RCRJ 203 Criminology Cynthia Najdowski 4 1 14 Sexual Violence Definition of sexual assault Attacks or attempted attacks involving unwanted sexual contact between victim and offender May or may not involve force Includes grabbing fondling or verbal threats Usually includes rape or attempted rape Lack of consent Less than 17 years old Forcible compulsion Incapacity to consent Mentally disabled Mentally incapacitated Physically helpless Committed to state department correction or hospital Prevalence 1 2 out of every 10 woman experience rape sexual assault in their lives Assessing prevalence methodological issues Depends on how you ask Specific versus global questions Past year versus life Depends on who you ask Different racial ethnic groups College versus community samples 64 of sexual assault victimizations are not reported to the police Of the 36 that are reported to police 36 are reported by the people other than the victims Only 23 of victims report sexual assault Top reasons for reporting To improve police surveillance duty to tell police because it was a crime 21 To stop the incident or prevent reoccurrence or escalation 25 To protect themselves or household form further crimes by offender 28 Top reasons for not reporting Personal matter 13 Police would not do anything to help 13 Fear of reprisal 20 Other reasons for not reporting Sex crime victims may not fully understand what constitutes an illegal sex act They may blame themselves They may feel stigmatized They may not want to face accusations of dishonesty Real Rape Some rapes are more likely to be reported and later prosecuted more than other Based on rape myths widely held inaccurate beliefs about rape Legitimize sexual assault Deny it occurs Blame victim Make excuses for assault Victim characteristics Victims are more likely to be Younger than 34 Unmarried Earning less than 25k a year Living in a rural area Offender characteristics 78 of offenders are known by victims 34 intimate partners 6 relatives 38 acquaintances Policy responses victim support and assistance Violence against woman act 1194 2000 2013 Rape crisis centers Female police officers Better police training Rape shield laws