There is significant research on how police officers have interacted with sexual assault victims which resulted in a negative encounter. Sexual assault victims who have reported their assault to law enforcement have complained the police have treated them in ways they describe as upsetting (Patterson 2012). Consequently, this has resulted in negative experiences with law enforcement that can influence the investigation and case outcome. Sexual assault occurs at an alarming rate and is significantly under-reported (Conroy and Scassa 2016). Additionally, poor experiences with the police among women who have been sexually assaulted have been cited as one of the reasons for under-reporting. Moreover, the response the victims receive from a police officer may influence the nature and quality of the evidence obtained which might affect whether the victim proceeds with the case.
Limited information comes from victims who are willing to report as it is widely researched the underreporting of rape and sexual assault to law enforcement is a problem in our society. Statistical data of criminal victimization gathered by Truman and Morgan (2015) shows only 32.5% of rape and sexual assault victims reported their
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Since sexual assault is underreported there is already an unknown amount of attacks that go unresolved. For cases to move forward in the criminal justice process law enforcement need victims to report crimes and follow-through in the process so police can obtain witness statements, gather evidence, identify suspects and witnesses in order to make an arrest or submit a case to an office of prosecution. Once an office of prosecution receives a criminal case they will determine whether they are going to file charges on the suspect and proceed with a
The vast amount of research has provided several explanations to account for the behavior of the offenders and the low rate in which sexual assault cases initiate criminal proceedings through a variety of theoretical perspectives. These include the classical approaches that focus on the individual who has committed sexual assault and the positivist approaches that aim to explain the social factors that influence the prosecution rates th...
According to RAINN, (2009) approximately 10 per cent of all victims of sexual assault and abuse are adult and juvenile males. In terms of the nature of assault, real figures include a compendium of reported incidents ranging from unwanted sexual touching to forced penetration. To qualify this statement, it must be understood that the percentage does not reflect a vast number of crimes that go unreported due to issues that will be discussed in the present paper.
Sexual assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and In the United States 80% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 30. Of that 80%, 44% are under the age of 18 (RAINN, 2016). That leaves 36% of victims between the ages of 18 and 30. These percentages become even more alarming when that 80% is of about 293,000 victims of secual assualt each year (RAINN, 2016). It is estimated that 1 in every 6 women in the US has been or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. The risks of sexual assault increase on college campuses. Women ages 18-24 who are enrolled in college are 3 times more likely than women in general to suffer from sexual violence (RAINN, 2016). One would think that with all these women being sexually assaulted, one would hear more about it, or perhaps the police stations would constantly be busy. This is not the case. Sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes, with 68% still being left unreported (RAINN, 2016). This could be because of every 100 rapists, only 2 will spend a day in jail. Of the 32 out of 100 that would be reported, only 7 are referred to an arrest (RAINN, 2016). Why would men or women want to report sexual assault when the system that is supposed to protect them fails so often, and why does this system continue to fail?
In a study done by The Journal of Clinical Psychology, “the primary reason for not reporting seemed to combine a type of guilt with embarrassment.” With the help of utilizing support groups, clubs, and other programs among college campuses that are designed to make the victim’s experience a little easier, the victims may not feel as embarrassed to come out and may feel safer in their decision to move forward with their case. One of the most notable effects of rape is the psychological impact that it has on the victim immediately as well as long-term. Many victims feel depression, anxiety, and other sudden onset mental illnesses as a result of their attack and can last for years post-attack. The Journal of Interpersonal Violence reported that in their study of 95 victims over a 12 week long period, “by 3 months post-crime 47% still met the full criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” This prolonged experience of emotional trauma can weaken the person’s overall mental wellbeing and cause the trauma to stick with them for the rest of their lives, especially if there are no support resources around them. As cited in the Journal of Clinical Psychology study previously, the number one reason for not reporting is the feeling of embarrassment which causes the victims to not talk about their experience and to shut out those around
“Last year around 6.5% of alleged rapes led to conviction. Why is the conviction level for rape so low?”
The statistics clearly show a group of people who’re affected by the heinous acts of sexual assault. Everyone knows that sexual assault isn’t a topic that’s on the top of the list to talk about; people usually even try to go as far as to hide it or to cover it up. Though, it’s clear for certain; covering something up doesn’t make it alright – It won’t make it go away and the problem is still there. For that exact fact, it is the very reason that sexual assault is something that needs to be brought to the
Sexual assault is a social issue that has been a pressing topic of conversation throughout communities in the United States. The rapid interest in sexual assault comes after a string of released content about the prominence and severity of sexual assault against women. The media has chosen increase public awareness on the fact that “one in 5 women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college” (). Media content on the topic includes the highly-rated documentary “The Hunting Ground” and a report and a call to action from the White House Council on Women and Girls. The public outcry is not only because of the staggering rate of sexual assault rather it is the lack of or mishandled reporting of sexual assaults in college. This paper
Unfortunately, rape is a traumatizing event to happen to an individual that can have lifelong effects on the individual physical, mental, and emotional state. Many victims elect not to report the crime to law enforcement in order to put the past behind them. Nonetheless, there are numerous explanations on why this crime is not heavily conveyed to the police. First, there is a sense of renunciation for the victim; particularly if the rape was brought on by someone they know (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p. 375). In the event that this occurs, the victim could try to evade the topic of what has transpired to them to de-escalate their sense of embarrassment and shame. Second, the victim’s fear of the legal system could avert them from also reporting the crime (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013, p.
According to rain.org 44 percent of rape victims are under the age of 18 and 80 percent are under the age of 30 years old. Every 2 minutes an American is a victim of rape and about 240,000 of them are reported each year. Only 60 percent of assaults are not reported to the police renders that 97 percent of the perpetrators never spend a day in jail. The less the people report the crime the less they are likely to catch the perpetrator. Sadly 23 of the victims know the person whole is assaulting them. Almost 40 percent of the rapist know their victim. This is a very uns...
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, "when crimes are not reported to the police, victims may not be able to obtain necessary services to cope with the victimization, and offenders may go unpunished." The U.S. Department of Justice Office states that, in order for victims to obtain the necessary services they need, they have to disclose the incident and seek help. Methods My first source, Why Sexual Assault Victims Delay Presenting at Hospitals, was constructed from sexual assault cases presented at the hospital from January 2005 to December 2008; those records were collected from the sexual assault service center. There were 534 records collected and used during the study, 466 were females, and 68 were men.
Victims are usually more likely to receive help from other sources. According to the survey that was taken by Thomson and Langley “the number of assaults reported by victims is lower than the total number of assaults known by the police.” For the victim to report an assault there are several decisions the victim must
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
Inertwined with rape myths, are subsequent rape scripts. As Ryan (2011) and Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard (2009) showed, depending what script is prevalent or dominant, reporting rates and overall acknowledgement can be greatly affected. Our understanding of what constitutes a rape or sexual assault needs to significantly change otherwise countless victims will remained silenced. If the understanding of these crimes was broadened, and the acquaintance scenarios taken more seriously, more victims would come forward, report, and get the help they may desperately need, in addition to aiding the legal system in punishing the offender and improve society’s population.
According to The New York State Coalition against Sexual Assault, at least one in four women will experience sexual assault during their college years. Unfortunately, most of those women report those crimes to the police because of the fear that they will be attacked by their assailant again or ridiculed by the public. Many women find their attack not important enough to report. According to the National Public Radio, many women did not report their attack because they felt the attack was a personal issue, they were afraid of retaliation from their attacker, or they felt as if the police wouldn’t help them send their attacker to
In 1983-1984 Diana Russell did a study of community women in San Francisco that revealed that 24% of women had experienced a completed rape and 44% had experienced a completed or attempted rape. A national random survey of college women found that one in four had experienced rape or attempted rape in their lifetime and 84% of the women knew their attacker (Koss, Gidycz, and Wisniewski, 1987) (Campbell and Wasco, 2005).