“I Felt Powerful and Confident”: Women’s Use of What They Learned in Feminist Sexual Assault Resistance Education

Research on women’s response and resistance to sexual assault risk has informed the development of interventions to improve women’s ability to effectively resist sexual assault. However, little is known about how women anticipate, navigate, and respond to risk following participation in sexual assault risk reduction/resistance education programs. In this study, we examined the information and skills used by university women who had recently completed the effective Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) sexual assault resistance program. We analyzed responses from 445 women using descriptive statistics and content and thematic analysis. Just under half (42%) of women used at least one EAAA strategy in the following 2 years. Most women reported that their efforts were successful in stopping an attack. Women’s responses included strategies both to preempt sexual assault threat (e.g., avoiding men who display danger cues, communicating assertively about wanted and unwanted sex) and to interrupt or avoid an imminent threat (e.g., yelling, hitting, and kicking). Women’s use of resistance strategies worked to subvert gendered social norms and socialization. The results suggest that counter to criticisms that risk reduction/resistance programs blame women or make them responsible for stopping men’s violence, women who took EAAA typically positioned themselves as agentic and empowered in their resistance.

Adapting and Validating the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire to Study Sexual Harassment Among University Women in Jordan

Despite the adverse effects of sexual harassment, measurement gaps persist. Using a sequential, mixed-methods approach, we adapted and validated the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) to measure sexual harassment victimization among college-going women in Jordan. From a 213-item pool and qualitative data from students at the study site, we removed 50 items and collapsed or rephrased 163 items into selected 27 items for examination. After expert reviewers and study-site staff assessed content validity, we replaced three items. Items were tested using cognitive interviews ( n = 7) and then administered in a survey to 567 women students. We sequentially performed exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a random split-half sample ( N1 = 283), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the second sample ( N2 = 284), and confirmatory bifactor analysis. Five items with cross-factor loadings were dropped. Model fit for the final four-factor EFA and CFA was adequate (EFA: RMSEA: 0.013, CFI: 0.996, TLI: 0.994; CFA: RMSEA 0.020, CFI: 0.988, TLI: 0.986). Three factors were similar to those identified in the SEQ—gender harassment, sexual coercion, and unwanted sexual attention—but we also identified a fourth factor—physical-contact sexual harassment. The bifactor analysis suggested that the scale was unidimensional (general factor ECV=.701 and PUC =.727). The unidimensional scale was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Using an adapted SEQ, sexual harassment is a measurable construct in the Jordanian university context. Further validation of this tool and efforts to capture each dimension of sexual harassment in the Arab region is needed.

Women’s Preferences for Strong Men Under Perceived Harsh Versus Safe Ecological Conditions

Ecological conditions provide information about available resources for one’s environment. In humans, this has been shown to influence reproductive behavior, as individuals may engage in trade-offs between partner quality and investment. For instance, many women may trade-off preferences for men with physical features indicative of social dominance and health over physical features indicative of commitment and investment. The current study explored women’s preferences for formidable men under safe vs. harsh ecological conditions. Across three studies, U.S. university women ( N = 1,098) were randomly assigned to a perceived harsh or safe ecological condition. They were asked to rate the attractiveness of men’s body types (i.e., muscular vs. less muscular). Findings revealed that in general, women rated stronger men as more attractive than weaker men irrespective of the ecological condition. Evidence for preference as a function of ecology appeared only when a two-alternative forced-choice task was used (Study 3), but not in rating tasks (Studies 1 and 2). Study 3 showed that women had a relatively stronger preference for stronger men for short-term relationships in a resource scarce ecological condition. This research provides some evidence that perceived ecological conditions can drive women’s preferences for men with enhanced secondary sex characteristics as a function of mating context. These findings are consistent with previous research indicating the importance of physical characteristics in men’s attractiveness, and it adds to the existing literature on ecological factors and mating preferences.

Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress and Prevalence of Major Depression and Its Predictors in Female University Students

Depression, anxiety and stress are increasingly concerning phenomena in our society, with serious consequences on physical and mental health. The repercussions may be particularly devastating in particular population subgroups, such as female university students. The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress and the prevalence of depression and associated factors, in Spanish university women. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample of 871 students from the Santiago de Compostela University (mean age 20.7 years, SD = 2.8). Information was collected on sociodemographic and academic characteristics; symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress; diagnosis of major depression; optimism, resilience, social support, life engagement, and five personality domains, using validated instruments. Of the participants, 18.1%, 22.8% and 13.5% presented with severe/very severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. A total of 12.9% had major depression. Higher life engagement was associated with lower risk of depression (OR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.87–0.98), while higher levels of neuroticism (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.12–1.28) and openness to experience (OR = 1.08, 95% CI, 1.02–1.14) were associated with greater risk. These findings reveal an alarming percentage of female university students who experience major depression and severe/very severe stress.

Sexual dysfunctions in young university women: a cross-sectional study

OBJETIVO: Verificar a frequência e os fatores associados à disfunção sexual em mulheres jovens universitárias. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo analítico de corte transversal. Participaram deste estudo 111 mulheres, estudantes, heterossexuais do curso de fisioterapia da Universidade Federal da Bahia. Cada participante respondeu a dois questionários auto aplicáveis “Investigação de fatores associados” e “Quociente sexual – versão feminina”, entre os meses de setembro e outubro de 2019. RESULTADOS: Foi encontrado nesta população prevalência de 8% de disfunção sexual. O sintoma de esforço evacuatório esteve associado à pior desempenho/satisfação sexual pelo score total do QS-F (p=0,03) e quando avaliado por agrupamento de questões foi encontrada associação entre esforço evacuatório e pior excitação (p=0,01), esforço evacuatório e mais dor (p=0,04); urgência urinária e mais dor (p=0,04); violência e pior excitação (p=0,05) e violência e menos satisfação/orgasmo (p=0,02). CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados sugerem que há baixa prevalência de disfunção sexual na população estudada, mas há associação entre sintomas de disfunções do assoalho pélvico e disfunções sexuais em mulheres jovens.

A Small Story Concerning a Big Mistake: Returning Voice to a Breast Cancer Narrative

This article arose from an error. In 2000, I began recording the story of myself and nine other university women with later stage breast cancer. Following the fifth death, I took on the task to make what I could of the archive. An introduction to Cathy Riessman and narrative research began to direct and support this work. Of major significance was the performative aspects of our storytelling, especially our vocality. Text and reason, not voice and utterance, is privileged in the academy, but still I committed to honouring vocality in telling our story. My initial attempts failed, but this paper begins the redress.

Representación de mujeres en noticias sobre violencia de género difundidas por televisión en Bolivia frente a las competencias mediáticas

The study analyzes the news content of three national television channels in Bolivia (one public and two private), where the treatment of news on gender violence is observed. The methodology proposed by Monitoreo Global de Medios, which addresses gender and media issues, is applied. At the same time, the dimensions of media literacy proposed by Ferrés and Piscitelli (2012) are analyzed in university women who observed the news broadcast on television. The findings show that there are more women (59.05%) than men (40.95%) as protagonists of the articles on gender violence, and that sexist stereotypes are reinforced in the presentation of the news. After applying the questionnaire to 200 university women, the technology dimension reached an advanced level (46.7%) based on knowledge of technological concepts and image processing software. However, the dimension of interaction processes has a high percentage of 59.5% at the basic level, as there is a lack of knowledge of the possibilities of acting critically in the face of violent content presented in the media.