Campus Sexual Violence : A State of Institutionalized Sexual Terrorism

Campus Sexual Violence: A State of Institutionalized Sexual Terrorism conceptualizes sexual violence on college campuses as a form of sexual terrorism, arguing that institutional compliance and inaction within the neoliberal university perpetuate a system of sexual terrorism.

Using a sexual terrorism framework, the authors examine a myriad of examples of campus sexual violence with an intersectional lens and explore the role of the institution and the influence of neoliberalism in undermining sexual violence prevention efforts. The book utilizes Carole Sheffield’s five components of sexual terrorism (ideology, propaganda, amorality, perceptions of the perpetrator, and voluntary compliance) to describe how the "ivory tower stereotype" and adoption of neoliberal values into education contribute to an environment where victimization is painfully common. Cases such as those from Michigan State University and Baylor University are used as examples to highlight institutional culpability and neoliberal value systems within higher education, as well as illustrating the pervasiveness of rape culture that contributes to a system of sexual terrorism. Crucially, the book focuses on systems of inequality and oppression, and uses an intersectional perspective that recognizes victimization experienced by multiple marginalized groups including women, LGBTQ+, and racially minoritized people.

Building on campus violence research and institutional harm research, the authors define campus sexual violence as a serious social problem based in structural inequality and advocate for civic responsibility at the institutional level and the development of institutional advocates. Weaving together theoretical and practical perspectives, the book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sociology, criminal justice, women’s and gender studies, social/political policy, victimology, and education. It will also be of use to those working in higher education administration and other student life and student health professions.

Sarah Prior is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at Michigan State University. She teaches courses on sexual violence, sex, gender and sexuality, social inequality, and youth studies. Her research agenda focuses on gendered violence, specifically addressing issues surrounding campus sexual violence. Her work seeks to center marginalized experiences and challenge structural apparatuses. Her work has appeared in such outlets as Sociology Compass, Violence against Women, and The Journal of Interpersonal Violence as well as edited volumes including The Moral Panics of Sexuality, Investigating Difference: Human and Cultural Relations in Criminal Justice, and Intersectionality in Education Research.

Brooke A. de Heer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. She teaches courses on gendered violence, contemporary issues and the criminal justice system, American courts, and crime and justice. Her research agenda focuses on issues of gender and power in sexual violence, with an emphasis on health disparities and inequitable treatment of marginalized victims involved in the criminal justice (CJ) system. Her work seeks to investigate and validate marginalized peoples’ experiences with sexual violence and work to dismantle systems of oppression that create disparate health outcomes for minoritized populations. She has been published in Feminist Criminology, Violence Against Women, Sociology Compass, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Violence and Victims, Journal of school Violence, and American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research.