Sexual assault Quote by Anonymous
““miscoding of such crimes is masking the high incidence of rape in the United States. We don’t have an overestimation of rape; we have a gross underestimation. A thorough analysis of federal data published earlier this year by Corey Rayburn Yung, associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Law, concludes that between 1995 and 2012, police departments across the country systematically undercounted and underreported sexual assaults. Yung used murder rates—the statistic with the most reliable measure of accuracy and one that is historically highly correlated with the incidence of rape—as a baseline for his analysis. After nearly two years of work, he estimates conservatively that between 796,213 and 1,145,309 sexual assault cases never made it into national FBI counts during the studied period.””
About This Quote
Source Report: Study by Corey Rayburn Yung, University of Kansas School of Law, 2023
U.S. sexual assault data is severely undercounted; true incidence is far higher than official FBI figures.
In simple terms: Sexual assaults are underreported, making official numbers too low.
Key Takeaway
Improve reporting mechanisms and data collection.
Themes
justice
crime
statistics
gender
policy
Mood
concerned
urgent
Type
research
advocacy
When to use this quote
- law enforcement
- public health research
- policy reform
- advocacy groups
Key Concepts
underreporting
methodology
public policy
crime measurement
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we ensure accurate crime statistics?
- What reforms would improve reporting?
A Different Perspective
Data may be biased by reporting practices; alternative metrics needed.
