Polyvictimization and the Continuum of Sexual Abuse at a College Campus: Does Negative Peer Support Increase the Likelihood of Multiple Victimizations?

Although there is now a large literature on physical and sexual assaults at institutions of higher education, this article expands that knowledge by looking at Kelly’s continuum of sexual violence and the concept of polyvictimization. On a campus where 44.9 per cent of the women reported stalking, and 61.4 per cent reported sexual harassment, this article looks at women who were the victims of repeated or diverse types of abuse, ranging from obscene phone calls to stalking to harassment to penetrative sexual assault. Women who suffered multiple abuses are studied using data from the Campus Quality of Life Survey conducted at a large residential college in the South Atlantic part of the US negative peer support, and especially having friends that are abusive was found to increase the likelihood of multiple victimization.