Stereotypes and Their Effects on

Rape Victims
Abby Callahan
Emily Lindsay
Stephanie Poget

Research Question
How do societys application of stereotypes towards male
rape victims on college campuses affects different aspects
of victimization (victim responsibility and reporting rates)?

INTRODUCTION
Rape is a very real and serious crime that affects college students from every
demographic.
Rape is most commonly defined as ...unlawful force against [a] person; using force causing or
likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm to any person; threatening or placing that other person in fear
that any person will be subjected to death, grievous bodily harm, or kidnapping (10 U.S. Code 920 - Art,
p. 120).
Male and females alike are raped, but, for the topic of this paper, we are focusing on
the male rape victims. In America, 1 in 71 men have reported to being raped in his
lifetime (Black, 2001, p. 1).
Frequently their rapists take the forms of acquaintances, friends, or even significant
others (Black, 2001). In fact, statistics show that 52.4% of male rapes are committed

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
Research shows
If a man identifies as gay, the likelihood that he will be raped goes up significantly
because of the prevalence of homophobic hate crimes (Rumney, 2009).
Reporting rates for male rape victims vary in research from 8% to 44%(Rumney,
2009, p. 235), to 12% to 22% (Rumney, 2009, p. 235).
Research based on male rape cases are limited because of the low reporting rates.
According to the The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS):
2010 Summary Report too few men reported rape in the 12 months prior to taking the
survey to produce a reliable 12 month prevalence estimate (p. 28) and they had to
use a lifetime prevalence estimate for their research.

SOCIETYS PERCEPTION OF TYPICAL RAPE

Typical Victim:
Dressed conservatively
Good reputation
Fights back
Fearful during attack
Emotional or physical trauma
Alone during attack
Unavoidable reason for being in certain location

Typical Attacker:

SOCIETYS PERCEPTION OF TYPICAL RAPE (continued)

Typical circumstances:
Occurred outdoors
Happened at night
Force or overpowering of the victim
Struggle between victim and attacker
Suddenness of attack
Weapons

Individuals who adhere less to traditional gender roles are less likely to
blame the victim while the opposite was found for those who do live
by these stereotypical roles.

VICTIM BLAMING
Victim blaming is a severe issue when it comes to rape victims reporting;
especially males
A common rape myth is that males cannot actually be raped, but, if they are and are
homosexual, they asked for it.
Heterosexual males are the most likely to support rape myths (Davies and McCartney,
2003, p. 396)
Homosexual males are the least likely to support these myths (Davies and McCartney,
2003, p. 396).
Women fall in between the heterosexual and homosexual males when asked about
rape myths (Davies and McCartney, 2003, p. 396).
The common denominator in victim blaming here is homophobia.
Heterosexual males victims fear being perceived as homosexual

FACTORS AGAINST REPORTING

Top reasons why males do not report rape:
Males view reporting rape and rape itself as a threat towards their masculinity and
self-concept
Victims must first see themselves as a rape victim before they feel the need to
report it
Rape is a traumatic event that leads to emotional instability and humiliation
Males view the rape victim resources as being geared towards females only

HYPOTHESIS
CONSIDERING
Lerners hypothesis of a just world and how men adhere more to this way of thinking than
women
The victim will be designated some responsibility even if the assailant is found/believed to
be responsible
Male victims refrain from reporting at least partially due to fear of social rejection

WE HYPOTHESIZE...
Men are more likely to apply negative stereotypes onto victims than women due to
traditional gender roles and concept of a typical rape/rape victim
This negatively impacts reporting rates by alienating male victims of rape, resulting in the
nearly nonexistent available statistics for that demographic

METHODS DATA/SAMPLE
Target subjects will be:
University students
Without discrimination to year, class standing, gender, or sexual orientation

Ideally 80% of the student body will participate

Online call for student participation via UTC email
Posters advertising the experiment will be posted in frequented
locations
University Center, library, Starbucks, Crossroads, etc.
Will feature time, date, and location to participate

RESEARCH DESIGN
Scenario-based survey
A few different variations of the same scenario will be given

Intended to assess different stereotypes and the subjects perceptions

of the victim
Subjects will be asked: If this were to happen to you, what will you
do?
Short answer response

Participants are able to judge the situation freely and interpret

information as they would with a real-life event
As realistic as possible with more answer options than yes or no

SOME QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

How do college students view male rape?
How do university students interpret and respond to theoretical - but realistic - scenarios?
How do certain rape scenarios impact students perceptions of rape?
How does hyper-masculinity and homophobia affect UTCs student population and the
support of rape myths?

MEASURES
Dependent variable
Stereotypes

Independent variables
Race
Ethnicity
Religion
Age
Gender
This information will be requested as part of the survey in order to categorize data

LIMITATIONS
Not all ethnic backgrounds may be accurately represented in the
results
UTCs student body is primarily white/non-Hispanic

Limited cultural background can affect the stereotypes and ideals

held by participants
Limited background = limited results

Sources
Anderson, I. (2007). What is a typical rape? Effects of victim and participant gender in female and male
rape perception. British Journal of Social Psychology, 46(1), 225-245.
Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., & Stevens, M.R
(2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report.
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1-113.
Davies, M., & McCartney, S. (2003). Effects of gender and sexuality on judgements of victim blame and
rape myth acceptance in a depicted male rape. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology,
13(5), 391-398.
Perkins, Tessa (1997). Rethinking Stereotypes. The Media Studies Reader, 75-85.

Sources
Pino, N. W., & Meier, R. F. (1999, June). Gender Differences in Rape Reporting. Sex Roles, 40(11), 979-990.
Rumney, P. N. (2009). Gay male rape victims: Law enforcement, social attitudes and barriers to
recognition. The International Journal of Human Rights, 13(2-3), 233-250.
Scarce, M. (1997). Same-Sex Rape of Male College Students. Journal of American College Health, 45(4),
171-173.
Simonson, Kelly & Subich, Linda Mezydlo. (1999). Rape Perceptions as a Function of Gender-Role
Traditionality and Victim-Perpetrator Association. Sex Roles, 40(7), 617-634.

Sources
Whatley, M. A., & Riggio, R. E. (1993). Gender Differences in Attributions of Blame for Male Rape Victims.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8(4), 502-511.
White, S., & Yamawaki, N. (2009). The Moderating Influence of Homophobia and Gender-Role Traditionality
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10 U.S. Code 920 - Art. 120. Rape and sexual assault generally. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2016.