021

Again, except for graduate men, reporting to OIEC increased from 2015 to 2021. The percentage indicating that they or someone else reported the assault they experienced to OIEC was:

• Undergraduate women: 2% in 2015; 8% in 2021
• Undergraduate men: 2% in 2015; 4% in 2021
• Graduate women: 0% in 2015; 32% in 2021
• Graduate men: 8% in 2015, 0% in 2021

Reporting to the police was also uncommon in both survey administrations. Rates for police reports were:

• Undergraduate women: CU Boulder Police Department (4% in both years)
• Undergraduate men: CU Boulder Police Department (2015, 3%; 2021, 4%)
• Graduate women: Boulder Police Department (2015, 3%); Other police (2021, 11%)
• Graduate men: N/A (0% reported to any police in 2015); Other police (2021, 11%)

In the 2021 survey, new questions were added asking participants about a variety of consequences they may have experienced as a result of the assault. The most prevalent consequences were:

• Undergraduate women
  • Affected your mental health (82%)
  • Affected your intimate relationships (72%)
  • Affected your social relationships (62%)
• Undergraduate men
  • Affected your mental health (57%)
  • Affected your intimate relationships (49%)
  • Affected your social relationships (47%)
• Graduate women
  • Affected your mental health (79%)
  • Caused you to be less productive in your academic work (68%)
  • Affected your social/intimate relationships (both 63%)
• Graduate men
  • Affected your intimate relationships (75%)
  • Affected your mental health (62%)
  • Affected your social relationships (50%)