In the United States, research about sexual violence on campus goes back into the 1950s (Kanin, 1957; Kirkpatrick and Kanin, 1957). Many more studies have followed (Fisher, Daigle and Cullen, 2010), and successive waves of rape prevention programmes have been rolled out on campuses across the country. The US Congress has weighed in with federal legislation, the White House took on the issue in 2014,1 and media reporting of campus sexual assault scandals has soared. Yet, the problem continues. Why this is is difficult to answer. This chapter makes three points:

• 1. It is necessary to take a historical perspective to see where things have changed and where they have not.

• 2. While we know much about victimisation, the interplay between perpetration dynamics, campus culture, and institutional governance are not well understood.

• 3. The current policy emphasis on reporting is troubling because it ignores most of what we know about crime reporting and challenges neither perpetration nor university governance.

Use of terms

In this chapter the terms higher education institution (HEI), college and university are used interchangeably to refer primarily to four-year institutions in the US granting advanced degrees (typically, a Bachelor's degree is based on a four-year programme; a Master's degree may require an additional two years in graduate school). The expression ‘on campus’ is used to refer to sexualised violations in the context of higher education whether incidents occur on or off university premises. Regardless of place, the involvement of students or staff raises questions about a university's responsibility and its capacity to intervene, support and protect. When discussing specific findings, the terminology of the authors is used. Otherwise, the term ‘sexualised violations’ is used to refer to a broad range of actions from sexualised text messages to rape. Referencing such a range with one broad term has advantages and disadvantages. Broad terms allow an overarching analysis that examines diverse patterns of behaviour and links campus debates to broader issues of sexual violence in contemporary societies. However, for practical interventions, broad terms may be less useful. Specific violations need tailored interventions which require specific naming. Speaking of, and advocating against, sexualised violations or sexual violence in general also means that all forms of transgressions need to be taken seriously, from the seemingly trivial to the blatantly brutal. This does not mean that these actions have the same impact on victims.