Another Survey Probably Overstates Prevalence Of Campus Rape

Article here. Excerpt:

'The alleged one-in-five sexual assault rate at American colleges is being pushed with renewed vigor Monday thanks to a massive new survey released by the Association of American Universities (AAU). But the new survey has many of the same problems that have dogged earlier surveys.

The survey was administered by the AAU, a collection of America’s top public and private research universities, at 27 member campuses. Over 150,000 students responded, approximately 19.3 percent of the total population. According to the survey, about 23 percent of female undergraduate students have experienced some kind of sexual assault, ranging from rape to lesser offenses like unwanted groping. Just under 11 percent of women said they experienced non-consensual sexual penetration of some kind.

The survey is being widely touted as “validation” for the one-in-five sexual assault statistic that has been repeatedly cited as a call to action. But whether this is actually the case is quite dubious. The new survey took a very similar approach to earlier surveys (such as a Washington Post survey from June), and consequently has many of the same flaws.'