Most research on the social perception of sexual violence is based on samples of university students, while it is rare to find studies with representative samples, despite the vital importance of this information in planning prevention strategies. Furthermore, in Europe, the social perception of sexual violence has been explored very marginally. Our main objective with this study was to explore, by means of a representative sample of the general population (N = 2,465), the relationship between the acceptability of sexual violence and demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal factors in Spain. The variable with the highest impact on the outcome was sexism, followed by knowledge of the most common type of victim–perpetrator relationship, age, perceived frequency of false complaints, and educational background. Other variables such as sex, country of birth, attitudes toward the consumption of prostitution, or opinions regarding prevention of sexual violence were also significant. A better understanding of the factors influencing public attitudes toward sexual violence would be useful to guide prevention efforts.
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