Reports of Rape Rise on College Football Game Days

The partying that accompanies Division One home games results in more reports of rape, a new study shows.
Photographer: Joe Robbins/Getty Images
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College football game days may have a sinister side: They’re associated with a higher incidence of sexual assault, according to a new study that explored links between campus party culture and rape.

Division One football games “significantly increase reports of rape involving college-aged victims” according to a December working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The study found that on the day of games, reports of rape by 17- to 24-year-old victims in colleges' local policing areas climbed 28 percent.