USU UWLP publishes third of six white papers: Women’s Safety and Security

The Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) at Utah State University has released the third of six white papers sharing the results of a comprehensive study conducted earlier this fall. The study supports the efforts of  “A Bolder Way Forward,” a statewide movement focused on ensuring that more Utah girls, women, and their families thrive.

The third white paper shares the findings from four topic areas: Child Sexual Abuse, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Poverty/Homelessness. The 82-item survey, taken from Oct. 1 to Nov. 20, 2024, included a combined sample of 4,721 Utahns, including 1,123 men.

“For those who want to more deeply understand the perceptions and attitudes around the safety and security challenges Utah women and girls face, this 40-page report contains a significant amount of critical data that can help,” said lead researcher and author Susan Madsen, UWLP director and Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed Professor of Leadership in the USU Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. “We invite the public to view this report in its entirety.  This is our second year of data collection, and the report addresses how data may have changed since the inaugural 2023 survey.”

Child Sexual Abuse

Four survey items provide additional insights critical for driving social change that highlight how  families, communities, and leaders can increase safety for more Utah children.

1. In your immediate community (e.g., neighborhood, family, faith, club, business), child sexual abuse is a problem.
2. Child sexual abuse is preventable.
3. Child sexual abuse is more prevalent in Utah than the national average.
4. I know where to find resources to help prevent child sexual abuse.

More than half of respondents disagreed on some level or were neutral regarding child sexual abuse being a problem in their immediate community, and women agreed significantly more than men, with the highest agreement among individuals identifying as non-binary. Furthermore, residents of Duchesne, Carbon, Iron, Sanpete, and Wasatch counties had the highest levels of agreement, while Piute, Millard, Beaver, Morgan, Box Elder, Summit, and Sevier counties had the lowest levels of agreement. One respondent commented, “We need to be honest with ourselves that we have a sexual abuse problem for women and children in this state. We need to devote more resources to facing and fixing the sexual abuse problems than we do to covering them up and denying them.”

Domestic Violence

Research shows that one in three Utah women will experience some form of intimate partner violence in her lifetime. Four survey items provide additional insight to guide needed changes to policies and programs that can ensure safety for more Utah women, children, and families.

1. Domestic violence is a problem in my community.
2. When considering domestic violence, emotional abuse is just as serious as physical abuse.
3. I know where to find domestic violence resources and support in my community.
4. I know how to take concrete steps to help address domestic violence in my community.

Approximately 60% of respondents agreed on some level that domestic violence is a problem in their community. While the majority of respondents (73.4%) indicated at least some degree of familiarity with resources and support, there was significantly less agreement for respondents who selected full-time homemaker in terms of knowing where to find resources and support. Respondents in the central rural county grouping, Salt Lake County, and Utah County expressed lower levels of agreement.

Sexual Assault

The study addressed the significant social, criminal justice, and healthcare issue of sexual assault. With Utah currently ranked 7th of 50 states for the number of forcible rapes per capita, four survey items provide additional insights to improve the safety and wellbeing of Utah women, children, and families.

1. I don’t think sexual assault is a big problem in Utah.
2. Any unwanted sexual contact or behavior is sexual assault.
3. I don’t think there is much I can do about sexual assault in my community.
4. I know where to find sexual assault resources in my community.

While the majority of respondents (71.7%) recognize on some level that sexual assault is a big problem in Utah, 65.4% indicated some degree of ambivalence in terms of being able to help reduce sexual assault. Men were more likely to agree with the statement, “I don’t think there is much I can do about sexual assault in my community.”

“Clearly there’s an opportunity here to educate Utahns,” said Kolene Anderson, UWLP associate director and co-author of the report. “Bystander intervention is one impactful way that individuals – including men – can reduce sexual assault. The act of sexually assaulting another person begins with a choice; we need interventions to help would-be perpetrators make different choices. I also think we have a great opportunity as parents and leaders to teach children about respecting others, a principle that is at the heart of any consent conversation we might have.”

Poverty and Homelessness

Madsen said that although Utah fares better than many other states, both poverty and homelessness are daily realities for thousands of Utah women and their families, and the intersections with domestic violence and sexual assault cannot be ignored.

“This is unacceptable for Utah,” she said.

Four items from the study provide additional insight that may be useful in determining ways to help more Utah women, girls, and families overcome poverty and homelessness.

1. If one is experiencing poverty in Utah, it is the result of their own choices.
2. If one is experiencing homelessness in Utah, it is the result of their own choices.
3. I don’t think there is much I can do about poverty and homelessness in my community.
4. Home is the first step toward positioning children and families for the opportunity to thrive and plan for the future.

While most respondents disagreed at some level that experiencing poverty is a result of an individual’s choices, one in five respondents indicated some level of agreement, a result that is nearly mirrored in the question regarding homelessness being a result of one’s own choices, where 21.1% of respondents agreed on some level.

Qualitative comments, however, describe the impact, specifically on single women and mothers, who are in lose-lose situations: “Many of us chose to have and raise families, but then too many of us were abandoned or abused by the partner that we made this choice with. Too often we support the man in launching and building a strong career only to be left in the wind to live in poverty. Divorce court systems and lawmakers need to keep/create laws that respect the choices the partnership made together and work hard to keep the woman/mother financially secure after divorce. I don’t think our lawmakers realize that what we have created is a climate where it is now 100% an irresponsible thing to choose to be a stay-at-home mother to raise children.”

Madsen reiterated that Utah must do better to ensure that everyone thrives.

“As Utah decision makers and residents join to find ways to strengthen the impact of girls and women, we cannot disregard the fact that without safety and security, women, girls, and their families are simply surviving – and some barely so,” she said. “We cannot continue to claim ‘This Is the Place’ when, for too many girls and women, this is a place where suffering is ignored, even tolerated. We can do better. We must do better. The health of Utah’s future families hinges on making definitive changes. . . now.”

Click here to read the full report.