Survey Results: Intimate Partner Abuse

The prevalence of intimate partner abuse (including dating and domestic violence) decreased slightly across groups from 2015 to 2021. This decrease may be explained, in part, by the decrease in prevalence of physically abusive behaviors such as “Pushed, grabbed, or shook you” possibly due to social distancing and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

2015 

2021

Intimate Partner Abuse

N

Freq

%

N

Freq

%

Undergraduate Women

5,519

785

14%

4,237

530

13%

Undergraduate Men

4,821

348

7%

3,399

174

5%

Graduate Women

1,168

98

8%

1,506

90

6%

Graduate Men

1,428

71

5%

1,537

42

3%

As with the other forms of sexual misconduct, new behaviors for intimate partner abuse were added to the survey in 2021 that were not asked in 2015. Notably, for all groups of students in 2021, the most prevalent intimate partner abuse behaviors are among those newly added behaviors: “Manipulated you into doubting your memory, perception, or judgment (sometimes referred to as gaslighting)” and “Emotionally or verbally abused you.”

In contrast, the proportion of students indicating that their partner “Acted constantly jealous” decreased substantially from 2015 (where it was the most common form of abusive behavior); this suggests that behaviors classified as jealousy in 2015 were in fact better captured by gaslighting and emotional/verbal abuse in 2021.

The prevalence rates for the most common intimate partner abuse behaviors are presented below. Results are only displayed if there are at least 10 participants who reported a behavior.

Undergraduate Women

2015

2021

Manipulated you into doubting your own memory, perception, or judgment (sometimes referred to as "gaslighting")

NA

67%

Emotionally or verbally abused you

NA

55%

Acted constantly jealous

72%

44%

Scared you without laying a hand on you

45%

40%

Threatened to hurt themselves

33%

27%

Made decisions for you, such as where you go or what you wear or eat

NA

22%

Restricted your movement, held you down, blocked the door, took your keys or cell phone, or wouldn't allow you leave or make a call when you wanted to 

27%

20%

Pushed, grabbed, or shook you

31%

16%

Did not allow you to see or talk with friends or family

NA

16%

Kept you from going to work or pursuing career or other life goals

NA

15%

Threatened to hurt you

11%

11%

Tried to choke you or restrict your breathing

10%

11%

Hit, slapped, or punched you with a fist or hard object

10%

8%

Stole or destroyed your property, including pets

10%

8%

Threw things at you

NA

8%

Pinched or twisted your fingers or arm

8%

5%

Threatened to harm your pet(s), someone close to you, or a valued possession

4%

4%

Threatened to "out" you at work or to others

NA

4%

Used a weapon against you or threatened to use a weapon

3%

3%

Repeatedly punched, hit, kicked, grabbed, or threw you down

2%

3%

Kicked you

2%

3%

Bit or burned you

3%

2%

 

Undergraduate Men

2015

2021

Manipulated you into doubting your own memory, perception, or judgment (sometimes referred to as "gaslighting")

NA

57%

Emotionally or verbally abused you

NA

49%

Acted constantly jealous

65%

42%

Threatened to hurt themselves

34%

31%

Scared you without laying a hand on you

14%

21%

Kept you from going to work or pursuing career or other life goals

NA

19%

Did not allow you to see or talk with friends or family

NA

19%

Made decisions for you, such as where you go or what you wear or eat

NA

16%

Hit, slapped, or punched you with a fist or hard object

21%

12%

Restricted your movement, held you down, blocked the door, took your keys or cell phone, or wouldn't allow you leave or make a call when you wanted to 

11%

11%

Threw things at you

NA

11%

Pushed, grabbed, or shook you

17%

10%

Stole or destroyed your property, including pets

9%

10%

Threatened to "out" you at work or to others

NA

9%

Kicked you

9%

7%

Threatened to hurt you

8%

7%

Threatened to harm your pet(s), someone close to you, or a valued possession

3%

6%

Repeatedly punched, hit, kicked, grabbed, or threw you down

2%

6%

Pinched or twisted your fingers or arm

10%

5%

Bit or burned you

8%

5%

Tried to choke you or restrict your breathing

7%

3%

 

Graduate Women

2015

2021

Manipulated you into doubting your own memory, perception, or judgment (sometimes referred to as "gaslighting")

NA

66%

Emotionally or verbally abused you

NA

58%

Scared you without laying a hand on you

59%

42%

Acted constantly jealous

59%

31%

Threatened to hurt themselves

30%

21%

Restricted your movement, held you down, blocked the door, took your keys or cell phone, or wouldn't allow you leave or make a call when you wanted to 

26%

18%

Made decisions for you, such as where you go or what you wear or eat

NA

18%

Pushed, grabbed, or shook you

26%

13%

Threatened to hurt you

17%

12%

 

Graduate Men

2015

2021

Emotionally or verbally abused you

NA

64%

Manipulated you into doubting your own memory, perception, or judgment (sometimes referred to as "gaslighting")

NA

48%

Acted constantly jealous

63%

40%

Threatened to hurt themselves

37%

26%

In 2015, less than half of undergraduate women who reported experiencing intimate partner abuse indicated that the perpetrator was affiliated with CU (41%), however in 2021, that percentage increased to 52%.

A plurality of undergraduate men indicated the perpetrator of their abuse was affiliated with the university in both years (45% in 2015, 49% in 2021).

For both graduate women and men, most students reported that the perpetrator was not affiliated with the university in both survey administrations (women: 57% in 2015 and 71% in 2021, men: 59% in 2015 and 64% in 2021). As seen in other categories of sexual misconduct, the proportion of students indicating that they prefer not to answer if the abusive partner was affiliated with the university increased from 2015 to 2021, perhaps reflecting increased concerns about the privacy of personal information.