Rylee Trotter
The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of Texas sorority members’ experiences and attitudes related to sexual violence through an assessment of their sexual activity, sexual health, alcohol or drug/use, and opinions on gender roles, sexual relationships, and interpersonal violence. Findings will inform proposals to university administrators, policymakers, and advocates for sexual violence prevention.
Survey methods included dissemination of a questionnaire via email to every sorority member registered with the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life at UT Austin. Participation in the survey was voluntary and could be withdrawn at any time. The survey required approximately 20-30 minutes for completion. Data analyses included descriptive statistics such as frequencies and distributions as well as group comparisons including Chi-Square for ordinal data, and T-tests/ANOVA for interval data.
Overall, UT sorority members reported awareness of the risk of sexual assault on college campuses, with 52% feeling at risk and 30% unsure of their level of risk. These women reported consciously taking steps to participate in bystander interventions to protect their friends from potentially harmful situations. Methods they used to check on friends included texting or asking directly if they are okay before letting them leave with a date, looking for nonverbal cues such as eye contact, body language, and nods, and checking their friends’ locations throughout the night.
These findings reflect a strong level of peer-to-peer support within the UT sorority community and suggest that presentations on bystander interventions can be relevant and beneficial to these women. Our findings will be shared with the Director of Sorority & Fraternity Life at UT to inform the current sexual assault prevention curriculum. Results will also be disseminated to other universities to inform similar assessments and sexual assault prevention curriculum development.
Comments
This is great research on a very important topic! Sexual assault at universities needs to be paid more attention. From another woman, thank you for sharing your research and discussing how sexual assault has an impact on Greek life at campuses. Very great job! —Terrian Spurs
This is really interesting and important research. I think a lot of womxn, folks with vaginas, trans womxn, all know anecdotally that these are the things we do to protect ourselves and one another, and so it’s really interesting to see your research on it! I’m wondering, though, what you think universities could with this information to help support people on campus so that some of the burden of care isn’t solely community-based (though, of course, a large part will always be, especially in certain contexts)? Sort of jumping off of Avery’s comment, I wonder if this kind of support can have a burn out effect on a communal level, as happens with a lot of community-driven support networks like these. What recommendations would you give to universities to help support students to help with this? I know UT has Lyft credits for certain areas of town near the university at night, and there is a support system for being walked to your car if you’re on campus (I’m sure there are others that I am not totally aware of), but I wonder what the university could better offer students to help them feel more safe and supported? Thanks for doing this research! It was great seeing your video at the Showdown and your poster here! —Anna Hornsby
This is really interesting and an important topic! Can you tell me a little more about your sample? You mentioned that it was a convenience sample and I’m curious which students you surveyed. —Shannon Rose
Seeing how attitudes and practices in non-sorority groups, as you mention in future directions, compare to those within sororities will be fascinating and can help you to identify practices and behaviors that work to support women on campus. Developing programming on campuses to support all women and build allyships with diverse communities would be an important public service sororities can perform on campuses. —Elise Marie
Thank you so much for your comment. I look forward to applying this to similar studies across all student groups! It is so important all communities feel supported. —Rylee Trotter
This is very interesting! Thanks for the video. What impact do you think this high level of peer support might have on psychological well-being? That is to say, do you think women in UT sororities may be less prone to stress or anxiety surrounding sexual assault than women in less supportive groups? —Avery Largent
That is a great question, Avery! I did not gather any information about psychological health in this study, so I would love to see those questions applied in a future study. If I were to guess, I would say supported communities would feel less stressed concerning sexual assault, however there would be many confounding variables we would have to consider, including history of anxiety, friend and family dynamics, and sexual assault experiences. —Rylee Trotter
Thank you for sharing this work, especially since it relates directly to the UT community. And thanks also for including your video, which communicates your project very effectively! —Rob Reichle
Thank you for having me! —Rylee Trotter