This study was undertaken to investigate factors facilitating and hindering a victim's decision to report a sexual assault to the police. Further objectives were to use the findings to assist in the design of effective intervention methods by sexual assault treatment centers and community education projects, and to present significant findings useful for community policing and other criminal justice initiatives. Survey data for this study were collected from female victims of nonincestuous sexual assault incidents who were at least 14 years of age and sought treatment (within one year of being assaulted) from the Sex Abuse Treatment Center (SATC) in Honolulu, Hawaii, during 1987-1992. Data were collected on two types of victims: (1) immediate treatment seekers, who sought treatment within 72 hours of an assault incident, and (2) delayed treatment seekers, who sought treatment 72 hours or longer after an assault incident. Demographic variables for the victims include age at the time of the assault, marital status, employment status, educational level, and race and ethnicity. Other variables include where the attack took place, the victim's relationship to the assailant, the number of assailants, and whether the assailant(s) used threats, force, or a weapon, or injured or drugged the victim. Additional variables cover whether the victim attempted to get away, resisted physically, yelled, and/or reported the incident to the police, how the victim learned about the Sex Abuse Treatment Center, whether the victim was a tourist, in the military, or a resident of the island, the number of days between the assault and the interview, and a self-reported trauma Sexual Assault Symptom Scale measure.

The purpose of this study was to describe the frequency and consequences of sexual assault within abusive intimate relationships, specific to ethnicity and immigrant status, and compare the findings to a similar group of physically abused women who had not experienced intimate partner sexual assault. Research objectives included a description of the type, extent, and temporal sequencing of sexual assault, consequences of sexual assault on women's health and their children's functioning, and treatments used by women to end the sexual assault. This study follows an earlier study on the effectiveness of protection orders that began in January 2001 at a special family violence unit of the Harris County District Attorney's office in Houston, Texas. That study was called EVALUATING A COLLABORATIVE INTERVENTION BETWEEN HEALTH CARE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, 2001-2002 (ICPSR 3542). Among the initial cohort of 150 women, 148 women were alive in January 2003 and signed informed consent for the second study. Data from the first study on effectiveness of protection orders were re-stratified to measure differences between sexually abused and not-sexually abused women. Instruments used in the re-stratified analysis included instruments from the earlier study: a Demographic Data Form, Severity of Violence against Women Scales (SAVAWS), the Stalking Victimization Survey, the Danger Assessment Scale, a Worksite Harassment survey, and the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Short Form (SF-12) Health Survey, as well the addition of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and Global Severity Index, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale (PTSD), the Family Hardiness Index (FHI), the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL.). The data include responses from 35 children to the CBCL. The variables in this study also include the frequency of use and the effectiveness of social agencies used in 2002. Additional questions asked about type and frequency of decision-making and actions regarding sexual relations, condom use, and birth control. Women physically but not sexually assaulted were asked a series of questions regarding whether they had ever worried about sexual assault. A series of questions was asked regarding children being witness to physical abuse. A detailed history of perpetrator behavior at the time of the first and additional sexual assaults was obtained, as well as victim helpseeking and health problems following the sexual assault(s). There was also a series of questions regarding the health effects of forced sex on the victim.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the problem of sexual assault among African American women in Maryland, assess their use of available resources in response to sexual assault, and explore their use of alternative sources of care. Researchers interviewed 223 female victims of sexual assault (Part 1 and Part 2) between January 2004 and July 2005 and conducted 21 focus groups (Part 3) with sexual assault resource service providers between 2003 and 2006. Criteria for inclusion in the interview component (Part 1 and Part 2) of the study included: African American or Caucasian female, aged 18 and over, resident of Maryland, and victim of sexual assault. There were four streams of recruitment for the interview portion of the study: Victims receiving services at one of 18 rape crisis centers located throughout the state of Maryland; Community outreach sessions conducted by rape crisis center community educators; Through community service providers, including those working in domestic violence centers, forensic nurse examiners (SAFE programs), probation and parole offices, reproductive health centers, county health departments, community services agencies, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and local colleges; and Through three detention centers housing female inmates. For Part 3 (Focus Group Qualitative Data), rape crisis center representatives and other community service provider representatives received a letter informing them that a focus group was going to be conducted at the end of their study training session and asked them for their participation. Part 1 (Victim Quantitative Data) includes items in the following categories: Personal Demographics, Details of the Sexual Assault, Medical Care, Law Enforcement, Prosecution/Court Process, Sexual Assault Center Services, Other Counseling Services, and Recommendations for Improvement. Part 2 (Victim Qualitative Data) includes responses to selected questions from Part 1. The data are organized by question, not by respondent. Part 3 (Focus Group Qualitative Data) includes questions on the needs of African American women who have been sexually assaulted, whether their needs are different from those of women of other racial/ethnic backgrounds, unique barriers to reporting sexual assault to police for African American women and their treatment by the criminal justice system, unique issues concerning the use of available resources by African American women, such as post-rape medical care and counseling services, and recommendations on how the state of Maryland could improve services for African American women who are the victims of sexual assault.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether adult sexual assault cases in a Midwestern community were more likely to be investigated and prosecuted after the implementation of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program, and to identify the 'critical ingredients' that contributed to that increase. Part 1 (Study 1: Case Records Quantitative Data) used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent comparison group cohort design to compare criminal justice systems outcomes for adult sexual assault cases treated in county hospitals five years prior to the implementation of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program (January 1994 to August 1999) (the comparison group, n=156) to cases treated in the focal SANE program during its first seven years of operation (September 1999 to December 2005) (the intervention group, n=137). Variables include focus on case outcome, law enforcement agency that handled the case, DNA findings, and county-level factors, including prosecutor elections and the emergence of the focal SANE program. Part 2 (Study 2: Case Characteristics Quantitative Data) used the adult sexual assault cases from the Study 1 intervention group (post-SANE) (n=137) to examine whether victim characteristics, assault characteristics, and the presence and type of medical forensic evidence predicted case progression outcomes. Part 3 (Study 3: Police and Prosecutors Interview Qualitative Data) used in-depth interviews in April and May of 2007 with law enforcement supervisors (n=9) and prosecutors (n=6) in the focal county responsible for the prosecution of adult sexual assault crimes to explore if and how the SANEs affect the way in which police and prosecutors approach such cases. The interviews focused on four main topics: (1) whether they perceived a change in investigations and prosecution of adult sexual assault cases in post-SANE, (2) their assessment of the quality and utility of the forensic evidence provided by SANEs, (3) their perceptions regarding whether inter-agency training has improved the quality of police investigations and reports post-SANE, and (4) their perceptions regarding if and how the SANE program increased communication and collaboration among legal and medical personnel, and if such changes have influenced law enforcement investigational practices or prosecutor charging decisions.Part 4 (Study 4: Police Reports Quantitative Data) examined police reports written before and after the implementation of the SANE program to determine whether there had been substantive changes in ways sexual assaults cases were investigated since the emergence of the SANE program. Variables include whether the police had referred the case to the prosecutor, indicators of SANE involvement, and indicators of law enforcement effort. Part 5 (Study 5: Survivor Interview Qualitative Data) focused on understanding how victims characterized the care they received at the focal SANE program as well as their expriences with the criminal justices system. Using prospective sampling and community-based retrospective purposive sampling, twenty adult sexual assault vicitims were identified and interviewed between January 2006 and May 2007. Interviews covered four topics: (1) the rape itself and initial disclosures, (2) victims' experiences with SANE program staff including nurses and victim support advocates, (3) the specific role forensic evidence played in victims' decisions to participate in prosecution, and (4) victims' experiences with law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial proceedings, and if/how the forensic nurses and advocates influenced those interactions. Part 6 (Study 6: Forensic Nurse Interview Qualitative Data) examined forensic nurses' perspectives on how the SANE program could affect survivor participation with prosecution indirectly and how the interactions between SANEs and law enforcement could be contributing to increased investigational effort. Between July and August of 2008, six Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners

The primary research objective of this study was to examine the prevalence, nature, and reporting of various types of sexual assault experienced by university students in an effort to inform the development of targeted intervention strategies. In addition, the study had two service-oriented objectives: (1) to educate students about various types of sexual assault, how they can maximize their safety, and what they can do if they or someone they know has been victimized and (2) to provide students with information about the campus and community resources that are available should they need assistance or have any concerns or questions. The study involved a Web-based survey of random samples of undergraduate students at two large public universities, one located in the South (University 1) and one located in the Midwest (University 2). Researchers drew random samples of students aged 18-25 and enrolled at least three-quarters' time at each university to participate in the study. The survey was administered in the winter of 2005-2006, and a total of 5,446 undergraduate women and 1,375 undergraduate men participated for a grand total of 6,821 respondents. Sampled students were sent an initial recruitment e-mail that described the study, provided a unique study ID number, and included a hyperlink to the study Web site. During each of the following weeks, students who had not completed the survey were sent follow-up e-mails and a hard-copy letter encouraging them to participate. The survey was administered anonymously and was designed to be completed in an average of 15 minutes. Respondents were provided with a survey completion code that, when entered with their study ID number at a separate Web site, enabled them to obtain a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate. The survey was divided into six modules. The Background Information module included survey items on demographics, school classification (year of study, year of enrollment, transfer status), residential characteristics, academic performance, and school involvement. An Alcohol and Other Drug Use module generated a number of measures of alcohol and drug use, and related substance use behaviors. A Dating module included items on sexual orientation, dating, consensual sexual activity, and dating violence. The Experiences module was developed after extensive reviews of past surveys of sexual assault and generated information on physically forced sexual assault and incapacitated sexual assault. For both physically forced and incapacitated sexual assault, information was collected on completed and attempted assaults experienced before entering college and since entering college. For male respondents, a Behaviors module asking about the perpetration of the same types of sexual assault covered in the Experiences module was included. The final module of the survey covered attitudes about sexual assault and attitudes about the survey. The data file contains 747 variables.

The Sexual Assault Centre program provides crisis support and intervention services to victims of sexual assault, abuse and/or incest survivors. Services include: * accompanying a victim to court, hospital or police station * counselling services (both one-on-one and group) * sexual violence education * training for professionals and members of the public * information and referrals

Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) are interventions that were created to coordinate efforts of the legal, medical, mental health systems, and rape crisis centers, in order to improve victims' help seeking experiences and legal outcomes. This study examined the relationship between SART structure and effectiveness by conducting a national scale study of SARTs and a smaller detailed network analysis of four SARTs.

This study offers novel insights into mechanisms associated with sexual assault (SA) among sexual minority women (SMW). Experiences of bias and stigma contribute to lower rates of SA reporting by this population. This results in victims with unmet needs and fewer criminal prosecutions of SA perpetrators. This study used a mixed-methods approach to collect data from lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women to instigate changes that would improve responses from law enforcement, victim services, and anti-violence programs that serve SMW. This study comprised of three parts a: baseline survey, qualitative interview, and daily survey. Self-reported baseline questionnaires included topics like lifetime victimization (childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual aggression, and assault), discrimination, distress, mental health, alcohol use, and sexual history. The qualitative interviews focused on the most recent, and when applicable, the most salient adult sexual assault (ASA) incident. Interviews began by asking the participants to describe their ASA incidents with follow-probes asking about the victimization, perpetrator characteristics (gender and relationship to participant), and context of assault (role of alcohol or drugs and setting). Participants were also asked if they discussed the assault with anyone and their reasons for disclosure or non-disclosure. As well as short and long-term coping patterns. The daily survey asked participants about their mood, alcohol use, drinking contexts, and sexual experiences (consensual and non-consensual). This study contains demographic information such as: age, race, income, education, and BMI.