Volume 1087, Issue 1 p. 35-46

Sexual Aggression toward Women

Reducing the Prevalence

GWENDOLYN L. GERBER

GWENDOLYN L. GERBER

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, New York, USA

Search for more papers by this author
LINDSAY CHERNESKI

LINDSAY CHERNESKI

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, New York, USA

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 05 December 2006
Citations: 3
Address for correspondence: Gwendolyn L. Gerber, Psychology Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 445 W. 59th St., New York, New York 10019 USA. Voice: 212-673-4512; fax: 212-237-8742.
 e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Abstract: Date rape or acquaintance rape is far more common than rape by strangers and can lead to serious health and adjustment problems for girls and women. Research has found women and men to be similar in many of their views about sexual assault. However, studies on attribution of blame have highlighted differences in the ways in which men and women attribute blame in sexual assault. Men attribute less blame to perpetrators of sexual assault than do women, regardless of whether the perpetrator is female or male. This suggests that men identify with the power associated with the role of perpetrator. Ways of reducing the prevalence of men's sexual aggressiveness toward women are addressed.