2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) (pdf)
The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey is an ongoing, nationally representative survey that assesses experiences of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence among adult women and men in the United States and for each individual state. It measures lifetime victimization for these types of violence as well as victimization in the 12 months prior to taking the survey.
A Legal Analysis: Street Harassment & Legal Recourse
This page from Hollaback! provides an informal resource around possible legal action for street harassment, but also highlights the many shortcomings of our current system.
Acquaintance Rape of College Students (pdf)
"Rape is one of the most common violent crimes on American college campuses today. This guide describes the problem of acquaintance rape of college students, addressing its scope, causes, and contributing factors; methods for analyzing it on a particular campus; tested responses; and measures for assessing response effectiveness. With this information, police and campus public safety officers can more effectively prevent the problem."
Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies 2009-2010 (pdf)
The annual report provides data and analysis on reported cases of sexual harassment and violence involving Academy personnel between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010. It also outlines progress made in prevention and response activities.
Case by case: news coverage of child sexual abuse
To understand how child sexual abuse is covered in the media, the researchers selected a representative sample of U.S. news over a span of three years, then coded the content in detail. Results on the content, language, how the act was characterized, who's voices are presented, etc. are all presented. The conclusion includes recommendations for advocates and reporters.
Employee Training on Addressing Sexual Harassment (word)
This module is intended to train in identifying the various forms of sexual harassment, encouraging employees to report it, and discussing options for addressing sexual harassment in the workplace.
"The article begins by reviewing up-to-date research suggesting that the rate of false reporting for sexual assault is in the range of 2-8%. It also critiques prior research suggesting that the rate of false reporting is far higher, and explores the reasons why this issue is so challenging for professionals in the field. The article concludes with a discussion of how professionals can work to overcome these challenges, and how to handle the frustrating reality of "real" false reports. "
Overviews from frequently asked violence against elderly persons.
Guatemala’s Femicide Law: Progress Against Impunity? (pdf)
This report places femicide within a particular historical, cultural and socio-political context describing the 36-year internal conflict that resulted in rape, torture and murder of tens of thousands of Guatemalan women and girls. Although the government has made some progress in implementing some aspects of the Law Against Femicide, the report also points out that the lack of understanding of the law, continued social unrest, poor media portrayal, and inadequate efforts to implement the law stand in the way of serious progress. The report concludes with recommendations for the government including improving investigation and prosecution of crimes of violence against women, and protection of the victims of violence and their children.
Hate Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People in the United States (pdf)
This is a report about bias-motivated incidents targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender, queer, and questioning (LGBT) individuals in the U.S. during the year 2008. The report includes statistics on violence against LGBT people, stories from survivors, information on where to get help, safety tips, and information on hate crime laws.
A new report from the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) contains case descriptions of each attack that includes sexual assault. The report notes that because crimes committed against homeless persons often go unreported, the actual numbers of non-lethal attacks is likely much higher. Rapes and sexual assaults also tend to go unreported. The report recommends that state legislatures add homeless persons as a “protected class” to hate crime legislation, and encourages police trainings so law enforcement officers will better understand homelessness and how to prevent hate crimes.
Immigrant Populations as Victims: Toward a Multicultural Criminal Justice System (pdf)
"This report summarizes findings from a study about the criminal justice system's approach to immigrant victims of crime and barriers that prohibit immigrants from reporting crimes."
Legal Tools for Survivors of Sexual Assault
This article addresses legal issues that might be helpful to survivors of sexual assault and their loved ones. The goal is to provide useful information on available options to aid in the process of recovery from trauma.
Male Survivors of Sexual Assault and Rape (pdf)
"This document provides an overview of the research on male survivors of sexual assault and takes a closer look at the role that communities have in addressing this issue."
Options for Reporting Sexual Violence: Developments over the Past Decade
This article, geared towards law enforcement agencies working with survivors of sexual violence, explores the major changes in policies and procedures around reporting options.
This GAO report found that, among other things, the DOD has failed to provide adequate guidance on implementing sexual assault prevention and response programs, leaving many servicemembers at greater risk for assault.
Report on Research on Rape and Violence (pdf)
"This report is a compendium of research on issues related to rape, sexual assault, and violence. While efforts have been made to include research from as many sources as possible, it is inevitable that other valuable sources of research may contain information no included in this report."
Sex Trafficking Needs Assessment for the State of Minnesota
This 2008 report, focuses on trafficking for commercial sex exploitation and prostitution, highlights successes in combating sex trafficking and suggests ways to improve responses to this complex problem in Minnesota.
Sexual Violence in Later Life: Research Brief (pdf)
"This brief reviews research on risk and protective factors related to sexual violence in later life. It discusses the unique vulnerabilities and barriers to reporting that older victims face, the nature of sexual violence in later life in various contexts and settings, and common variables among perpetrators."
Template Materials for Anonymous Reporting Protocol
These template materials are designed to help communities implement a multidisciplinary protocol for victims to anonymously report their sexual assault to law enforcement.
Testing Justice The Rape Kit Backlog in Los Angeles City and County (pdf)
"A March 2009 report from Human Rights Watch revealed that 12,669 rape kits containing DNA and other evidence of rapes remain untested in the city and county of Los Angeles, California. The report highlights the nature and scope of the backlog, consequences of untested kits, and responses from professionals."
In this article, the provisions of VAWA 2005 that pertain to medical forensic exams for sexual assault victims are explained, and some of the challenges of seeking to implement compliant protocols are outlined. It seeks to help law enforcement executives understand why so many victims decide they are unable to report the crime and participate in the police investigation, yet also highlighted are the consequences of non-reporting. Strategies for addressing many of the logistic challenges are discussed as well as the need for leadership within law enforcement agencies.
The Road Ahead: Unanalyzed Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases (pdf)
The complex issue of untested evidence in sexual assault cases is explored in this special report. This report explores the ramifications - for law enforcement, crime labs, courts and victims — of the large number of unanalyzed "rape kits" that have recently been discovered in cities around the country. This looks at issues such as triaging cases for lab analysis and possible police follow-up (depending on a CODIS hit or other identification of a possible perpetrator) and how victims should be notified.
The Sexual Victimization of College Women (pdf)
Women attending colleges are at greater risk for rape and other forms of sexual assault than the general population or in another comparable age group. The study found that many women do not characterize their sexual victimization as a crime for a number of reasons including blaming themselves.The study reinforces the importance of many organizations’ efforts to improve education and knowledge about sexual assault.