Sexual assault experiences of university students and disclosure to health professionals and others

The aim of this study was to investigate the number and correlates of sexual assault among students at a campus-based university in Aotearoa New Zealand and to determine how often students disclose such experiences to health professionals, other services and family/friends.

An online survey based on the Administrator-Researcher Campus Climate Consortium tool was emailed to all students at the main campus of a large university in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It was completed by 1,540 students (8.1% of those emailed) of any gender in July-August 2019.

During their time at university to-date, 28% of the sample had experienced at least one form of sexual assault with 14.9% reporting experiences that meet a definition of rape. Sixty-six percent of victims in the sample and 53% of the reported perpetrators had been using alcohol at the time of the assault. Only 8% of those reporting sexual assault in the sample disclosed the assault to a health professional.

Considering the low number of university students disclosing sexual assaults to health professionals or support services, the results of this survey suggest more work is needed to facilitate greater disclosures to health professionals enabling victims to access the services they need regardless of alcohol use.