Mary P. Koss

[2] Koss's maternal grandparents (William and Marian Lyndon Bade) raised her and her four siblings for a period of time, while their mother rehabilitated from polio.

[2] Upon graduating high school at age 17, Koss attended the University of Michigan, where she met her husband, Paul G.

[2] During her time there, Mary Harvey, of Victims of Violence Center and National Institute of Mental Health, recruited her to lead a study on rape prevalence in collaboration with the Ms. Foundation for Research and Education.

[2] Koss' work resulted in the 1987 publication, "The Scope of Rape: Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of Higher Education Students.

[citation needed] Koss has since conducted multiple legislative testimonies, including expert witness testimonies to the U.S. Senate Veteran's Affairs Committee, U.S. News & World Report, Senator Cory Brooker on restorative justice, and US Advisory Commission on Child Abuse.

In a 2017 article, Rutherford discussed the ontological politics of sexual assault and how Koss’s feminist social science shaped modern discourse on rape and gender-based violence【Rutherford, 2017].Dzur (2020) praised Dr. Koss’s groundbreaking work in restorative justice, particularly her focus on addressing the needs of both survivors and perpetrators in a more victim-centered process.

In a detailed interview, Dzur highlighted how Dr. Koss has influenced the conversation about alternatives to traditional punitive systems of justice【Dzur, 2020】.

In 2024, Dr. Koss led a significant revision of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), which was published in a special issue of The Journal of Sex Research.

This updated version reflects changes in the understanding of sexual violence over the past several decades and addresses the limitations of the original SES, aiming to provide a more inclusive and scientifically rigorous tool.

This updated framework aligns the instrument with legal standards to improve its application in research and policymaking (Koss et al., 2024).

The psychometric properties of the revised SES were rigorously evaluated, and it was found to be highly reliable and valid for use across different demographic groups, reinforcing its continued relevance in sexual violence research (Koss et al., 2024).

RESTORE is a voluntary conferencing program for adult misdemeanor and felony sexual assault perpetrators who are referred by a prosecutor.

Her recent contributions include: Collaborative (ongoing) Revision Collaborative research, co-sponsored by the offices of nursing and minority health (ongoing) Dr. Koss has been featured in several high-profile media appearances and webinars, discussing her research on sexual violence and restorative justice: 1.

University of Pennsylvania, Ortner Center on Violence and Abuse in Relationships (2019), Restorative Justice & Campus Sexual Assault.

National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2019), Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education.