Contextual Risk for Nonconsensual Sexual Experiences: An Application of Routine Activity Theories Among First-Year College Women Who Drink Alcohol

Objective: Nonconsensual sexual experiences are common in college and freshmen year represents a highrisk time. Social contexts have been linked to nonconsensual sexual experiences, though it is unclear how or why these contexts confer risk. Routine activity theories posit that risk increases in contexts where there are potential perpetrators, vulnerable targets, and a lack of capable guardians. A small literature has applied routine activity theories to college women’s nonconsensual sexual experiences, with a focus on betweenperson differences. The present study sought to expand this work by examining both between- and withinperson variation in contextual risk as predictors of nonconsensual sexual experiences over time. Method: First-year college women who drink alcohol (N = 132) participated in a lab session and 8 weeks of daily weekend surveys. Results: On nights where nonconsensual sexual experiences occurred, unwanted sexual attention and touching were common. Perpetrators were typically strangers or casual acquaintances and most incidents involved parties and alcohol. Both between- and within-person variation in contextual risk increased nonconsensual sexual experiences. Greater between-person differences in exposure to potential perpetrators, but not target vulnerability or lack of capable guardians, increased these odds during the study. Further, nights where first-year college women reported more exposure to potential perpetrators and more target vulnerability than usual were associated with greater odds that night. Conclusion: Results illustrate how risk can accumulate in weekend social contexts and suggest that interventions could include targeted approaches for high-risk individuals, but also more universal approaches for high-risk contexts.