A survey of 721 Indiana University undergraduates found that nearly one-third had experienced at least one sexual encounter they considered scary. The study, published in 2025, found that 31% of respondents reported such an experience.
Women accounted for 75% of those reports, while men represented 21% and transgender or gender-nonbinary respondents 5%. Participants across genders and sexual orientations reported frightening experiences, but the accounts most often involved male partners.
The researchers identified seven recurring types of experiences: partners refusing to stop, feeling unable to control what was happening, pressure or manipulation, unwanted roughness, sex while intoxicated or unconscious, physical restraint, and condom-related concerns. Examples included ignoring requests to stop, removing a condom without informing a partner, applying unwanted force and pressuring someone into unprotected sex.
The study involved students with an average age of 19. Participants were divided almost evenly between women and men, with 2% identifying in another category. Almost 80% identified as heterosexual, while the remaining respondents included bisexual, lesbian or gay, transgender and gender-nonbinary students. About half were single and half were in relationships.
The findings build on earlier Indiana University research. Pilot studies published in 2019 and 2022 found that 25% of women and 10% of men sometimes felt scared during sex.
The researchers noted that some behaviors associated with frightening experiences, such as restraint or rough play, can also appear in consensual BDSM. The distinction is whether the participants discuss and agree on the activities beforehand, maintain control over what happens and establish a safe word or another way to stop.
Alcohol was frequently connected with the experiences described by participants. Some reported being unable to remember what happened, unable to leave or unable to resist because they were intoxicated, while their partner was sober. The article also links alcohol with increased risk of sexual assault and other unwanted sexual encounters.
The findings come amid continuing research into sexual violence among college students. A 2014 White House task force reported that one in five college women experienced rape as undergraduates, a figure later assessed as reasonably accurate by a large, multi-campus study. According to the article, rape-prevention programs introduced in higher education and the military have reduced sexual-assault risk by 50%.
The researchers’ recommendations include avoiding heavy intoxication, not engaging sexually with someone who is drunk, and arranging in advance for friends to monitor one another and intervene when a situation appears to be becoming unsafe.
Sources: Psychology Today.