Interpersonal Violence
1 in 4 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college.
The majority of these crimes are never reported. Interpersonal or power-based personal violence is a serious public health issue affecting college students nationwide. Addressing interpersonal violence requires campus-wide recognition of the serious impact these acts of violence have. Compiled here are resources to help address interpersonal violence with trauma-informed prevention, responses, and support services.
Scope
National Data
- According to the 2019 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct1, 1 in 4 college women experience sexual assault or misconduct while pursuing their undergraduate degree.
- In 2019, 26.4% of women and 6.8% of men reported rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation (among all undergraduate students).
- Women ages 18 to 24 are 3 times more likely to experience sexual violence than women of any other age group.
Missouri Data
Over 30% of Missouri college students report experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, and 14% report IPV in the last 12 months.
The most common form of abuse students reports experiencing in the past 12 months include*:
Emotional/Psychological/Mental Abuse
11%
Verbal Abuse
8.1%
Sexual Abuse
2.7%
1 in 4 (25%) Missouri college students report experiencing non-consensual sexual contact (NCSC) in their lifetime, and 4.8% report NCSC in the past 12 months. Most instances of NCSC occurred off-campus.
92% of students report that they would want a peer to intervene if they themselves where in danger or being harmed by someone else.
Students report the resources they are most likely to utilize in situations involving bystander intervention include*:
Friends/Peers
75%
Family/Spouse/Partner
51%
Health/Wellness/Counseling Center
42%
*question is select all that apply. All Missouri student data comes from the 2025 Missouri Assessment of College Health Behaviors.
Population Considerations
- 23% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) undergraduate college students report nonconsensual sexual contact, compared to 26% of non-TGQN women, and 6.8% of non-TGQN men.1
- LGB+ women are significantly more likely than straight women to have ever experienced IPV in their lifetime, reported by 61% of bisexual women and 44% of lesbian women compared to 35% of straight women.2
- More than 40% of Black women experience physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime compared to 31.5% of all women.4
- Younger people face the highest risk of sexual violence – 69% of sexual assault victims are between the ages of 12-34.3
- Indigenous Americans are at greatest risk for sexual violence and there are an estimated 5,900 sexual assaults against Indigenous Americans annually.3
- Survivors of domestic and sexual violence are more likely to meet criteria for and/or develop symptoms for PTSD, anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, self-harm, and suicide.3
Best Practices
- The CDC has comprehensive resources on Violence Prevention and their newest resource is Stop SV: A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence. There is also a landing page with various Tools and Trainings from Veto Violence.
- Culture of Respect has a good resource outlining various online, performance-based, and mixed method sexual assault prevention programs
- The NCAA released a document on Sexual Violence Prevention: An Athletics Tool Kit for a Healthy and Safe Culture
- The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has great resources for advocates and educators.
Bystander Intervention Programs
- The National Sexual Violence Resource Center has great resources on engaging bystanders in sexual violence prevention
- The Green Dot program is a nationally recognized bystander intervention program to address dating and relationship violence, sexual assault, and stalking
- Step Up is another nationally recognized bystander intervention program
- Bringing in the Bystander In-Person Prevention Training is another recognized bystander intervention program
Healthy Relationship Programs
- Safe Dates is a dating abuse-prevention program geared towards middle and high school students, but could be adapted for college age individuals
- The One Love Foundation is a non-profit with the goal of ending relationship abuse.
Men’s Work in Prevention
- Coaching Boys into Men is an evidence based program to engage boys, specifically athletes, in preventing domestic violence, sexual assault, and teen dating abuse
- Futures Without Violence has their Catapult: Campus Action for Health Manhood program.
Title IX, Clery Act, and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Resources
Title IX/Clery Resources
Partners in Prevention considers Title IX compliance vital to the health and safety of all students. In an effort to help all campuses understand what is required of them, PIP has collected resources, guides and tools that you can access below. Resources on this page can be used by campuses as guidance towards full understanding of Title IX, the Clery Act, the Campus SaVE Act and VAWA.
Articles Tying Alcohol Prevention to Sexual Violence Prevention
- Department of Justice Special Report: Campus Law Enforcement, 2011-12
- Sexual Violence and Alcohol Policies
- The Role of Alcohol Policies in Preventing Intimate Partner Violence: A Review of the Literature
Title IX, Clery Act, Campus SaVE Act and VAWA Explained
- US Department of Education Summarizes Final VAWA Regulations
- Dear Colleague Letter, July 2015- providing a summary of the final VAWA regulations implementing statutory changes to the Clery Act
- Final Regulations Document, 2015 from the US Department of Education
- Resources for Title IX Coordinators
- Campus SaVE Act
VAWA (Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013)
- Law and Policy Report – 2013
- Action Items for Your Campus to Consider
- Federal Register | Violence Against Women Act
The Obama Administration today announced publication of the final rule implementing changes made to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA). That law and the new rule strengthen the Clery Act to more effectively address, and ultimately reduce, sexual violence on college campuses, including, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
Although the final rule will not go into effect on July 1, 2015, the Department reminded institutions that the VAWA statutory provisions are in effect now and institutions are expected to make a good faith effort to comply with those requirements.
Senator Claire McCaskill’s Campus Sexual Assault Survey results
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) released the anticipated results of her campus sexual assault survey in a report titled, “Sexual Violence on Campus: How Too Many Institutions of Higher Education are Failing to Protect Students.”
After surveying a national sample of 440 four-year institutions of higher education, Sen. McCaskill has detailed a number of shortcomings she believes “affect nearly every stage of the institutions’ responses to sexual violence” and demonstrate that “many institutions are failing to comply with the law and best practices in how they handle sexual violence among students.” The following points are highlighted in the report’s executive summary as key findings from the survey:
- Lack of Knowledge About the Scope of the Problem.
- Failure to Encourage Reporting of Sexual Violence.
- Lack of Adequate Sexual Assault Training.
- Reported Sexual Violence Goes Uninvestigated.
- Lack of Adequate Services for Survivors.
- Lack of Trained, Coordinated Law Enforcement.
- Adjudication Fails to Comply with Requirements and Best Practices.
- Lack of Coordinated Oversight.
Important note: The appendix of the report includes a detailed breakdown of every survey question, which includes how the respondents answered according to institutional type (large, small, public, private, NCAA division, etc.).
- NASPA looks at what Senator McCaskill’s report contains and what it means for your campus
- Climate Surveys: Useful Tools to Help Colleges and Universities in Their Efforts to Reduce and Prevent Sexual Assault
- Technical Assistance Guide and Resource Kit for Primary Prevention and Evaluation
- Beyond Title IX: Guidelines for Preventing and Responding to Gender-based Violence in Higher Education
- Q&A on Title IX and Sexual Violence from the United States Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights
- White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault Report (April 2014)
Examples from Other Campuses
News Articles, Peer-Reviewed Literature and Other Important Information
Helping to Protect Students from Sexual Assault – The Center for Changing Our Campus Culture
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) announced the launch of The Center for Changing Our Campus Culture, a new comprehensive online clearinghouse on sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking on campus. This new website provides the latest information, materials and resources for campus administrators, faculty and staff, as well as campus and community law enforcement, victim service providers, students, parents and other key stakeholders to use to improve campus safety.
DOJ Launches Website To Advise Colleges On Sexual Assault
Practitioner’s Discussion of Implementing Clery/Title IX
In August 2014, a summit was held to bring together campus officials from around the U.S. to discuss unresolved issues around Title IX and other related legislation, including the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act. During the summit, campus police, administrators, deans of students, Title IX and Clery Act staff, and others met to work toward better compliance. Following the summit, a list of issues and promising practices was created.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education: In Context Campus Sexual Assault
- Partner Covictimization and Post-Breakup Stalking, Pursuit, and Violence: A Retrospective Study of College Women
- Colleges Are Already Screwing Up New Campus Safety Law That Includes Domestic Violence
- National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey – 2010 Summary Report
- Correlates of Rape while Intoxicated in a National Sample of College Women
- Effectiveness of a Social Change Approach to Sexual Assault Prevention
- Engaging Intercollegiate Athletes in Preventing and Intervening in Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence
- Sexual Assault on the College Campus: Fraternity Affiliation, Male Peer Support and Low Self Control
- To Whom Do College Women Confide Following Sexual Assault
- Women’s Risk Perception and Sexual Victimization: A Review of the Literature
- Why Colleges are on the Hook for Sexual Assault
- Sexual assault and rape on U.S. college campuses: Research roundup (Note: many of the research articles included in this roundup can be found above.)
- Bystander Intervention Videos by Alan David Berkowitz
- Shining a Spotlight on the Arizona Safer Bars Alliance: Working to Reduce and Prevent Sexual Assault
- Missouri State University Students to Receive Training on New Title IX Policy
- Colleges Are Reporting More Sexual Assaults, And That’s A Great Sign
- A Scripted Response to Sexual Assault
Title IX: The Final Rule
Following the release of the Final Rule under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, clarifying documents have also been released by the Department of Education. Those documents include (1) and Executive Order (14021, issued March 8, 2021) and (2) Questions and Answers on the Title IX Regulations on Sexual Harassment (issued July 20, 2021). The U.S. Department of Education has released its Final Rule under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. The Department of Education has also released other documents including a fact sheet, overview, and document detailing major provisions.
Citations
- Association of American Universities 2019 Campus Climate Survey Report. Prepared by: Westat, An Employee-Owned Research Corporation® 1600 Research Boulevard Rockville, Maryland 20850-3129
- HRC Foundation. “Understanding Intimate Partner Violence in the LGBTQ+ Community.” Human Rights Campaign, 2022
- Coursey, Michael. “Statistics: Victims of Sexual Violence.” RAINN, 16 June 2025, Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
- The Status of Black Women in the United States: Executive Summary. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.