Sexual Victimization in College Men in Chile: Prevalence, Contexts, and Risk Factors

Jocelyn Lehrer, University of California, San Francisco
Evelyn L. Lehrer, University of Illinois at Chicago
Mary Koss, University of Arizona

Sexual victimization in men is a health and justice problem that has received little attention. This study examines prevalence, contexts and risk factors for such victimization in college men in Chile. We administered a questionnaire to students at a university in Santiago (N= 466 men). The most severe forms of victimization experienced since age 14 were forced sex through physical coercion, forced sex through verbal coercion or while intoxicated, attempted forced sex, and less severe incidents, for 0.2%, 10.1%, 1.4% and 8.7% of participants, respectively. Approximately 9.4% of participants reported childhood sexual abuse; such abuse was a significant predictor of subsequent sexual victimization (AOR 6.38, 95% CI 3.22- 12.65). Participants who reported sexual victimization since age 14 were significantly more likely than those who did not to also report physical dating violence victimization and forced condom non-use. The findings have implications for the development of violence and HIV/STI prevention programs.