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SATI e-News: October 9, 2002
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Upward Trend
in Rape Reporting Rates for Two Straight Years |
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The latest National Crime
Victimization Survey, released last month by the Bureau of
Justice Statistics, shows promising--though not conclusive
developments in the reporting rate of rape and sexual assaults.
While the reporting rate for rapes/sexual assaults fluctuated
between 28% and 32% between 1993 and 1999, last year’s figures
showed that 48% of rape/sexual assault victims reported the
crime to police. The BJS cautioned that last year’s figure
(based on year 2000 surveys) could have been a fluke, as it was
based on a small number of cases, and that trend data—data
gathered over time—is a more important indicator. This year’s
rate (based on year 2001 surveys) was 39%. While it is 10% lower
than last year's rate, it is still far higher than any of the
reporting rates between 1992 and 1994.
Although the data is not conclusive, it does suggest that the
data may finally be on an upward trend, reflecting positive
developments in the criminal justice systems that are impacting
rape victims' willingness to come forward.
Meanwhile, the NCVS also showed a drop of 8.3% in the overall
incidence of rapes/sexual assault. The entire category of
violent crime, of which sexual assault is a part, dropped by
10%. Based on the NCVS data, the BJS estimates that 248,000
rapes and sexual assaults were committed in 2001. This figure
includes both reported and unreported crimes of individuals 12
and over. The 2001 NCVS can be found at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cv01.htm
Also of note is that the BJS recently reinstated a study of
crime by household, entitled Crime and the Nation's
Households, 2000. The report shows that rape and sexual
assault were each experienced by less than 1% of members of
households during 1994-2000. Intimate partner violence was
slightly higher; about 1 in every 200 households acknowledged
that some in the household experienced intimate partner
violence, which in some cases includes sexual assault. The full
report can be found at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cnh00.htm |
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