Gen Zers who went to university ‘more likely to report unwanted sexual approaches’

A new study finds that young adults attending college are twice as likely to experience unwanted sexual advances compared to their peers without higher education.

Findings from University College London (UCL) show that more than one in five 23-year-olds with a degree (22%) report such experiences, compared with 11 per cent of those without higher education.

However, analysis of data from 10,000 people born in the UK between 2000 and 2002 also found that those without a university background were more likely to report other types of crime and victimisation.

Almost a quarter (23 percent) of non-graduates reported being stopped by the police, while this rate was 14 percent for graduates.

Similarly, individuals without a college education were more likely to be assaulted (12 percent versus 9 percent).

The lead author of the study, Dr. Aase Villadsen told the Press Association that the difference may be related to what young people perceive as unwanted sexual advances, and that the highly educated may be less likely to accept gender inequalities.

Research on Gen Z adults from the Millennium Cohort Study found that a quarter of female participants said they had experienced sexual harassment, and one in seven said they had been emotionally abused by their partner.

Male participants were more likely to be involved in crime and had more interactions with the criminal justice system; they were also more likely to report being physically attacked or victimized with a weapon.

Women were more likely to report unwanted sexual advances, sexual assault, emotional abuse from their partners, and intimate partner violence.

Dr Villadsen said men should not be excluded from strategies to combat violence.

“It’s often very unpopular to say this, but I think we should keep our eye on the fact that men report being exposed to a lot of violent situations,” he told PA.

Compared to data from when participants were 17, reports of being physically assaulted or attacked with a weapon decreased, but more young people said they had been stopped, warned or arrested by police.

Dr Villadsen said gun carrying and gun attack rates were still very high in socio-economically disadvantaged areas.

“Worryingly, unwanted sexual harassment and sexual assault have become much more common, particularly among women,” she added.