Understanding Latina college students' perceptions of unwanted sexual experiences

Latinas attending colleges and universities in the United States become considerably at risk for experiencing rape and/or sexual assault. Due to the continuing prevalence of rape culture in the U.S. and the growing percentage of Latinas in college, it is important to understand how diverse college women understand sexual consent. It is also of importance to understand the role of cultural values and how they often interact with an individual's understanding and communication of sexual consent. The present study uses the theory of cultural cognition to examine unwanted sexual experiences that Latina college students' have, the mysths that Latinas hold about sexual assault and rape, the conceptualization of sexual consent, and how consent to sex is communicated to partners. It was hypothesized that college students who belong to hierarchical cultures that strongly promote distinguished gender roles, were more likely to stigmatize rape and display passive behaviors of consent as opposed to individuals belonging to a more egalitarian culture. The outcome of the study suggested that endorsement of Latina values lef to passivity when consenting to sex. Furthermore, rape myths were lower among Latina students when they endorsed a communitarianism worldview and higher when they endorsed a hierarchical worldview