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Sexual Assault Experiences Vary for Active Duty Military Women Depending on their Relationship to the Perpetrator

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Abstract

We examined how sexual assault experiences vary depending on active duty women’s relationship to their perpetrator (intimate partner versus acquaintances/friends, strangers, and unspecified perpetrators). This study analyzed weighted data from a 2016 survey representative of active duty Service members regarding their sexual assault experiences in the past year. Independent sample t-tests compared experiences based on the nature of the relationship between the victim and perpetrator. Military women sexually assaulted by intimate partners were more likely than those assaulted by non-intimate partners to indicate multiple incidents of sexual assault, penetrative sexual assault, stalking and sexual harassment before and after an incident, and a history of sexual assault in their lifetime. Military women sexually assaulted by intimate partners also indicated lower satisfaction with responses from leadership and victim advocates compared to other relationship types. Survey results distinguish intimate partner sexual assault from non-intimate partner sexual assault. While Department of Defense programs are organized around such differences, these results suggest further tailoring of prevention and response programs to reflect unique victim experiences.

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Notes

  1. Domestic abuse is defined by DoD as domestic violence or a pattern of behavior resulting in emotional/psychological abuse, economic control, or interference with personal liberty directed towards a current and/or former spouse, a couple sharing a child, and/or sharing a domicile (Department of Defense 2016).

  2. Survey data were linked to administrative data using an anonymous identifier that prevented PII from coming into direct contact with survey data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Dina Eliezer

  2. Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, VA, USA

    Aubrey J. Hilbert & Zachary J. Gitlin

  3. Department of Defense, Office of People Analytics, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Lisa H. Davis

  4. Fors Marsh Group, Arlington, VA, USA

    Kimberly Hylton & William Xav Klauberg

  5. Department of Defense Family Advocacy Program, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Maia M. Hurley

  6. Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Karmon D. Dyches & Nathan W. Galbreath

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  1. Dina Eliezer
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  2. Aubrey J. Hilbert
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  9. Nathan W. Galbreath
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Correspondence to Nathan W. Galbreath.

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Dina Eliezer completed a portion of this work while employed by Booz Allen Hamilton.

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Eliezer, D., Hilbert, A.J., Davis, L.H. et al. Sexual Assault Experiences Vary for Active Duty Military Women Depending on their Relationship to the Perpetrator. J Fam Viol 35, 325–338 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-019-00085-9

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