It reinforces that "prevention programs need to provide youths with safety skills that can be used in both dating and nondating scenarios," Dr. Ybarra and Dr. Mitchell said.
Unfortunately, very few of the perpetrators in this study experienced any negative consequences for their actions. Fully 66% said that no one ever found out about their sexual violence. Only 1% was arrested and only an additional 1% was contacted by police. Clearly, most sexual violence committed by adolescents does not come to the attention of law enforcement, which highlights the severe limitations of data obtained from the juvenile justice system, the researchers noted.
Half of the perpetrators said their victims were completely responsible for the episodes of sexual violence, and four out of five stated that the victims were at least partly responsible. Only 35% of the perpetrators said they themselves were completely responsible for these incidents.
This finding illustrates that efforts to educate the public should emphasize taking responsibility for one’s actions and eliminating blame for the victims. There also is an urgent need for high school and middle school programs that teach bystander intervention, the investigators said.
"Adolescent health care professionals, including those providing counseling for birth control and sexually transmitted diseases, are ideally situated to educate youths about sexual violence," Dr. Ybarra and Dr. Mitchell said.
However, such professionals must first educate themselves. They should pay particular attention to challenging their own biases regarding sexual violence.
For example, it is a common belief that males cannot be raped by females. But an erection in a male who is being coerced does not necessarily reflect sexual arousal and instead can be reflexogenic. Clinicians should familiarize themselves with such information "so that they can be more effective in identifying and treating female perpetrators and male victims when they present," the researchers said.
Similarly, many people assume that sexual violence is consigned mostly to underprivileged populations. But, in this study, few differences were found between perpetrators and nonperpetrators in household income, race, or ethnicity, they added.
This study was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No financial conflicts of interest were reported.