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Ontario Women's Directorate

Sexual assault: reporting issues

2/92 (1992)

Facts to Consider

Most incidents of sexual assault are not reported to police.

Findings from a Canada-wide survey indicate that 62 per cent of female sexual assault victims do not report assaults to police.(1) But a research study conducted in Winnipeg cites a much higher figure of 87 per cent. A further 12 per cent told no one at all.(2) In an American study, 42 per cent of victims surveyed never told anyone about the sexual assault.(3)

Only one per cent of women report to police that they have been victims of acquaintance rape - the most common type of sexual assault.(4)

Various studies identify the following reasons for not reporting incidents of sexual assault:

belief that the police could do nothing about it (47 per cent of women gave this reason)

concern about the attitude of police/courts toward sexual assault (47 per cent)

fear of another assault by the attacker (35 per cent)(5)

fear and shame (64 per cent)(6)

An Alberta study on sexual offenses and disabled victims found that while 88 per cent of the offenders are known to the victim (family members, friends, acquaintances, people who provide spe- cial services), less than 10 per cent are convicted, and 80 per cent are never charged.(7)

Issues to Consider

Women with disabilities fear that if they report a sexual assault, they will be revictimized by the system designed to help them.(8) This may be especially true for women in the mental health system, who are often thought to lack credibility and coping skills.(9) When these women report sexual assault, they may risk being institutionalized and/or they may receive treatment such as tranquilizers, which can lead to drug dependency.(10)

Native women frequently do not trust the justice system. Immigrant women may fear the justice system and may believe that police here are like those in their home country, or they may be afraid of deportation (especially if they are both sponsored and sexually assaulted by their husbands.(11)

Women are more likely to report rape by a stranger, and the legal system is more likely to prosecute an act of stranger rape, rather than acquaintance rape, because it is easier to get conviction. If a woman is raped by a man she knows, it is perceived that she "asked for it in some way." (12)

References

Solicitor General Canada, Canadian Urban Victimization Survey, Bulletin 4: Female Victims of Crime. Ottawa, 1985.

2 Brickman, J. & J. Briere, "Incidence of Rape and Sexual Assault in an Urban Canadian Population," in The International Journal of Women's Studies, 7(3), 1984.

3 Warshaw, R., I Never Called it Rape: The Ms Report on Recognizing, Fighting and Surviving Date and Acquaintance Rape. Harper and Row, Publishers: New York, 1988.

4 Russell, D., Sexual Exploitation: Rape, Child Abuse and Workplace Harassment. Beverley Hills: Sage, 1984.

5 Solicitor General Canada, Canadian Urban victimization Survey, Bulletin 4: Female Victims of Crime. Ottawa, 1985.

6 Ridington, J., Beating The "Odds": Violence and Women With Disabilities. DisAbled Women's Network (DAWN) Canada, March 1989.

7 Sobsey, D., "Sexual Offenses and Disabled Victims: Research and Practical Implications," Vis-A-Vis: A National Newsletter on Family Violence, 6:4, Winter L988. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development. 1-2

8 D'Aubin, A., Di.sabled Women 's Issues - A Coalition of Provincial Organizations of the Handicapped Discussion Paper. 1987.

9 Stimpson, Liz and Margaret Best, Courage Above All - Sexual Assault Against Women with Disabilities. Toronto: DisAbled Women's Network (DAWN), 1991

10 D'Aubin A., Op. cit.

11 MacLeod, L., The City For Women: No Safe Place. Secretary of State Canada, September 19&9. See also Pilowsky, J., and S. Mor, 1990, "Support Systems Available to Abused Immigrant Women in Metropolitan Toronto." Commissioned by the Ontario Women's Directorate.