Most collegiate sexual misconduct victims disclose their experience to a friend, whose reaction and subsequent action are vital for a victim’s social-emotional recovery. The current study focuses on this broader peer community that has learned about an assault and their motivation or reluctance to take action in its aftermath. Thirty-nine undergraduate students were interviewed about the one or more times they had heard of someone else’s uncomfortable sexual encounter, for a total of 86 recalled incidents. Overall, students who learned of misconduct were affected by their newfound knowledge: they were shaken when an assault was discussed lightly, they evaluated the severity of the assault, they prioritized the victim’s wellbeing when considering actions to take, or they were surprised to hear of the assault in the first place. Yet grounded theory analysis identified four main barriers—a belief that the situation is not serious enough, a desire to avoid harming the victim, a lack of knowledge and confidence with their role, and a preference to take action outside of formal channels—that often prevented these reactions from translating into responsive action, leaving victims with less social support and continuing the underreporting of sexual misconduct. Recommendations include expanding bystander intervention training to include an assault’s aftermath and adding educational programming that challenge rape myths.

大多数大学性行为不端的受害者向朋友透露他们的经历，朋友的反应和后续行动对于受害者的社会情感康复至关重要。当前的研究集中在这个更广泛的同龄人社区，他们了解了一次袭击以及他们在袭击发生后的动机或不愿采取行动的意愿。对三十九名本科生进行了一次或多次听说别人不舒服的性接触的采访，总共发生了86起被召回的事件。总体而言，学习过不当行为的学生会受到他们新发现的知识的影响：在轻率地讨论攻击时他们会被震撼，他们评估了攻击的严重性，在考虑采取行动时将受害者的福祉放在首位，或者惊讶地听到了这些消息。首先是袭击。然而，扎根的理论分析指出了四个主要障碍，即：相信情况还不够严重，希望避免伤害受害者，对他们的角色缺乏知识和信心以及倾向于在正式渠道之外采取行动的四个主要障碍。阻止了这些反应转化为对策，使受害者获得的社会支持减少，并继续漏报性行为不端。建议包括扩展旁观者干预培训，以包括突袭的后果，并增加挑战强奸神话的教育节目。以及倾向于在正式渠道之外采取行动-通常会阻止这些反应转化为响应性行动，使受害者获得较少的社会支持，并继续漏报性行为不端。建议包括扩展旁观者干预培训，以包括突袭的后果，并增加挑战强奸神话的教育节目。以及倾向于在正式渠道之外采取行动-通常会阻止这些反应转化为响应性行动，使受害者获得较少的社会支持，并继续漏报性行为不端。建议包括扩展旁观者干预培训，以包括突袭的后果，并增加挑战强奸神话的教育节目。