Experiencing and subsequently reporting sexual victimization among U.S. college students with disabilities

We examined whether U.S. college students across multiple disability types were at an increased risk for sexual victimization (compared with students without disability) and whether disability type or registration with the accessibility office was associated with odds of reporting sexual victimization experiences to any campus-designated program/resource.

We predicted (a) students with disabilities will have higher odds of sexual victimization than students without disabilities, (b) student survivors with disabilities will have higher odds of reporting than student survivors without disabilities, and (c) student survivors with disabilities who are registered with the accessibility office will have higher odds of reporting than student survivors with disabilities who are not registered.

This study used the 2019 Association of American Universities campus climate survey data (N = 163,190) to examine experiences with and reporting of sexual victimization through a series of mixed-effects logistic regression models. We expected that students with disabilities would be more likely to experience and report sexual victimization and that registration with accessibility services would further increase reporting.

Students across disability types were more likely than students without disabilities to experience sexual victimization. Among student survivors, students with disabilities were more likely to report their victimization to at least one program/resource than students without disabilities. Student survivors who were registered with the campus accessibility office had a higher likelihood of reporting to each program/resource examined.

Findings reinforce the importance of collaboration across programs/resources to ensure care to student survivors irrespective of students' points of contact. Given that student survivors with disabilities are reporting, institutions should unpack "what's working" and tailor strategies to encourage reporting among student survivors who are less likely to report. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).