Violence Against College Women: A Review to Identify Limitations in Defining the Problem and Inform Future Research

Over the past 25 years, our understanding about violence against college women has greatly expanded, but it has been concentrated in particular areas. As a result, despite this increased attention, significant gaps in our knowledge still exist. One is a failure to take stock in how "violence" is defined and assess whether its current use adequately covers the variety of risks to which college women are exposed. We identify limitations in how the current literature operationalizes violence against college women and illustrate how addressing these limitations can inform and advance the field by identifying new patterns and correlates. We also propose a research agenda to explicitly examine the definition and scope of "violence" as considered in the study of college women.