University of Oregon Consumer Protection Research Grant

Grants Disbursed During the 2025-2026 Cycle   

The Committee awarded $167,352 in grants to eight projects, led by both faculty and graduate students.

Faculty Awards

1. Trading in the Dark

Maria Chaderina, Assistant Professor, Lundquist College of Business

Grant funding: $20,700

Abstract:

Since receiving funding in 2024, overnight trading on US markets has been growing rapidly. By the end of 2024, the platform that allows retail investors to trade overnight was facilitating about $5 billion in weekly trading volume. For comparison, daily trading volume during regular market hours is estimated at around $70 billion. This means overnight trading, which started at virtually zero in 2021, is expected to account for nearly 10% of the total volume by 2025. Additionally, the number of platforms planning to offer overnight trading is increasing.

This rise in overnight trading raises concerns. It is less transparent, less regulated, and often more costly for retail investors. This type of trading is likely more profitable for certain market participants, which may incentivize retail brokers to promote overnight trading, without fully disclosing the true costs it imposes on retail investors.

Preliminary evidence suggests that overnight trading has negative consequences for market participants who trade during regular market hours, including mutual and pension fund managers as well as retail investors. Specifically, a positive correlation between trading volume on the overnight platform, Blue Ocean ATS (BOATS or BLUE), and increased transaction costs on exchanges during market hours. I measure transaction costs using two different bid-ask spread indicators: one based on quotes, and the other based on realized transactions.

The issue of overnight trading and its dangers are impacting all the consumers and investors across the US, this project has a direct impact on protection of Oregon consumers. Early results have already sparked interest among policy makers at the SEC. If it informs and amends nationwide policy regulating overnight trading, it will directly benefit retail investors as well as all investors who have savings for retirement in any kind of funds (mutual funds, pension funds, etc.) across US, including Oregon.

This 1-year project began in summer of 2024. The researcher will use this grant cycle in the second phase of this ongoing research and implementation by analyzing integrated data from Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which provides transaction information on BOATS trading volume via its public API, with the detailed transaction cost data from Trade and Quote (TAQ) services.

Dissemination includes publishing the paper on SSRN and submitting to conferences with a goal to present in the spring and summer of 2026.

Researcher:

Professor Chaderina received her Ph.D. in Financial Economics from Carnegie Mellon University and BS in Economics from the University of London and the Higher School of Economics. Prior to joining the Lundquist College, Chaderina taught at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her areas of expertise include capital structure, liquidity management, and financial intermediation. Chaderina's research on these topics has been published in journals such as the Review of Asset Pricing Studies.

2. Race, Gender, and Consumer Credibility

Robert Chavez, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences

Rachel Jacobson, Ph.D. Candidate, College of Arts and Sciences

Grant funding: $24,085

Abstract:

People experience the world as a consumer daily—from grocery shopping, visiting the gas station, picking up prescribed medication. In instances where the interaction goes negatively, the individual has avenues to seek redress, such as speaking with the company employees to remedy the situation or reviewing the product online for other consumers to see. Credibility plays an important role in whether the consumer is believed, and there can be dire consequences to not appearing credible. For example, a warranty claim could be denied outright, leaving you financially responsible for repairing or replacing a defective product. In these situations, it’s important that an individual’s consumer experience is perceived as authentic by strangers.

Prior research supports that how credible a consumer appears as is influenced by the socioeconomic status of the consumer. There is also research that suggests implicit biases of consumers exist beyond SES, around the social identities of race and gender. Indeed, the most salient social categories—gender and race—have been shown to affect perceptions of competence, hire ability and sympathy. Systemic inequality exists across race and gender, and it’s important to determine whether these disparities affect how individuals are perceived as credible as a consumer.

The central hypothesis of our proposed research is that race and gender-based stereotypes shape the responses that Americans get when they talk about their experiences as consumers. We propose that when people discuss negative experiences with a product or service, others form inaccurate, stereotyped impressions of the personality characteristics that they associate with race and gender. These stereotyped impressions affect judgments of the credibility of the person who shares a complaint. To test this, we propose a study where individuals share stories of negative consumer experiences with others who decide whether they believe that person is credible or not.

This 1-year project will begin late summer or early fall 2025. The proposed study will pursue three specific aims: 1) whether there are cognitive representations of consumers of certain intersectional identities across race and gender; 2) determine the content of gender and race-based stereotypes applied in interpersonal environments; 3) test how race and gender affect judgments of the credibility of consumer complaints.

Dissemination includes sharing the results of the project at a psychology or other social science journal and conferences, while also publishing a copy to an open-access preprint server (psyArXiv). In addition, we will write up a nontechnical account of this work suitable for a general audience to an outlet that has broad reach for Oregon consumers such as the Oregonian.

Research team:

Professor Chavez received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Dartmouth College and his BS in Psychology from University of New Mexico before joining the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oregon. His research focuses on social/personality, social neuroscience, self, interpersonal perception, individual differences, and computational methods.

Rachel Jacobson is a doctoral candidate with University of Oregon’s Psychology department. Her research interests focus on how individuals’ social identities influence their identity development, social perceptions and interactions with others. In particular, on populations with multiple identities (e.g., biracial and bicultural).

3. Documenting Oregon's Home Insurance Crisis Amid Rising Wildfire Risk

Leigh Johnson, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences

Alex Casey, Ph.D. Candidate, College of Arts and Sciences

Grant funding: $28,936

Abstract:

Over the past decade, wildfires have intensified across the western U.S., driving up home insurance premiums and prompting insurers to reduce or terminate coverage. In Oregon alone, the 2020 Labor Day fires destroyed over 2,270 residences and was preceded and followed by some of the most damaging wildfires in the state’s history. Such events, alongside other even more catastrophic fire seasons elsewhere in the western U.S., have heightened concern about the affordability and availability of homeowners insurance for consumers. Changes in insurers’ pricing and underwriting due to growing exposure across multiple portfolios have produced an “insurance crisis” for consumers throughout the western U.S., marked by prohibitive premium increases, widespread nonrenewals, and insurer withdrawals. Recent research underscores that this is also a manifestation of a deeper, evolving housing crisis, where vulnerability aligns with existing inequalities along lines of race, class, and citizenship status. Our research proceeds from the principle that all consumers, regardless of income level, type of residence, or geographical location, deserve fair and transparent access to the insurance marketplace.

In Oregon, existing consumer protections for housing and insurance do not address the emerging insurance crisis that increasingly threatens consumers’ housing stability, especially in wildfire-prone areas. For many Oregon consumers, their house is likely their largest financial asset. Their desire to secure this asset against loss leaves consumers particularly exposed to changes in industry pricing and coverage, while their asset itself may be losing value due to rising wildfire risk exposure. Early findings show a pattern of rising premiums and coverage restrictions in certain geographic areas. This crisis falls disproportionately on particular consumers, especially those in high-risk, low-income, or nontraditional home contexts struggling to maintain adequate coverage.

There remains little systematic knowledge about how these insurance market shifts play out statewide in Oregon, nor about the profiles and fates of consumers who cannot access or afford coverage in the private market. The U.S. Treasury has just released the largest dataset on home insurance rates and coverage in U.S. history, presenting an important opportunity to fill these knowledge gaps, yet this data omits some of the most vulnerable market segments of consumers. To address these challenges, we propose a mixed-methods study integrating quantitative geospatial analysis of state-wide zip code data; documentary analysis of firms’ regulatory filings; and in-depth primary qualitative data collection from

insurance agents, regulators, and homeowners in two case-study counties.

This 1-year project will begin late summer or early fall 2025. The proposed study raises critical questions about the extent to which Oregon’s solvency‐oriented legal framework adequately protects consumers facing insurance accessibility and affordability crises amidst unprecedented changes in Western wildfire regimes. The research design targets multiple scales using a combination of methods and data sources. We will characterize the scope and scale of the home insurance crisis and identify the specific geographies across the state where this crisis is most acutely experienced. We will also investigate how owners of manufactured homes in two selected counties navigate shifting insurance accessibility and affordability.

Dissemination proposal includes two main avenues of dissemination. 1) Written, graphic, and geospatial by producing a policy briefing and series of maps and infographics highlighting key findings and recommendations, targeting the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR), legislators, and local government officials in case study counties; 2) Engage with public actors by maintaining consistent communications with officials at the DFR and Oregon FAIR plan. They also plan to establish communication with state and county legislators and public consumer advocacy groups about study activities and findings.

Pending successful progress on the project, we intend to apply for dedicated funding in FY 2026 for the purposes of additional dissemination and engagement, potentially including webinars, infographics for members of the public, and ESRI Story Maps depicting the geospatial data alongside place-based stories of consumers’ struggles to secure insurance.

Research team:

Professor Johnson received her Ph.D. in Human Geography from University of California, Berkeley and her BA in Anthropology from Columbia University. Prior to joining the University of Oregon, Johnson was a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in the Department of Geography for University of Zurich. Her research interests focus on climate risk and adaptation, political ecology, finance, development studies, East Africa, restoration, labor, and firefighting.

Alex Casey is a doctoral candidate with University of Oregon’s Geography department. Her research interests focus on critical physical geography, pyrogeography, and critical geographic information systems.

4. Protecting Consumers' Privacy in Accessing Wi-Fi Services

Yingjiu Li, Professor, College of Arts and Sciences

Grant funding: $18,983

Abstract:

Wi-Fi is a technology that allows electronic devices to connect to the internet wirelessly. In commercial settings, Wi-Fi services are widely utilized to enhance consumer experience and streamline business operations. In Oregon, consumer-accessible Wi-Fi services are abundantly available in various commercial establishments. For example, many shopping centers offer free Wi-Fi to shoppers. Popular restaurant chains provide Wi-Fi for customers. Retail stores such enhance the shopping experience with complimentary Wi-Fi. Public libraries also offer free Wi-Fi access. Furthermore, hotels ensure guests have reliable internet access during their stay, while several highway rest areas provide Wi-Fi for travelers.

While Wi-Fi services play a significant role in commercial settings, they pose privacy risks for consumers, particularly concerning profiling and tracing. When consumers connect to public Wi-Fi net- works, their online activities can be monitored and tracked by businesses or malicious actors. This data can be used to create detailed consumer profiles, encompassing information on demographics, behaviors, and preferences. Such profiling can lead to targeted marketing, raising concerns about unauthorized data collection and potential misuse of personal information. Additionally, unsecured networks can expose consumers to risks like man-in-the-middle attacks, where hackers intercept data transmitted over the network, potentially leading to identity theft or financial fraud.

While the latest Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) protocol, WPA3 enhances Wi-Fi protection through stronger encryption, improved authentication, and additional safeguards against offline attacks compared to its predecessors (WEP, WPA, WPA2), privacy risks still persist. Private information of Wi-Fi users (e.g., media access control addresses and service set identifiers) is often either advertised publicly on wireless networks or accessible by Wi-Fi service providers. This can lead to user identification, impersonation/spoofing attacks, and profiling/tracing attacks. A survey indicated that 59% of investigated devices periodically announce their owners’ real names for Wi-Fi networks, which is deemed a privacy risk by approximately 90% of users.

Aiming to protect consumers’ privacy when accessing Wi-Fi services, we propose a new access policy named Privacy-Enhanced-Access in this policy research. This new policy addresses the shortcomings of both Open-Access and Protected-Access policies. Our Privacy-Enhanced-Access policy requires Wi-Fi ser- vices to perform mutual authentication between consumers and service providers and to use encryption for securing data transmission. In addition, it requires that no identification information of consumers is revealed to the public or service providers during Wi-Fi communications. The Privacy-Enhanced-Access policy differs from the Open-Access policy in that it requires both authentication and encryption for accessing Wi-Fi services, whereas the Open-Access policy requires neither. Similar to the Protected-Access policy, the Privacy-Enhanced-Access policy addresses the security risks inherent in the Open-Access policy, which is vulnerable to eavesdropping, unauthorized access, man-in-the- middle attacks, rogue access points, and data tampering.

This 1-year project will begin in late summer or early fall of 2025. The researcher will work on this project extending his previous research on PriSrv to achieve his research objective, which is to demonstrate the feasibility of enforcing the Privacy-Enhanced-Access policy in developing Wi-Fi protocols and aim to overcome the shortcomings of PriSrv in terms of privacy protection while enhancing its usability and efficiency. The key innovation of research will be a fast and expressive matchmaking encryption (FEME) scheme. Unlike earlier ME schemes which are constrained to basic equality policies, FEME aims to support expressive policies with arbitrary attribute values. The development of FEME will address the open problem highlighted by Ateniese et al. in CRYPTO’19 and Chen et al. in ASIACRYPT’22, calling for the development of matchmaking encryption that balances policy expressiveness with privacy. Additionally, we will develop FEME to be significantly faster in encryption and decryption than existing ME schemes supporting expressive policy control to ensure that FEME preserves the privacy of expressive policies and attribute values while balancing privacy and efficiency in matchmaking encryption.

Dissemination plans are to implement our proposed Wi-Fi protocol, PriSrv+, using the same benchmarks, crypto library, elliptic curves, and parameters as we implemented PriSrv in our preliminary work for a fair comparison. We will use various resources to evaluate different security levels in our experiments. The source code of our implementation will be made publicly available at the end of this project. In addition, the PI plans to publish the results of this research in a prestigious academic conference or journal to make them publicly accessible and inspire further research on protecting consumers’ privacy in accessing Wi-Fi services.

Researcher:

Professor Li received his Ph.D. degree in Information Technology with a focus on Cybersecurity from George Mason University. His research interests include IoT security and privacy, mobile and system security, applied cryptography and cloud security, and data application security and privacy. Li has published more than 130 papers in cybersecurity research, and co-authored two academic books on leakage resistant password systems and on RFID security and privacy. He has served in technical program committees for over 80 international conferences and workshops in his career.

5. Children and Chatbots: Regulating Generative AI and Synthetic Media in Oregon

Bryce Newell, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication

Grant funding: $22,329

Abstract:

Keeping children and youth safe online has long been a goal of consumer protection law. However, many children-focused regulations are very limited in their scope, and those in place may not adequately encompass new concerns raised by children’s increasingly frequent use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) platforms, especially those designed as digital companions (e.g., AI chatbots designed to function as synthetic friends, teachers, counselors, or romantic partners). The recent surge in these platforms, including platforms used by and/or designed for children is raising important new questions about how we ought to protect children, young adults, and others who use these platforms (which often involves providing sensitive personal information in exchange for information or while seeking to connect with a digital companion). GAI chatbots that act as digital companions—including some designed explicitly for children—pose especially potent risks to children related to data collection and processing, advertising and consumer manipulation, and misinformation (or other forms of misleading synthetic content), in addition to risks associated with negative mental health outcomes and the provision of dangerous information or instructions to children.

The Oregon Attorney General has produced guidance on how Oregon law applies to the adoption of GAI, highlighting several key issues related to consumer protection, including consumer data privacy, data security, bias and discrimination, and accountability. GAI technologies and synthetic media impact consumers and consumer rights in several ways. First, AI chatbots raise concerns about data privacy. The large language models (LLMs) upon which AI chatbots are based are developed using massive amounts of training data, including personal data. These platforms may also ingest and use personal data provided by users to continue training these models. Second, chatbots may provide misleading, inaccurate, cruel/harassing, or dangerous information to users which can contribute to mental health, physical safety, and educational problems. Oregon was among the first states to adopt broad consumer data privacy laws in recent year. Some states have also attempted to adopt online child safety laws, but these have often met some resistance based on First Amendment grounds. Advocacy organizations and government agencies have sounded alarms about the risks that AI chatbots pose for children (e.g., McCallum, 2023; Common Sense Media, 2024), and researchers have begun to call for “child safe” forms of AI and AI regulation. As such, understanding whether additional protections for children are needed under Oregon law, and how those needs might be addressed through revisions of existing consumer data privacy laws, remains an important concern.

GAI applications, such as AI chatbots used as digital companions rely on technologies like large language models, deep neural networks, and diffusion models to create or modify images and audio by referencing existing data to create new, “synthetic” media content. These technologies rely on large amounts of data collected and analyzed from various sources, including the open web and data provided by users during chat sessions, for purposes of training machine learning models. This data harvesting necessarily captures personal data about real people, including images, audio, and video posted on various internet platforms. Synthetic media includes content that has been fabricated or manipulated, typically using machine learning technologies, or what has become known as GAI. Relatedly, when children use GAI platforms, they can submit personal information about themselves and their families that may be stored on commercial servers and/or in chatbot “memory.”

The affordances of these GAI chatbots represent important areas needing further research and regulation. Most consumer privacy laws are not focused on protecting children directly, although some child-specific provisions do exist. For example, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) limits commercial data collection and processing when a company has actual knowledge that the user is a child under 13 years of age (or when the service is directed at children), and only until the company gets consent from the child’s parent or legal guardian. Oregon’s Consumer Privacy Act (OCPA), which went into force in 2024, provides some limited additional regulation of data collection and processing and protections for children (including youth under 16 years of age), but these provisions do not go much further than provided for in COPPA. OCPA defines a “child” as anyone under 13 years of age and classifies personal data relating to children as “sensitive data” and provides some protections for children 13-16 years of age against some forms of targeted advertising and behavioral profiling (at least prior to parental consent for such data processing activities).

This 1-year project will begin late summer or early fall 2025. This project seeks to investigate the connections between consumer protection regulations and consumer experience with respect to generative AI technologies and synthetic media, with a specific focus on how consumer protection laws and regulations seek to protect children and young adults in the context of using AI chatbots and digital companions for informational, educational, and personal/romantic purposes.

Dissemination from this research will include an academic publication (submitted to a peer-reviewed journal) and a white paper designed to inform Oregon consumer protection advocates and administrators in local schools. The white paper will provide actionable policy recommendations to school officials, legislators, and policymakers. As part of the dissemination efforts, I will seek to collaborate with Oregon Consumer Justice and the Oregon Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Division, seeking ways to make the policy outcomes of the research more tangibly useful in practice. I will also present findings from the research on UO campus as part of a CPRG Research Roundtable or similar presentation opportunities.

Researcher:

Professor Newell received his Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Washington and his J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law. He is trained as an information scientist and academic lawyer, with a research agenda focused at the intersections of surveillance, privacy, policing, immigration, technology, information ethics and politics, and the law. He has published in both law reviews and social science journals.

Graduate Student Awards

6. TikTok Refugees Find a Home in Xiaohongshu (RedNote): Implications for Oregon Consumers

Lanore Hahn, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Journalism and Communication

Yanfei Lin, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Journalism and Communication

Grant funding: $24,396

Abstract:

In the weeks prior to the effective date of the US law banning the distribution of TikTok within the United States in early 2025, millions of US TikTok users migrated to Xiaohongshu, another Chinese-owned lifestyle and e-commerce platform. Xiaohongshu, translated to mean “little red book” and now commonly known as “RedNote” in English, has become a popular alternative for displaced TikTok users to build online communities, create content, advertise, and engage in commerce. The decision to ban TikTok in America for consumer protection and national security reasons raises critical concerns about consumers’ legal protections when using foreign e-commerce sites and possible economic impacts on disadvantaged populations who used TikTok for income. Limiting access to a commercial social media platform like TikTok also has broader implications for digital equity, freedom of expression, and the governance of global (foreign versus domestic) social media platforms. Besides the federal TikTok ban, several US states have also attempted to restrict the use or distribution of TikTok in various ways since 2023.

RedNote (RN) originally launched as an e-commerce platform designed to provide Chinese consumers with access to foreign goods and has since expanded into a broader lifestyle platform, encompassing a variety of products and local brands. RN emphasizes authentic reviews and genuine user experiences, penalizing over-commercialized content and promoting grassroots micro-influencers.  Despite the appearance of a rather egalitarian algorithmic environment, the platform operates under Chinese government data security regulations, oversight, and censorship. With the influx of American users, the Chinese government issued directives to RN to “keep a close watch on interactions between Chinese and foreign users and intervene if necessary. Reportedly, some American users have already seen their accounts blocked for violating RN’s code of conduct. RN’s terms and conditions also raise questions about the avenues for dispute resolution and legal redress available to U.S. consumers. These terms of service include a dispute resolution and arbitration provision, which encompasses a class action waiver. This clause mandates that disputes be resolved through arbitration rather than in court, potentially limiting consumers' options for legal recourse. The level of awareness among Oregonian consumers regarding their legal protections or the lack thereof is an unexplored area in existing literature. This explorative study will help to fill that gap by exploring how consumers understand their rights and mitigate risks when using RN, informing strategies to protect consumer rights and critically analyze the challenges of digital literacy related to consumer behavior on foreign owned e-commerce sites. A lack of awareness about legal protections can exacerbate the economic impact on displaced TikTok users who turn to alternative platforms to sustain their livelihoods. Prior research has shown that when TikTok was banned in other countries, the groups most financially impacted were often those already facing economic disadvantages. There were an estimated 27 million US creators who earned income from TikTok prior to the ban and their migration to other platforms to continue their revenue stream raises critical questions about the effectiveness of consumer protections to support creators in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Users monetizing their presence on RN may encounter challenges with cross-border transactions or difficulties resolving disputes if advertisers fail to pay or products sold are disputed. Without a clear understanding of their legal rights, these users are more likely to lose revenue and face financial instability. This highlights the need for research to uncover gaps in consumer awareness and protections, ensuring that policies and educational initiatives can better support users transitioning to new platforms.

This 1-year project will begin late summer or early fall 2025. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the experiences of Oregon consumers who have migrated from TikTok to RN in the wake of the US government’s ban. We seek to uncover the consumer protection, data privacy, and regulatory challenges these consumers face while navigating this transition and use of these platforms. To do so, we will employ interviews and an online survey-based questionnaire to explore issues of digital literacy, such as identifying the information practices employed by these users as they seek out, identify, and begin to use alternative platforms like RN. Relatedly, we will explore how information seeking practices and digital literacy affects our participants’ level of awareness about RN’s terms of service, how they understand the risks associated with using foreign-owned platforms, and what they understand about their rights as consumers under Oregon law.

Outputs from this research will include an academic publication (submitted to a peer-reviewed journal) and a policy brief designed to inform Oregon legislators and consumer protection advocates based in Oregon. The policy brief will provide actionable policy recommendations to enhance consumer awareness and protection for Oregon residents. The policy brief will be tailored for multiple audiences and languages, including legislators, consumer protection advocates, and state agencies. As part of the dissemination efforts, we will seek to collaborate with Oregon Consumer Justice, Oregon Consumer League, and the Oregon Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Division to organize a public presentation of the data. We also plan to present findings on UO campus as part of, e.g., a CPRG Research Roundtable. These events will provide opportunities to engage directly with Oregon residents, consumer advocates, and policymakers, with the goals of fostering dialogue around the risks and challenges consumers face when engaging with international platforms and exploring solutions to enhance consumers’ legal protections.

Research team:

Lanore Hahn is a doctoral candidate with University of Oregon’s Communication and Media Studies department. Her research focuses on how the emergence of conversational AI companions shape the landscape of human communication.

Yanfei (Febe) Lin is a doctoral candidate with University of Oregon’s Communication and Media Studies department. Her research interests include privacy in information, technology, technology ethics, artificial intelligence, and media studies.

7. Outsized Impacts: Medical Sexual Assault Protections and Prevention for Patient-Consumers

Bex Macfife, Ph.D. Candidate, College of Arts and Sciences

Grant funding: $18,923

Abstract:

Medical providers engaging in deceptive acts and malicious misconduct of a sexual nature is a problem in the United States, and Oregon is no exception. Medical Sexual Assault (MSA) can consist of sexual contact during appointments, unnecessary exams with sexual intent, inappropriate commentary, otherwise pursuing sexual relationships with patients, etc. In Oregon at least six cases of MSA made news since 2020, including a West Linn doctor still facing litigation from 170 former patients. Statistics make clear that far more cases go unrecognized or unreported. Exact rates on the prevalence of MSA are hard to come by, as only a fraction of interactions that would qualify as sexual assault get reported, and even fewer result in disciplinary hearings. Most reports come from similar disciplinary and legal records, skewing the trend toward the worst and multiple assaultive perpetrators.  MSA is therefore undoubtedly detrimental to Oregon consumers on both the micro and macro scales. Individually, patient-victims of MSA have been shown to develop mental illness including post-traumatic stress disorder, and maladaptive coping strategies including isolation and substance abuse, which are financial burdens on the survivor and healthcare systems overall. Patient-victims often avoid subsequent medical interactions, which can lead to exacerbated health problems and future medical debt. Those who do submit complaints or pursue class-action or criminal lawsuits, like other types of sexual assault reporting, face opaque complaint processes, considerable legal and administrative costs, and a low rate of success. On the macro level, MSA leads to higher malpractice insurance costs, which in turn raises costs for insurance and patients diminishment of public trust in healthcare institutions and considerable legal and administrative costs for public medical institutions.

A recurring theme in MSA cases is that patients did not recognize MSA as such at the time, thinking instead that behaviors were typical medical practice–often until enough victims came together to recognize patterns or until other medical providers demonstrated what appropriate care looks like. Indeed, little information exists for patient-consumers about where to draw the line between sexual abuse and appropriate medical practice when it comes to sensitive patient examinations. Public health resources explaining what to expect in sensitive health examinations and what policies are in place to protect them should MSA or suspicion of it occur are lacking, as is research about patient-consumer’s understandings and misconceptions of MSA and what educational information they would find useful.

Within “Doctors & Sex Abuse”, the comprehensive investigative report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution which looks at the prevalence of this issue across the country, Oregon as a state has a relatively strong set of legal and disciplinary responses for MSA, earning a 62 out of 100 rating. Indeed, in Oregon’s recently passed law ORS 163.429, MSA explicitly qualifies as a felony sex crime under the “sexual abuse by fraudulent representation” category (Senate Bill 974, 2023). However, Oregon does less well when it comes to transparency, which the Atlanta Journal-Constitution defines as whether “complete and accurate information on physician discipline [is] provided to help patients protect themselves” (Teegardin & Datar, 2016). This highlights a common problem with regulatory responses to sexual mistreatment wherein there are pathways to consequences for perpetrators, but only the most extreme cases reach disciplinary action or media attention–which itself does not guarantee that the abuse stops. Peer-reviewed studies confirm that over half of the providers disciplined for sexual misconduct were permitted to continue practicing. The possibility of recurring MSAs from perpetrators make it even more important that patient-consumers have as many resources as possible to protect themselves.

This 1-year project will begin in late summer or early fall 2025. The primary objective of this study is to support my interview-based dissertation research on Oregon patients’ experiences with pelvic and genital examination and treatment, which will in turn offer direction for how to educate consumers about MSA and their rights and protections as consumer-patients.

Dissemination includes publishing findings in an academic journal, seek to present my completed report to government organizations tasked with healthcare in Oregon. As the most easily accessible online resources and advocacy site for MSA, I will also initiate meetings with HelpingSurvivors.org and Rape and Incest National Network (RAINN.org) to see how my reports and recommendations may aid in their missions. I will present findings at the annual American Public Health Association conference in Washington, DC, at which I will also seek collaborators for developing patient-facing materials and further disseminating my report for MSA prevention. Additionally, in the year following this grant period I will present this entire project to an Applied Sociology session at the American Sociology Association annual meeting. The overall goal is to develop consumer protections outreach materials specific to MSA.

Researcher:

Bex Macfife is a doctoral candidate in the University of Oregon’s Sociology department. Their research interests include gender and sexuality, LGBTQ+ topics, sex education, medical education, queer and trans health, gynecological teaching associates, reproductive justice, bodies and embodiment, social movements, science and technology studies, queer theory, and feminist methods.

8. Wildfires and Property Insurance Premiums in Oregon

Clare Spaulding, JD Candidate, School of Law

Grant funding: $9,000

Abstract:

To what degree has the Oregon Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map, mandated in the 2021 Legislative Session, emboldened insurance companies to drastically raise premiums or deny property insurance coverage to Oregonians? While ORS 742.278 prohibits insurance companies from using the map to make such determinations, it does allow them to use their own data. Since 2022, Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Forestry have released iterations of the state wildfire hazard map. In the same year, Oregon Mutual announced they would no longer insure property, and Kemper released a similar announcement the following year.

The project operates with an understanding that the map is an accessible and empowering tool for many Oregonians, while also acknowledging that it may also be contributing to a detrimental rise in costs for some. All Oregonians deserve access to research and educational tools that allow them to make informed decisions about how increased risks of wildfires could impact their homes and property. Consequently, if the state mandates the implementation of such tools and resources, the state also has a responsibility to see that the tools and resources will not be used in a manner that is incongruent with the legislature’s intent: “improve wildfire response policies to protect vulnerable communities.”

This project will serve to inform Oregonians about the relationship between the Oregon State Wildfire Hazard Map and property insurance costs in the state, as well as proposed models for policy change that could improve upon the original intent of the 81st Legislative Assembly.

This 1-year project will begin in late summer or early fall 2025. The primary objective of this this project will serve to inform Oregonians about the relationship between the Oregon State Wildfire Hazard Map and property insurance costs in the state, as well as proposed models for policy change that could improve upon the original intent of the 81st Legislative Assembly.

Dissemination will take a three-pronged approach. First, I will deliver a tailored version of the findings to members of the Oregon Climate Action Commission, a committee responsible for tracking and evaluating the impacts of climate change in Oregon for the benefit of the Oregon state legislature. Second, I will deliver and discuss the project with several key organizations that seek to influence policy for the benefit of vulnerable Oregonians, included but not limited to Oregon Housing Alliance, Oregon Environmental Council, Rogue Climate, and Climate Solutions. And third, I will submit the project to academic and legal journals for a wider reach.

Researcher:

Clare Spaulding is a JD candidate in the University of Oregon’s School of Law. She was a Program Assistant for the 2024-2025 Oregon Law Students Public Interest Fund and participated in planning and organizational efforts for the 2025 OLSPIF Gala.