Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Police Reporting by Sexual Assault Victims in Western and in Non-Western Countries

  • Research on Violence Against Women
  • Published:
Journal of Family Violence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current research had the primary goal of investigating the difference in police reporting patterns by sexual assault victims in Western and in non-Western countries. The data for the present study were obtained from the International Crime Victimization Survey. The present work found a significant difference in police reporting behavior by sexual assault victims in Western and in non-Western countries. Gender, urban residency, and the number of offenders were important factors for victims in non-Western countries, but not for those in Western countries. On the other hand, a victim’s prior relationship with his or her offender and family income level were significantly related to police reports in Western countries, but not in non-Western countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Addington, L. A., & Rennison, C. M. (2008). Rape co-occurrence: Do additional crimes affect victim reporting and police clearance of rape? Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 24, 205–226. doi:10.1007/s10940-008-9043-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, W. D. (2007). The reporting and underreporting of rape. Southern Economic Journal, 73, 623-641. url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20111915

  • Bachman, R. (1993). Predicting the reporting of rape victimizations: Have rape reforms made a difference? Criminal Justice and Behavior, 20, 254–270. doi:10.1177/0093854893020003003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachman, R. (1998). The factors related to rape reporting behavior and arrest: New evidence from the ational rime ictimization survey. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 25, 8–29. doi:10.1177/0093854898025001002.

  • Baumer, E. P., Felson, R. B., & Messner, S. F. (2003). Changes in police notification for rape. Criminology, 41, 841–872. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2003.tb01006.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belknap, J. (2010). Rape: Too hard to report and too easy to discredit victims. Violence Against Women, 16, 1335–1344. doi:10.1177/1077801210387749.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clay-Warner, J., & Burt, C. H. (2005). Rape reporting after reforms: Have times really changed? Violence Against Women, 11, 150–176. doi:10.1177/1077801204271566.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y., & Ullman, S. E. (2010). Women’s reporting of sexual and physical assaults to police in the National Violence Against Women Survey. Violence Against Women, 16, 262-–279. doi:10.1177/1077801209360861.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohn, E. S., Dupuis, E. C., & Brown, T. M. (2009). In the eye of the beholder: Do behavior and character affect victim and perpetrator responsibility for acquaintance rape? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39, 1513–1535. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00493.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohn, A. M., Zinzow, H. M., Resnick, H. S., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (2013). Correlates of reasons for not reporting rape to police: Results from national telephone household probability sample of women with forcible or drug-or-alcohol facilitated/ incapacitated rape. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 455–473. doi:10.1177/0886260512455515.

  • Daly, K., & Bouhours, B. (2010). Rape and attribution in the legal process: Comparative analysis of five countries. Crime and Justice, 39, 565–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du Mont, J., Miller, K., & Myhr, T. L. (2003). The role of “real rape” and “real victim” stereotypes in the police reporting practices of sexually assaulted women. Violence Against Women, 9, 466–486. doi:10.1177/1077801202250960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dussich, J. P. J. (2001). Decisions not to report sexual assault: Comparativestudy among women living in Japan who are Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and english-speaking. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45, 278–301. doi:10.1177/0306624X01453002.

  • Fisher, B. S., Daigle, L. E., Cullen, F. T., & Turner, M. G. (2003). Reporting sexual victimization to the police and others: Results from national-level study of college women. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30, 6–38. doi:10.1177/0093854802239161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, T. C., & Rennison, C. (2003). Reporting crime to the police, 1992-2000 (Washington, DC). Office of Justice Programs: U.S. Department of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horney, J., & Spohn, C. (1996). The influence of blame and believability factors on the processing of simple verses aggravated rape cases. Criminology, 34, 135–162. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1996.tb01200.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ICVS International Working Group. (2005). International crime victimization survey (ICVS) series. Retrieved from http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD/studies/3803/ascii.

  • Koss, M. P. (1992). The underdetection of rape: Methodological choices influence incidence estimates. Journal of Social Issues, 48, 61–75. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1992.tb01157.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lizotte, A. J. (1985). The uniqueness of rape: Reporting assaultive violence to the police. Crime & Delinquency, 31, 169–190. doi:10.1177/0011128785031002002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2011). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (the 6th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.

  • McDermott, M. J. (1979). Rape victimization in 26 American cities. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, National Criminal Justice Information and Statistics Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orcutt, J. D., & Faison, R. (1988). Sex-role attitude change and reporting of rape victimization. The Sociological Quarterly, 29, 589–604. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1988.tb01436.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, P. (1995). Rape reporting as a function of victim-offender relationship: A critique of the lack of effect reported by Bachman. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 22, 74–80. doi:10.1177/0093854895022001006.

  • Rennison, C. M. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruback, R. B. (1993). Comment on Bachman (1993): The victim-offender relationship does affect victims’ decisions to report sexual assaults. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 20, 271–279. doi:10.1177/0093854893020003004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruback, R. B., & Menard, K. S. (2001). Rural–urban differences in sexual victimization and reporting: Analyses using UCR and crisis center data. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 28, 131–155. doi:10.1177/0093854801028002001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, M. (1980). Sexual exploitation: Rape, child abuse and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steketee, G., & Austin, A. H. (1989). Rape victims and the justice system: Utilization and impact. Social Service Review, 63, 285-303. url: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/ssr.html

  • Tjaden, P. G., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uludag, S., Colvin, M., Hussey, D., & Eng, A. L. (2009). Democracy, inequality, modernization, routine activities, and international variations in personal crime victimization. International Criminal Justice Review, 19, 265–286. doi:10.1177/1057567709334955.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wayman, J. C. (2003). Multiple imputation for missing data: What it and how can I use it? Paper presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Educational Research. Chicago: IL.

  • Williams, L. S. (1984). The classic rape: When do victims report? Social Problems, 31, 459–467. doi:10.2307/800390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolitzky-Taylor, R., McCauley, H. S., Amstadter, J. L., Amstadter, A. B., Kilpatrick, D. G., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2011). Is reporting of rape on the rise? A comparison of women with reported versus unreported rape experiences in the national women’s study-replication. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 807–832. doi:10.1177/0886260510365869.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Value Survey Association (2013). World Value Survey-Surveys. Retrieved from http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/index_surveys.

  • Yamawaki, N. (2008). The roles of independent self-construal and concerns for face on advising rape victims to report police in Japanese and U.S. college students. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 39, 478-492. doi: 10.1177/0022022108318133

  • Yodanis, C. L. (2004). Gender inequality, violence against women, and fear: A cross-national test of the feminist theory violence against women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19, 655–675. doi:10.1177/0886260504263868

Download references

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier version of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Don Soo Chon.

Additional information

Dr. Don Soo Chon is Assistant Professor of Justice and Public Safety at Auburn University at Montgomery. His research interests include cross-national study of homicide and sexual assaults.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Table 3 The List of 78 Countries and Territories included in ICVS

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chon, D.S. Police Reporting by Sexual Assault Victims in Western and in Non-Western Countries. J Fam Viol 29, 859–868 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9644-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9644-z

Keywords

Navigation