Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus
The fear of campus sexual assault has become an inextricable part of the college experience. Research has shown that by the time they graduate, as many as one in three women and almost one in six men will have been sexually assaulted. But why is sexual assault such a common feature of college life? And what can be done to prevent it? Drawing on the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) at Columbia University, the most comprehensive study of sexual assault on a campus to date, Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan present an entirely new framework that emphasizes sexual assault's social roots--transcending current debates about consent, predators in a "hunting ground," and the dangers of hooking up.
Sexual Citizens is based on years of research interviewing and observing college life--with students of different races, genders, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Hirsch and Khan's landmark study reveals the social ecosystem that makes sexual assault so predictable, explaining how physical spaces, alcohol, peer groups, and cultural norms influence young people's experiences and interpretations of both sex and sexual assault. Through the powerful concepts of "sexual projects," "sexual citizenship," and "sexual geographies," the authors offer a new and widely-accessible language for understanding the forces that shape young people's sexual relationships. Empathetic, insightful, and far-ranging, Sexual Citizens transforms our understanding of sexual assault and offers a roadmap for how to address it.
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Hirsch and Khan's systematic public health approach to campus sexual assault not only urges empathic action but also outlines possible solutions to this communal problem. A timely and persuasive contribution to today's national conversation. A must-read!--Claire E. Sterk, president and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Public Health, Emory University
Timely, authentic, and revolutionary.--J. Dennis Fortenberry, Donald Orr Professor of Adolescent Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine
Incisive....This detailed, practical inquiry should be mandatory reading for college administrators and parents of college-age children.
Excellent....Absolutely essential reading to prepare teens for what they'll encounter in college on both the social and sexual fronts.
A readable and thought-provoking work on a topic of concern on college campuses. The SHIFT project generated many academic publications, but this book successfully reaches a general audience, specifically students, parents, and policymakers.--Library Journal (starred review)
Profoundly eye-opening....Hirsch and Khan present a novel model for explaining and responding to campus sexual assault.--Claire M. Renzetti
A clear, intersectional picture of the forces breeding a campus culture that bulldozes consent, as well as a path forward that emphasizes empathy, mutual respect, and bodily autonomy.--Adrienne Westenfeld
