ABSTRACT
Youth bullying experiences and sexual violence perpetration are major public health problems. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Basile and Saltzman, 2002) defi ne sexual harassment as a component of sexual violence and bullying that is homophobic in nature and in some cases can be viewed as sexual harassment. While existing literature suggests that bullying and sexual violence may share some correlates, only a handful of studies have attempted to establish an empirical link in the literature between bullying and co-occurring or subsequent sexual violence perpetration during the middle school years (Basile et al., 2009). Despite a dearth of literature on the link between bullying and sexual violence, prevention educators who are charged to prevent sexual violence and rape in schools have increasingly focused on implementing bullying prevention programmes in schools because it is easier to gain access to schools with bullying prevention over sexual violence prevention initiatives. Thus, it is imperative that research be conducted to identify the association between bullying and sexual violence during early adolescence, but it is also important to identify mediators and moderators of this association that are malleable to school-based intervention.
