University Women's Acknowledgment of Rape

An ecological framework was used to examine individual, situational, and social predictors of university women's acknowledgment of rape experiences. Only individual and situational factors uniquely predicted acknowledgment. Women were more likely to acknowledge a rape if they experienced higher levels of violence during the rape, possessed factors congruent with an acquaintance rape script rather than a blitz rape script, and blamed their behavior for the rape. All women experienced a generally low amount of self-blame and blamed the perpetrator more than themselves. Implications for rape awareness programs are discussed.