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

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.