Race Differences in the Reporting of Rape and Sexual Assault to the Police

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Rape and sexual assault are crimes that plague the population, especially people of color. Due to prevalent stereotypes and distrust between their community and the police force, many sexual crimes against people of color go unreported. This research attempts to uncover differences in victimization and reporting between people of color and the white majority. In addition, this research will delve into the reasons why differences in reporting across race might exist. This research was conducted using the National Crime Victimization Survey Rape Subset from the years 1992-2005. For this dataset, respondents were asked whether they had experienced victimization in the preceding six months. The hypothesis for this study states that people of color will report sexual crimes to the police less often. Reasons for this underreporting include distrust of the police force and fear of police bias.

Author

• Danielle Mullen, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga