OVERCOMING THE

COMPLEXITIES OF
SEXUAL VIOLENCE:
UNDERSTANDING
THE REALITIES
Objectives

Participants will be able to:

∙ Understand how different populations are impacted by sexual
assault and other crimes.
∙ Understand that many sexual assault crimes are not reported, and of
those reported only a fraction are investigated, and of those
investigated only a small percentage are prosecuted, and of those
prosecuted only a few result in conviction.
∙ Explain the realities of sexual assault and other violence against
women crimes.
∙ Understand the impact of not identifying or charging co-occurring
crimes in the context of investigations of sexual assault and other
violence against women crimes.
 “What challenges are you experiencing with
sexual assault cases that you hope to address in
this training?”
Facts of Case

Give a brief overview of the facts of the case without disclosing that
the case had not been followed up on/had been closed/otherwise
determined false.
How likely is this case to go to prosecution?
Outcome of Case

Present the outcome of the case, whether the case was closed or
coded as false, and the consequences of this.
Lifetime Estimates of Violence
Sexual Violence: • 44% women
Contact • 25% men

Sexual Violence: • 21% women

Rape • 3% men

Sexual Violence: • 16% women

Coercion • 10% men

Unwanted Sexual • 37% women

Contact • 18% men
Lifetime Estimates of Violence

Sexual • 21.% women

Violence: Rape • 3% men

Intimate • 37% women

Partner • 34% men
Violence

• 16% women
Stalking
• 6% men
 Women’s Lifetime Estimates of Violence
by Race / Ethnicity
Multi- American Black Hispanic Whit Asian /
racial Indian / e Pacific
Alaska Islande
Native r
Total
37% IPV 57% 48% 45% 34% 37% 18%
Sexual
19% Assault: 32% 29% 21% 15% 20% 10%
Rape

Contact
28% Sexual 50% 46% 36% 27% 39% 23%
Violence
16% Stalking 26% 28% 16% 15% 16% 8%
 Lifetime Estimates of Victimization
by Sexual Orientation

Women Men
Hetero- Bisexual Lesbian Hetero- Bisexual Gay
sexual sexual

IPV 35% 61% 44% 29% 37% 26%

Sexual
# too
Violence: 17% 46% 13% 0.7% # too small
small
Rape

Sexual
Violence: 43% 75% 46% 21% 47% 40%
Other
# too
Stalking 16% 37% # too small % # too small
small
Note: Heterosexual = women attracted to men, and men attracted to women
Bisexual = women or men attracted to both women and men
Lesbian = women attracted to women
Gay = men attracted to men
 Cultural
Humility
“Cultural humility is a humble and respectful attitude toward
individuals of other cultures that pushes one to challenge their
own cultural biases, realize they cannot possibly know
everything about other cultures, and approach learning about
other cultures as a lifelong goal and process.”
(Gonzalez & Levitas, 2020)
 Cultural
Humility
Benefits of practicing cultural humility:
■ Understanding why some communities may feel
uncomfortable reporting to law enforcement
■ Building trust with marginalized communities
■ Conducting thorough investigations
■ Understanding language and cultural barriers to
reporting and participating in the criminal justice
system
Outcomes of Sexual Assault Cases

1000 Sexual Assaults

230 Reported

46 Arrested

9 Prosecuted 995 Walk

5 Convicted

4.6 Serve Time

Department Sexual Assault
Reports
Insert and compare your department’s data regarding sexual assault
reports including demographic breakdowns, and prosecution and
conviction rates to the national data.
Sexual Assault Reporting

■ Current, reliable research shows that only 2-10% of sexual

assault reports are false.
■ Sexual assault is highly under-reported. Statistics of reporting
rates vary, but at least 75% of rapes are never reported to police.
Realities of Sexual Assault
In most sexual assaults:
■ The perpetrator is someone known to the victim.
■ The perpetrator only uses the amount of additional violence
necessary to subdue/coerce/intimidate/threaten the victim.
■ The victim is unlikely to have physical injuries.
■ A weapon is not used.
■ The victim does not fight back or scream for help.
 Realities of VAW Crimes
What are common co-occurring crimes that are not
identified or charged in the context of investigations of
violence against women (VAW) crimes?

Sexual harassment/
Stalking Domestic Violence
violence

Kidnapping/
Child Abuse Weapons violations
false imprisonment

Witness
Animal abuse Strangulation
intimidation
 Realities of VAW Crimes
Course of conduct vs. incident-based
What are Multiple, concurrent crimes
some common
Traumatic impact
characteristics
of violence Minimization by victim and/or perpetrator
against Underreported
women
Serial nature of perpetrators
crimes?
Exploitation or creation of victim vulnerability
Realities of VAW Crimes
The following may enhance identifying and charging
VAW and co-occurring related crimes:

Training on the Training on

Communication 
impact of trauma VAW crimes

Use of Increasing Identifying

interpretation supervisor misconceptions
services oversight about these crimes

Understanding Understanding
Information Training on
how victims & stereotypes
sharing across cultural
perps may regarding
jurisdictions humility
minimize crime gender & race
IACP Report Review
Checklists
Realities of VAW Crimes
What’s the Violence escalates/fatality

impact of Victim & officer safety compromised

not charging Liability issues

Loss of community trust

or
Recidivism/re-victimization
identifying
Victim hesitant to report further incidents

these Perpetrator empowered

crimes?
Realities of VAW Crimes
Perpetrators of VAW
• Manipulative
• Plan their crimes
• Ensure there are no witnesses
• Are strategic and calculating
• Use isolation, power, and control
• Engage in targeting and “testing” to select victims
• Groom victims
• Are often repeat offenders with a series of and/or
multiple victims 
• Escalate violence over time
Victims of VAW
• Not going to be a “perfect” victim for your case
• Often delay reporting crime 
• Experience trauma because of the violence
• Are often threatened, afraid & reluctant
• May feel powerless to stop the violence
• May have vulnerabilities that perpetrator will exploit
• May mistrust police and/or criminal justice system as
a whole
• Don’t want to “get in trouble” (or get suspect in
trouble)