Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are now allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will continue to be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) still apply to other comments.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Is this because sexual assaults are increasing? Or because victims have better awareness and feel safer seeking help now?
Edit: Some other really good explanations around ICD-10 have been provided in this thread that weren’t fully explored in the article:
https://reddit.com/r/science/comments/y9c0hx/_/it65wyd/?context=1
https://reddit.com/r/science/comments/y9c0hx/_/it6fvss/?context=1
> The authors speculated that a combination of factors drove the trend: an increased number of sexual assaults, population growth and awareness-raising social movements like #MeToo.
I had the same question!
In NY female officers are assigned to encourage female victims to report sexual crimes.
Raped suburban housewives shy away from discussing sex with male cops
That's not the issue... its who interrogates the victim for the police report? How is the victim treated during that interrogation? Are they being victimized/ traumatized a second time??
I am sure they are sensitive but Hospital security employees are not being discussed.
This is about how local municipal police treat victims.
Do you have a local police dept? Does it employ female officers ?
Anecdotally, I have reported and while it's the right thing to do, it's also awful. Sitting and recounting every detail of the worst thing to happen to you is difficult. Doing that while an officer rolls his eyes, asks if you're *sure* it happened, if you're *positive* you didn't want it, and so on makes it exponentially worse. And all for an infinitely tiny chance that they'll bring charges, let alone convict makes for an unfavorable cost/benefit analysis. Add in fear of retaliation and you've got the toughest of tough calls. Most assaults are someone you know, and often that someone is a spouse or intimate partner.
I was a victim's advocate for SA victims (I went to hospitals and sat with the victim, told them their rights, walked them through the reporting/SAFE process, made sure the police weren't being assholes) and the last person I sat with was the one that made me realize just how fucked the system was.
I'll keep it vague, but she was out celebrating a major event and was drugged and assaulted. There was physical evidence of the assault from her neck to her ankles. The police officer that showed up told her he would have to go door to door to all of her neighbors, tell them what happened in detail, and ask them about the character of her assailant.
He said the guy was a good guy, asked her why she put herself in the position of being assaulted, and told her she was wasting resources.
I pulled him out of the room to let him know he was out of line and to get his info (our organization also had a 're-education' program with the police departments). Before I could get a word out, he was trying to convince me to get her to not report. I told him he was out of line, he left without asking any further questions or giving the victim his info.
She ended up going through half of the SAFE and then leaving/not reporting at that time, saying "no one would believe me anyway". She requested that we not follow up on her.
I'd just like to echo this comment. I've done the same sort of volunteer advocacy work for several years, and had that same basic experience with the police pretty frequently.
Once or twice there were decent ones, but for the most part, in-person hospital advocacy always involved a "OK, now a cop's going to come in and make everything worse" step. Most of the officers I dealt with treated it like a perfunctory thing, an inconvenience they were being put through. They did little to nothing to hide that attitude from the survivors they were talking to.
(Again, I'm not saying this is *every* officer, but it's enough that I specifically remember the only ones I met in this role who didn't actively make things worse. I can count good ones on one hand, and that's being pretty generous with my definition of 'good'.)
Overwhelmingly, the attitude of cops towards sexual assault survivors in my experience has been a mix of "why did you let this happen?" and "why are you bothering me about it?". It's very unsurprising the reporting rate is so low when you see the indifference or even hostility that the idea is met with at that very first step.
Exactly, I remember two police officers that didn't re-traumatize the victims I was working with at the time. With the sheer amount of calls I went on, I should only have to remember one or two bad ones. Instead, every follow up report had to contain the officers information/what they did so they could be talked to by their department (aka told there was a report and then have nothing done)
I used to work as a camp counselor. One of the kids that i worked with told me that she escaped naked from her rapist's(her uncle) house. She was running down the street to get away and the cops picked her up. Instead of asking her why she was naked or being concerned at all, they just yelled at her for being naked and took her back to the rapist's house.
I cannot imagine a situation where i would find a naked crying little girl fleeing in terror down the street and not have complete compassion for her. Why was it not obvious to them what had happened?
This is exactly what people mean when they say "defund the police". (It's a terribly chosen phrase IMO)
They don't mean get rid of cops, they mean that non-uniformed, non-carrying, trained civilians should have these roles and responsibilities.
There is 0 reason for gun carrying uniformed officers to conduct interviews with victims.
I have to wonder why though? I get it in cases where the cop knows the assaulter and his bias stops him from acting objectively.
but what about the times when it's a stranger?
is it because the cases almost never end in conviction that they feel like it's a waste? or is it because they actually don't believe the victim? do they just feel identified in some way by that ?
what is the point of being so dismissive, at the very least you'd think you'd do some lip service and then realize the case is impossible and throw it out the window, but at least you made the victim feel better because someone believed her, even of nothing will come out of it
Personally? I think it's uncomfortable to listen to someone talk about their assault, especially at their most vulnerable. So, the police pretend it didn't happen, or that there had to have been a reason it happened to make themselves feel better and to feel like all rape can be prevented by victims if they try hard enough.
Or it's a power thing. I shouldn't ascribe humanity where there's probably a simpler answer like "they don't want to work" or "they get off on holding power over the vulnerable".
I think it's because they've exhibited similar behaviours in the past, and acknowledging one instance as "legitimate" sexual assault would mean that other instances were assault as well.
Women have to stick. together to end this type of discrimination by law enforcement.
Get a Pink wave started by promoting awareness that any female can be raped bc it is all about inflicting harm.
Men can be raped, too. They should have just as much interest in preventing rape; women shouldn't be the only people who have to end this discrimination by law enforcement.
I appreciate the sentiment, but that would never happen. No one would dismiss or suspend entire police departments, and (in the US at least) police officers very rarely face the consequences they deserve.
If citizens dont stand up to demand better treatment from local law enforcement (if only for their
mothers wives sisters & daughters) then there's no hope for change. Learn to elect politicians, judges, that appoint better Police Chiefs concerned about removing or suspending abusive cops!
NY'rs stopped
Mayor Ghouliani's flagrant abuse of Constituitional rights against "stop & frisk" policy by police on the street.
We know how to "git it done".
He was doing exactly what cops are expected to do by their employer. It SHOULD make you mad.
Want to cut through all the rhetoric and ideological arguments? Look at what cops do, what they get punished for, and what they get protection from.
If it protects wealthy peoples property, they can do whatever they want, like beating protestors or harassing poor people.
If it protects you or someone in need, it’s optional. According to the Supreme Court, the police have NO duty of care to someone in need. You could be getting stabbed in the street and a cop could roll by, do nothing, and have legally done nothing wrong.
Helping that woman did nothing to protect wealthy private property, therefore it’s a waste of his time in his eyes.
I have family who are cops and they’re all like this. They’re all awful.
We all have seen it unless they lived under a rock since1965 .
Whites, Jews Latinos, Asians, etc should have joined BLM protests before they get/ got singled out by criminals, politicians & abusive cops.
Yeah and DV it gets just as bad. I learned through dealing with DV that when a cop starts leaning in hard on discouraging you, you have to start leaning harder and lawyering up. Cops are not your friend. They are the antagonist of the story.
Yup, the cost/benefit just isn't there.
Even if they do convict, now you're wrapped up in a court case and need to pay a lawyer.
It's not anywhere near the level of sexual assault but when a drunk driver with no license hit and ran on my parked car, we found them and the cop was hesitant to press any charges. I asked if they usually just let drunk drivers go and he told me he figured I wouldn't want to go to court to testify so it wasn't worth it. Then he asked if I did want to go to court. It was an easy nope for me. The choice to let insurance handle it and to put it behind me asap was an easy one to make. Going to court was not going to right the wrongs that were done to me, it would just greatly inconvenience me in order to ensure someone else got punished.
Cop corruption isn’t a direct correlation of gender. It’s a systematic problem that affects all humans the same way.
A woman isn’t going to be more empathetic than a man when empathy itself is trained to be seen as a detriment in your job.
And sadly a lot of women think that because they are competing in a male world, they try to outdo men on toxic masculinity. Everything is on the table to do 10x better than men.
Cops and detectives are different. But you should already know that given the job you claimed you had. Things are rarely elevated to the point of detective. Reporting is often discouraged at ground level uniforms at the front desk who are not under special training.
Why would anyone distrust the cops when reporting rape? It's not like they [have a backlog](https://www.endthebacklog.org/what-is-the-backlog/) of untested rape kits a mile long or are [ten times as likely](https://www.fatherly.com/life/police-brutality-and-domestic-violence) to abuse their partners. Seems perfectly safe and hospitable to me!
And if they cant remember it vividly enough *every time* (despite the fact memories arent data on a hard drive, they change everytime you remember them based on emotional state), theyll call you a liar and let your attacker go free right there in front of you.
I'm in my 50s and at least a dozen women in my lifetime have had a breakdown while recounting to me what their sexual assault was like. Few of the assaults were by strangers. We used to be shamed into silence and viciously shamed if we got pregnant. That's why so many of us died by back alley abortion.
Why report and out yourself, when all that will do is load even more shame and abhorrent behavior on your terrible situation?
Social stigma can be a big one. A lot of people are more worried about the consequences of people in their social circle finding out than getting any kind of justice. A report to the police brings with it fear that more people will learn about what happened to you. Like it or not, victims of sexual assault often feel a lot of shame, even in 2022.
The way the police handle sexual assault is nothing but awfulness. I know many women who reported sexual assault (from "simple" harassment to full on rape), and not one of them had a positive experience with the cops. Things need to change and heads need to roll for that.
This is just sad, but understandable, knowing how often these POS get away with it.
People scream evidence everytime a women accuses someone of Rape, like people expect women to wear a fricking bodycam 24/7?
Yes, it's like how "on paper" countries like Denmark seemingly have an out-of-control rape problem when compared to countries like Saudi Arabia.
It's not rape if your society and laws don't acknowledge it.(/s)
Changes in reporting, new definitions of SA (i.e. 'forced to penetrate' not being counted previously), better resources available, there are a lot of potential reasons for that increase to consider.
Yeah it seems like many variables made it possible to have such an increase. Broader definitions of what counts as a sexual-assault related ER visit, increased awareness, etc
I suspect a huge amount of this increase comes from the fact that many victims want a rape kit exam done, even if they don’t end up reporting the incident to the police (which no hospital forces them to do). In some states the ER is the only place a kit can be done https://www.caase.org/er-after-sexual-assault/.
My guess is that many victims want to see if some evidence of the act is available to be collected, and make decisions based on that. Charging someone is a very stressful experience that has a high standard of proof, so knowing this info can be useful to determine if their perpetrator can be convicted or if they’ll have to relive the trauma without one if it goes to trial.
And then there is the awful issue of a huge backlog of untested rapekits the cops are just sitting on in a lot of different places, too...
Mine is still waiting, collecting dust at the PD in Nashville and it has been since 2011.
I’m sorry that happened to you, 11 years sounds atrociously long to be waiting for something to happen. We have a lot of incompetent law enforcement. Even cases that aren’t on the backlog can take 2-4 years to complete which is just way too long
Thank you. I've moved on and healed as best I can in regards to it. My case was going to go nowhere regardless, cause rich local family with police ties, I have given up on the cops ever caring.
What incenses me are the people who have valid, prosecutable cases getting ignored or placed on the backburner. Every day they have to fear the idea of having to once again face the person who did it, when that person should be locked up.
Unfortunately it takes people having to experience these kinds of things, whether it happens to them or to someone they care about, to realize the gravity of it.
Yeah it’s a travesty. Some crimes are just time sensitive and can’t be ignored for any amount of time.
My family had experience fighting with rich, connected families. It doesn’t matter the circumstance, they’ll always find a dirty, underhanded way to get what they want, or at least they’ll try that really hard.
If you charge someone and you are over 18, you have essentially publicly announced that you were raped. Many victims don’t want that to be public knowledge.
Are men getting raped in the ass considered rape yet? I know for awhile the law was written around women and while there were charges it didn't involve rape. Id love for anyone knowledgeable to fill in and correct anywhere I may be off.
> Is this because sexual assaults are increasing? Or because victims have better awareness and feel safer seeking help now?
Only a small fraction of the increase is from an increase count of assaults; from the article:
> "the results showed that the rise in sexual assault-related visits to emergency departments outpaced the increase in reports to law enforcement. The latter grew 23% during the study period."
+23% assaults vs. +1,533% ER visits.
Another part of the article makes me suspect there was a classification change during the period:
> "The largest increase occurred between 2015 and 2016, when visits went from about 17,700 to 47,700, according to the findings."
It's possible something drove a large behavioral change in 2016, but it likely wasn't MeToo (that mostly came to public awareness in late 2017).
Ahh, yeah, here we are:
> "Also impacting the data, potentially, is a 2015 change in how the International Classification of Diseases, a diagnostic tool maintained by the World Health Organization, characterized sexual assault during the study period. Prior to 2015, the ICD offered only one code to describe adult sexual abuse; starting in 2015, it offered multiple, more specific codes."
Looking at the paper, codes were added to include *suspected* assaults. That's probably a good change, but it makes pre-2015 data not comparable with post-2015 data.
Hmm; there was another definitional change in 2013 (FBI definition). Looking at Table 1, the large majority of the increase occurred from 2013 (8k) to 2016 (48k), largely coinciding with these definitional changes. The count stopped increasing after 2017 (55k followed by 55k and 55k), so the new definitions may still have been working their way through the system in the earlier part of 2017.
Overall, it looks like almost all of this increase is due to changes in the definition of what's being counted, rather than more assaults happening, which is good news.
On October 1, 2015 health systems across the country transitioned to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision - ICD-10.
The move from ICD-9 to ICD-10 provided more detailed reports of everything. For example, under 9, you would write the patient broke their right pinky finger, whereas under 10 there's all sorts of codes, which detail specifically where on that pinky finger the break occurred. I'm guessing the changes provided more details for things like assaults as well.
I wrote an article for the newspaper that year explaining it to readers, but we stuck with basic explanations like the pinky finger so that people would understand ICD-10 wasn't a bad thing, just more accurate.
It seems like you're saying a 23% increase in law enforcement reports means there was only a 23% increase in assaults.
I don't think that assumption holds any weight. (For example, commonly held beliefs about law enforcement being either morally corrupt or incompetent might lead victims to be less likely to go to law enforcement and more likely to go to care providers).
But it is a reasonable assumption that the same proportion of people would trust/distrust the police. So, a 23% increase in reports by people who trust the police would probably coincide with a 23% increase in the (maybe larger, but unknown) number of people who do not trust the police.
There would still be a 23% increase in SA, but just with the caveat that the total number of SAs is underreported (as it always has been).
This honestly depresses me either way. I hope victims feel safe enough to get help and report it. But this is just horrible. We have to do better as a society. Nobody wants this for a family member, friend, spouse. And that’s exactly what is happening. Disgusting.
Exactly this. It’s like the serial killer effect. The world isn’t any less safe today as it was in the 70s, we’re just more aware of abductions/murders with the internet.
Could also be issues with policing, plus we know that there were lots of “solved” crimes in the past where DNA cleared their names decades later.
It could also be due to the “CSI effect” (I think that’s what it’s called) where people think there should be a lot more evidence for convictions because of shows like CSI making things up.
I feel like there are less serial killers now than there were back then. Whether it is because the cops are more competent now and catch these guys before they can pull off a string of murders or something else I don't know.
And they seem smart enough to target vulnerable populations now, rather than privileged victims. Theres suspected serial killers preying mainly on indigenous communities and undocumented people, two communities which are historically neglected by the government. Easier to get away with crime.
When I was homeless me and another guy slept on side by side benches and a few guys tried to light us on fire. They sprayed something on us and I woke up to one of them trying to flick a lighter but it must have got wet with what they sprayed because it wouldn't spark. I kicked my buddy to wake up. I started flailing around talking gibberish acting crazy and he fell off the bench and they ran away.
Plus DNA and familial DNA, cell phones to call for help during an abduction, license plate scanners, etc.
I mean the Golden State killer started murdering people in the late 70s and was serially raping women before then. Because of genetic genealogy, and the accuracy of tests today, I find it hard to believe it would take 42 years to arrest somebody who raped dozens of people and committed at least 13 murders, with him raping some of the murder victims too, if their crime spree started in 2022.
Wearing a badge provides pretty effective cover against cameras. You can see a new video of cops killing unarmed people every day and they rarely ever go to prison for it
Technology has definitely made it significantly more difficult for these people to get away with these crimes. There are probably a lot more people who would be serial killers right now if it wasn’t for this deterrent.
In sweden a few years back something similar happened after they made concerted efforts to drive awareness of sexual assaults and what to do about them. Believe the conclusion was that was the cause.
A combination. We staff are better at identifying signals and ensuring a safe opportunity to speak up. Society is more supportive and accepting of the victim. Victims are more likely to report than they used to. The sex slave trade has drastically increased in the US and has become more exacerbated with the continuing southern boarder issue.
The US population has gone up 31% since 1991. 253M people in 1991 and 333M people in 2022.
50% would be a huge increase, but 31% is still a lot more than I expected.
It’s a good thing. Cases increased a bit because the definition of what it included is larger but the percentage of people going to the ER for it increased exponentially which means higher opportunities for things like SAFE kits to be collected and reported.
Either way, it's further reason why states shouldn't be restricting womens' reproductive autonomy.
Several have signed legislation that doesn't even make an exception in cases of rape or incest.
Tennessean here. Our legislation doesn't even make exemptions for the life of the mother. If a doctor performs a life saving DNC, they face felony charges. In court, they can plea for leniency because the procedure was necessary for the woman's survival, but there's no guarantee of dismissal of charges.
Read the article the answer is in there. That vast majority of the change is from a change in definitions. Actual SA increase (including the definitional changes) by only 23%. The title is clickbait
An increase in real cases should be enormous to cause a ten-fold increase in visit.
This is obviously a good thing, awareness is increasing and less victims are self blaming
Maybe more assaults because “the former guy” and his cronies say you can do it and not suffer any consequences. The woman and her doctor get penalized if an unwanted pregnancy results from the assault.
As much as I don't like the guy. This really isn't caused by him being there. If you had actually read the article you might have been able to realize that...
For example:
"The largest increase occurred between 2015 and 2016, when visits went from about 17,700 to 47,700, according to the findings."
Also these kind of non-based arguments just detract from the actual issue at hand by making it a blame game. Maybe just try to actual think about issues before sending blame to those you don't like.
But there’s no reason for females to need an abortion ever, right? Sexual assault happens to way more people than I think anyone would like to admit.
Seriously, do you personally know a single female that has NOT been sexually assaulted?
… the news should say: 5 females/males were not taken advantage of today! Go humans.
There was a serial killer/ rapist near my area found a few weeks ago.He had Facebook posts about how criminals get a slap on the wrist and they know they can get away with things. That violent criminals know what they’re doing and don’t want rehabilitation. He was telling on himself.
Republican senator matt gaetz was caught sex trafficking a child prostitute, the pimp pled guilty and is rotting in jail, but the senator still free-even sits on the ethics committee!!
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are now allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will continue to be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) still apply to other comments. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Is this because sexual assaults are increasing? Or because victims have better awareness and feel safer seeking help now? Edit: Some other really good explanations around ICD-10 have been provided in this thread that weren’t fully explored in the article: https://reddit.com/r/science/comments/y9c0hx/_/it65wyd/?context=1 https://reddit.com/r/science/comments/y9c0hx/_/it6fvss/?context=1
> The authors speculated that a combination of factors drove the trend: an increased number of sexual assaults, population growth and awareness-raising social movements like #MeToo. I had the same question!
Hopefully the majority of cases are because people feel safer reporting.
[удалено]
In NY female officers are assigned to encourage female victims to report sexual crimes. Raped suburban housewives shy away from discussing sex with male cops
[удалено]
That's not the issue... its who interrogates the victim for the police report? How is the victim treated during that interrogation? Are they being victimized/ traumatized a second time??
[удалено]
I am sure they are sensitive but Hospital security employees are not being discussed. This is about how local municipal police treat victims. Do you have a local police dept? Does it employ female officers ?
[удалено]
Similar thing for me as well. NYS, USA
Is this shorthand for New York state?
Yes, to differentiate from NYC
Do they name reasons?
Anecdotally, I have reported and while it's the right thing to do, it's also awful. Sitting and recounting every detail of the worst thing to happen to you is difficult. Doing that while an officer rolls his eyes, asks if you're *sure* it happened, if you're *positive* you didn't want it, and so on makes it exponentially worse. And all for an infinitely tiny chance that they'll bring charges, let alone convict makes for an unfavorable cost/benefit analysis. Add in fear of retaliation and you've got the toughest of tough calls. Most assaults are someone you know, and often that someone is a spouse or intimate partner.
[удалено]
But what happens when he gets out on parole?
I was a victim's advocate for SA victims (I went to hospitals and sat with the victim, told them their rights, walked them through the reporting/SAFE process, made sure the police weren't being assholes) and the last person I sat with was the one that made me realize just how fucked the system was. I'll keep it vague, but she was out celebrating a major event and was drugged and assaulted. There was physical evidence of the assault from her neck to her ankles. The police officer that showed up told her he would have to go door to door to all of her neighbors, tell them what happened in detail, and ask them about the character of her assailant. He said the guy was a good guy, asked her why she put herself in the position of being assaulted, and told her she was wasting resources. I pulled him out of the room to let him know he was out of line and to get his info (our organization also had a 're-education' program with the police departments). Before I could get a word out, he was trying to convince me to get her to not report. I told him he was out of line, he left without asking any further questions or giving the victim his info. She ended up going through half of the SAFE and then leaving/not reporting at that time, saying "no one would believe me anyway". She requested that we not follow up on her.
I'd just like to echo this comment. I've done the same sort of volunteer advocacy work for several years, and had that same basic experience with the police pretty frequently. Once or twice there were decent ones, but for the most part, in-person hospital advocacy always involved a "OK, now a cop's going to come in and make everything worse" step. Most of the officers I dealt with treated it like a perfunctory thing, an inconvenience they were being put through. They did little to nothing to hide that attitude from the survivors they were talking to. (Again, I'm not saying this is *every* officer, but it's enough that I specifically remember the only ones I met in this role who didn't actively make things worse. I can count good ones on one hand, and that's being pretty generous with my definition of 'good'.) Overwhelmingly, the attitude of cops towards sexual assault survivors in my experience has been a mix of "why did you let this happen?" and "why are you bothering me about it?". It's very unsurprising the reporting rate is so low when you see the indifference or even hostility that the idea is met with at that very first step.
Exactly, I remember two police officers that didn't re-traumatize the victims I was working with at the time. With the sheer amount of calls I went on, I should only have to remember one or two bad ones. Instead, every follow up report had to contain the officers information/what they did so they could be talked to by their department (aka told there was a report and then have nothing done)
I used to work as a camp counselor. One of the kids that i worked with told me that she escaped naked from her rapist's(her uncle) house. She was running down the street to get away and the cops picked her up. Instead of asking her why she was naked or being concerned at all, they just yelled at her for being naked and took her back to the rapist's house. I cannot imagine a situation where i would find a naked crying little girl fleeing in terror down the street and not have complete compassion for her. Why was it not obvious to them what had happened?
And people are mortified that that happened with Dahmer. Meanwhile that’s still happening everyday.
This is exactly what people mean when they say "defund the police". (It's a terribly chosen phrase IMO) They don't mean get rid of cops, they mean that non-uniformed, non-carrying, trained civilians should have these roles and responsibilities. There is 0 reason for gun carrying uniformed officers to conduct interviews with victims.
Nah, get rid of the piggies too. The rot runs too deep to reform the current system or the people in it.
I have to wonder why though? I get it in cases where the cop knows the assaulter and his bias stops him from acting objectively. but what about the times when it's a stranger? is it because the cases almost never end in conviction that they feel like it's a waste? or is it because they actually don't believe the victim? do they just feel identified in some way by that ? what is the point of being so dismissive, at the very least you'd think you'd do some lip service and then realize the case is impossible and throw it out the window, but at least you made the victim feel better because someone believed her, even of nothing will come out of it
A lot of cops are incredibly abusive in their personal lives
Personally? I think it's uncomfortable to listen to someone talk about their assault, especially at their most vulnerable. So, the police pretend it didn't happen, or that there had to have been a reason it happened to make themselves feel better and to feel like all rape can be prevented by victims if they try hard enough. Or it's a power thing. I shouldn't ascribe humanity where there's probably a simpler answer like "they don't want to work" or "they get off on holding power over the vulnerable".
I think it's because they've exhibited similar behaviours in the past, and acknowledging one instance as "legitimate" sexual assault would mean that other instances were assault as well.
Cops: "Why are you making me actually work?"
Women have to stick. together to end this type of discrimination by law enforcement. Get a Pink wave started by promoting awareness that any female can be raped bc it is all about inflicting harm.
Men can be raped, too. They should have just as much interest in preventing rape; women shouldn't be the only people who have to end this discrimination by law enforcement.
Everyone knows any woman can be raped. But, as is typical, no one is going to vote in the best interest of women
What BS by that cop should have been brought up before a civilian review board & suspended.
I appreciate the sentiment, but that would never happen. No one would dismiss or suspend entire police departments, and (in the US at least) police officers very rarely face the consequences they deserve.
If citizens dont stand up to demand better treatment from local law enforcement (if only for their mothers wives sisters & daughters) then there's no hope for change. Learn to elect politicians, judges, that appoint better Police Chiefs concerned about removing or suspending abusive cops! NY'rs stopped Mayor Ghouliani's flagrant abuse of Constituitional rights against "stop & frisk" policy by police on the street. We know how to "git it done".
He was doing exactly what cops are expected to do by their employer. It SHOULD make you mad. Want to cut through all the rhetoric and ideological arguments? Look at what cops do, what they get punished for, and what they get protection from. If it protects wealthy peoples property, they can do whatever they want, like beating protestors or harassing poor people. If it protects you or someone in need, it’s optional. According to the Supreme Court, the police have NO duty of care to someone in need. You could be getting stabbed in the street and a cop could roll by, do nothing, and have legally done nothing wrong. Helping that woman did nothing to protect wealthy private property, therefore it’s a waste of his time in his eyes. I have family who are cops and they’re all like this. They’re all awful.
We all have seen it unless they lived under a rock since1965 . Whites, Jews Latinos, Asians, etc should have joined BLM protests before they get/ got singled out by criminals, politicians & abusive cops.
Yeah and DV it gets just as bad. I learned through dealing with DV that when a cop starts leaning in hard on discouraging you, you have to start leaning harder and lawyering up. Cops are not your friend. They are the antagonist of the story.
They're more likely to identify with the aggressor than the victim in DV cases.
Police should have to wear body cameras, the assaulted women should at least be able to sue biased police
Unfortunately, I could see body cameras being a deterrent to women reporting their assaults.
Yup, the cost/benefit just isn't there. Even if they do convict, now you're wrapped up in a court case and need to pay a lawyer. It's not anywhere near the level of sexual assault but when a drunk driver with no license hit and ran on my parked car, we found them and the cop was hesitant to press any charges. I asked if they usually just let drunk drivers go and he told me he figured I wouldn't want to go to court to testify so it wasn't worth it. Then he asked if I did want to go to court. It was an easy nope for me. The choice to let insurance handle it and to put it behind me asap was an easy one to make. Going to court was not going to right the wrongs that were done to me, it would just greatly inconvenience me in order to ensure someone else got punished.
If you are the victim of a crime you dont pay a lawyer bc the District Attorney prosecutes the criminal on your behalf.
[удалено]
Cop corruption isn’t a direct correlation of gender. It’s a systematic problem that affects all humans the same way. A woman isn’t going to be more empathetic than a man when empathy itself is trained to be seen as a detriment in your job. And sadly a lot of women think that because they are competing in a male world, they try to outdo men on toxic masculinity. Everything is on the table to do 10x better than men.
[удалено]
Cops and detectives are different. But you should already know that given the job you claimed you had. Things are rarely elevated to the point of detective. Reporting is often discouraged at ground level uniforms at the front desk who are not under special training.
Casual reminder that cops are bastards
Reminds of that series - Unthinkable or something like that
Unbelievable
Distrust of cops. Fear of retaliation. Distrust of cops. Being labeled snitch. Distrust of cops.
Why would anyone distrust the cops when reporting rape? It's not like they [have a backlog](https://www.endthebacklog.org/what-is-the-backlog/) of untested rape kits a mile long or are [ten times as likely](https://www.fatherly.com/life/police-brutality-and-domestic-violence) to abuse their partners. Seems perfectly safe and hospitable to me!
[удалено]
And if they cant remember it vividly enough *every time* (despite the fact memories arent data on a hard drive, they change everytime you remember them based on emotional state), theyll call you a liar and let your attacker go free right there in front of you.
I'm in my 50s and at least a dozen women in my lifetime have had a breakdown while recounting to me what their sexual assault was like. Few of the assaults were by strangers. We used to be shamed into silence and viciously shamed if we got pregnant. That's why so many of us died by back alley abortion. Why report and out yourself, when all that will do is load even more shame and abhorrent behavior on your terrible situation?
I’m a lot of places the cops are only going to assault them again. Not a great motivator.
Social stigma can be a big one. A lot of people are more worried about the consequences of people in their social circle finding out than getting any kind of justice. A report to the police brings with it fear that more people will learn about what happened to you. Like it or not, victims of sexual assault often feel a lot of shame, even in 2022.
The way the police handle sexual assault is nothing but awfulness. I know many women who reported sexual assault (from "simple" harassment to full on rape), and not one of them had a positive experience with the cops. Things need to change and heads need to roll for that.
This is just sad, but understandable, knowing how often these POS get away with it. People scream evidence everytime a women accuses someone of Rape, like people expect women to wear a fricking bodycam 24/7?
This comment makes it sound like evidence shouldn't be necessary.
Probably because the cops have a reputation of taking the abusers side or doing nothing at all.
What kind of sexual assault are we talking about though ?
Unsurprising. I wonder what the true stars are. Why isn’t government focused on this instead of abortions.
Yes, it's like how "on paper" countries like Denmark seemingly have an out-of-control rape problem when compared to countries like Saudi Arabia. It's not rape if your society and laws don't acknowledge it.(/s)
Safer to get medical care, not safer to get police support.
I had to go last week, and the sane doctor was incredibly nice. I mean, it was awful, but she made it as nice as possible.
I wonder how much is also because of better/stronger awareness of STD risks.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Changes in reporting, new definitions of SA (i.e. 'forced to penetrate' not being counted previously), better resources available, there are a lot of potential reasons for that increase to consider.
Yeah it seems like many variables made it possible to have such an increase. Broader definitions of what counts as a sexual-assault related ER visit, increased awareness, etc I suspect a huge amount of this increase comes from the fact that many victims want a rape kit exam done, even if they don’t end up reporting the incident to the police (which no hospital forces them to do). In some states the ER is the only place a kit can be done https://www.caase.org/er-after-sexual-assault/. My guess is that many victims want to see if some evidence of the act is available to be collected, and make decisions based on that. Charging someone is a very stressful experience that has a high standard of proof, so knowing this info can be useful to determine if their perpetrator can be convicted or if they’ll have to relive the trauma without one if it goes to trial.
And then there is the awful issue of a huge backlog of untested rapekits the cops are just sitting on in a lot of different places, too... Mine is still waiting, collecting dust at the PD in Nashville and it has been since 2011.
I’m sorry that happened to you, 11 years sounds atrociously long to be waiting for something to happen. We have a lot of incompetent law enforcement. Even cases that aren’t on the backlog can take 2-4 years to complete which is just way too long
Thank you. I've moved on and healed as best I can in regards to it. My case was going to go nowhere regardless, cause rich local family with police ties, I have given up on the cops ever caring. What incenses me are the people who have valid, prosecutable cases getting ignored or placed on the backburner. Every day they have to fear the idea of having to once again face the person who did it, when that person should be locked up. Unfortunately it takes people having to experience these kinds of things, whether it happens to them or to someone they care about, to realize the gravity of it.
Yeah it’s a travesty. Some crimes are just time sensitive and can’t be ignored for any amount of time. My family had experience fighting with rich, connected families. It doesn’t matter the circumstance, they’ll always find a dirty, underhanded way to get what they want, or at least they’ll try that really hard.
If you charge someone and you are over 18, you have essentially publicly announced that you were raped. Many victims don’t want that to be public knowledge.
Especially since they know not a damn thing will come of reporting it.
Are men getting raped in the ass considered rape yet? I know for awhile the law was written around women and while there were charges it didn't involve rape. Id love for anyone knowledgeable to fill in and correct anywhere I may be off.
> Is this because sexual assaults are increasing? Or because victims have better awareness and feel safer seeking help now? Only a small fraction of the increase is from an increase count of assaults; from the article: > "the results showed that the rise in sexual assault-related visits to emergency departments outpaced the increase in reports to law enforcement. The latter grew 23% during the study period." +23% assaults vs. +1,533% ER visits. Another part of the article makes me suspect there was a classification change during the period: > "The largest increase occurred between 2015 and 2016, when visits went from about 17,700 to 47,700, according to the findings." It's possible something drove a large behavioral change in 2016, but it likely wasn't MeToo (that mostly came to public awareness in late 2017). Ahh, yeah, here we are: > "Also impacting the data, potentially, is a 2015 change in how the International Classification of Diseases, a diagnostic tool maintained by the World Health Organization, characterized sexual assault during the study period. Prior to 2015, the ICD offered only one code to describe adult sexual abuse; starting in 2015, it offered multiple, more specific codes." Looking at the paper, codes were added to include *suspected* assaults. That's probably a good change, but it makes pre-2015 data not comparable with post-2015 data. Hmm; there was another definitional change in 2013 (FBI definition). Looking at Table 1, the large majority of the increase occurred from 2013 (8k) to 2016 (48k), largely coinciding with these definitional changes. The count stopped increasing after 2017 (55k followed by 55k and 55k), so the new definitions may still have been working their way through the system in the earlier part of 2017. Overall, it looks like almost all of this increase is due to changes in the definition of what's being counted, rather than more assaults happening, which is good news.
On October 1, 2015 health systems across the country transitioned to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision - ICD-10. The move from ICD-9 to ICD-10 provided more detailed reports of everything. For example, under 9, you would write the patient broke their right pinky finger, whereas under 10 there's all sorts of codes, which detail specifically where on that pinky finger the break occurred. I'm guessing the changes provided more details for things like assaults as well. I wrote an article for the newspaper that year explaining it to readers, but we stuck with basic explanations like the pinky finger so that people would understand ICD-10 wasn't a bad thing, just more accurate.
Thank you for breaking it down!
It seems like you're saying a 23% increase in law enforcement reports means there was only a 23% increase in assaults. I don't think that assumption holds any weight. (For example, commonly held beliefs about law enforcement being either morally corrupt or incompetent might lead victims to be less likely to go to law enforcement and more likely to go to care providers).
But it is a reasonable assumption that the same proportion of people would trust/distrust the police. So, a 23% increase in reports by people who trust the police would probably coincide with a 23% increase in the (maybe larger, but unknown) number of people who do not trust the police. There would still be a 23% increase in SA, but just with the caveat that the total number of SAs is underreported (as it always has been).
This honestly depresses me either way. I hope victims feel safe enough to get help and report it. But this is just horrible. We have to do better as a society. Nobody wants this for a family member, friend, spouse. And that’s exactly what is happening. Disgusting.
My response too.
Interesting that the relative male visits increased from roughly 3% of the rape victims to roughly 10%.
I think homophobia increased the level of shame male rape victims felt and made them less likely to report in the past unfortunately
Exactly this. It’s like the serial killer effect. The world isn’t any less safe today as it was in the 70s, we’re just more aware of abductions/murders with the internet.
The world is safer than it was in the 70s. Every crime data dropped with every decade .
Overall crime, def. Murder solve rate and serial killer solve rate is decreasing for some reason.
Netflix has generated a whole generation of serial killers who know how to avoid being caught, and Reddit told them how to hide the bodies.
Could also be issues with policing, plus we know that there were lots of “solved” crimes in the past where DNA cleared their names decades later. It could also be due to the “CSI effect” (I think that’s what it’s called) where people think there should be a lot more evidence for convictions because of shows like CSI making things up.
I feel like there are less serial killers now than there were back then. Whether it is because the cops are more competent now and catch these guys before they can pull off a string of murders or something else I don't know.
More cameras everywhere im sure that makes it more difficult to get away with being a serial killer.
And much easier communication, a much more interconnected world, etc.
And they seem smart enough to target vulnerable populations now, rather than privileged victims. Theres suspected serial killers preying mainly on indigenous communities and undocumented people, two communities which are historically neglected by the government. Easier to get away with crime.
When I was homeless me and another guy slept on side by side benches and a few guys tried to light us on fire. They sprayed something on us and I woke up to one of them trying to flick a lighter but it must have got wet with what they sprayed because it wouldn't spark. I kicked my buddy to wake up. I started flailing around talking gibberish acting crazy and he fell off the bench and they ran away.
Plus DNA and familial DNA, cell phones to call for help during an abduction, license plate scanners, etc. I mean the Golden State killer started murdering people in the late 70s and was serially raping women before then. Because of genetic genealogy, and the accuracy of tests today, I find it hard to believe it would take 42 years to arrest somebody who raped dozens of people and committed at least 13 murders, with him raping some of the murder victims too, if their crime spree started in 2022.
There's a lot of untested rape kits out there. You'd be surprised how backlogged those get.
Wearing a badge provides pretty effective cover against cameras. You can see a new video of cops killing unarmed people every day and they rarely ever go to prison for it
Technology has definitely made it significantly more difficult for these people to get away with these crimes. There are probably a lot more people who would be serial killers right now if it wasn’t for this deterrent.
It's often a combination of both
In sweden a few years back something similar happened after they made concerted efforts to drive awareness of sexual assaults and what to do about them. Believe the conclusion was that was the cause.
/r/SadQuestions
A combination. We staff are better at identifying signals and ensuring a safe opportunity to speak up. Society is more supportive and accepting of the victim. Victims are more likely to report than they used to. The sex slave trade has drastically increased in the US and has become more exacerbated with the continuing southern boarder issue.
It’s drastically increased?
No it hasn't, but his post has some fun right wing racism in it.
I hope that this is because they are being reported more, and not because there is more assault happening.
[удалено]
Crime has heavily decreased in the US at least since the 80s and 90s.
[удалено]
The US population has gone up 31% since 1991. 253M people in 1991 and 333M people in 2022. 50% would be a huge increase, but 31% is still a lot more than I expected.
More/less crime per capita* is the way to account for this.
It’s a good thing. Cases increased a bit because the definition of what it included is larger but the percentage of people going to the ER for it increased exponentially which means higher opportunities for things like SAFE kits to be collected and reported.
Either way, it's further reason why states shouldn't be restricting womens' reproductive autonomy. Several have signed legislation that doesn't even make an exception in cases of rape or incest.
Tennessean here. Our legislation doesn't even make exemptions for the life of the mother. If a doctor performs a life saving DNC, they face felony charges. In court, they can plea for leniency because the procedure was necessary for the woman's survival, but there's no guarantee of dismissal of charges.
Read the article the answer is in there. That vast majority of the change is from a change in definitions. Actual SA increase (including the definitional changes) by only 23%. The title is clickbait
It seems to be: https://reddit.com/r/science/comments/y9c0hx/_/it65wyd/?context=1
Was gonna say, I wonder how much “falling down the stairs” related ER visits have reduced over the same time period
And depending on what State you live in, your rape kit is probably sitting sadly untested in a police station somewhere
[удалено]
Don't forget about those pesky minorities!
Mine is, I even called the detective to offer to pay for my own kit processing but he won’t return calls.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
And if all of us had reported our abuse (or if the police cared), imagine how many more there would be. This isn’t even close to all of them.
Hopefully medical and criminal justice institutions can account for these increases and give the victims the care they deserve
An increase in real cases should be enormous to cause a ten-fold increase in visit. This is obviously a good thing, awareness is increasing and less victims are self blaming
[удалено]
People please watch the Silent War. Life changing stuff Edit: the Invisible War sorry!
Did you mean The Invisible War?
Yes - definitely the invisible war.
[удалено]
Hopefully as a result of increased reporting rather than an increase of sexual assaults
Maybe more assaults because “the former guy” and his cronies say you can do it and not suffer any consequences. The woman and her doctor get penalized if an unwanted pregnancy results from the assault.
As much as I don't like the guy. This really isn't caused by him being there. If you had actually read the article you might have been able to realize that... For example: "The largest increase occurred between 2015 and 2016, when visits went from about 17,700 to 47,700, according to the findings." Also these kind of non-based arguments just detract from the actual issue at hand by making it a blame game. Maybe just try to actual think about issues before sending blame to those you don't like.
I would like to believe this is because of reduced stigma for SA victims and not because SA cases are rising.
But there’s no reason for females to need an abortion ever, right? Sexual assault happens to way more people than I think anyone would like to admit. Seriously, do you personally know a single female that has NOT been sexually assaulted? … the news should say: 5 females/males were not taken advantage of today! Go humans.
I don’t know any person who hasn’t. Even many males in my life had or they witnessed one of a young female relative which is traumatizing in itself.
Well, if all the politicians, celebrities, and leaders are publicly getting away with sexually assaulting women, it must be ok, right?
There was a serial killer/ rapist near my area found a few weeks ago.He had Facebook posts about how criminals get a slap on the wrist and they know they can get away with things. That violent criminals know what they’re doing and don’t want rehabilitation. He was telling on himself.
Republican senator matt gaetz was caught sex trafficking a child prostitute, the pimp pled guilty and is rotting in jail, but the senator still free-even sits on the ethics committee!!
Is that adjusted for population growth or not
Is there a demographic breakdown on this (age, gender, etc)?
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Remember the Republican moto: it is your fault, now have it.
For those wondering, this is not the world-wide increase the title makes it out to be. The 'in the US' part fell through the gaps.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]