Some time back somebody (one of you?)...I can't recall who...posted that they thought sex crimes were on the rise. I believe someone referenced a book or books that supported this idea.

I then posted the DOJ stats showing that sex crimes were on the decline, and were way lower than they were in the seventies.

I just found a reference, below, that shows that ARRESTS for sex crimes went up. This may be where the author of that book got his data...don't know. In any case I thought I'd mention it.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/soo.txt

Mod: This should have gone in general self defense...but I thought I might catch their attention here.


Regards,


Steve

Originally posted by hardheadjarhead
Some time back somebody (one of you?)...I can't recall who...posted that they thought sex crimes were on the rise. I believe someone referenced a book or books that supported this idea.

I then posted the DOJ stats showing that sex crimes were on the decline, and were way lower than they were in the seventies.

I just found a reference, below, that shows that ARRESTS for sex crimes went up. This may be where the author of that book got his data...don't know. In any case I thought I'd mention it.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/soo.txt

Mod: This should have gone in general self defense...but I thought I might catch their attention here.


Regards,


Steve

It may have been WhiteBirch who posted the original link to some stats. I will have to look through some old threads.

Nevertheless. You provided some interesting information. Thank you.

You were correct, your thread caught my attention pretty quickly! :D

- Ceicei

Hey Steve, Good find ~!

Hopefully more victims will come forward and more hardcore sentencing will prevail.
Fear and the social negative stigma of sexual assault is most likely the cause of many attacks never reported to the authorities. Sexual Assault against male or female is a Violent crime and in my opinion should mandate a very severe punishment.

Thanks :)

Tess

I had posted some stats. Thanks for these too. I'll add it to my collection!

WhiteBirch

Glad you find the stats useful.

I recommended elsewhere the book "How to Lie With Statistics", which is a great book for learning the limitations of data. It was written in the fifties and is still in print.

That said, stats like what DOJ (Department of Justice) put out can give people a general idea of what criminals are doing, trendwise. I find myself going there and surfing for HOURS. The FBI's Uniform Crime Report is on there somewhere...the sexual assault material is pretty extensive.

Somewhere in one of those studies a survey indicated why many women didn't report...it was "a personal matter." They knew their attacker, and didn't want to prosecute. That bothered me.




Take care,



Steve

Originally posted by hardheadjarhead
Somewhere in one of those studies a survey indicated why many women didn't report...it was "a personal matter." They knew their attacker, and didn't want to prosecute. That bothered me.

Do you have a solution to this problem?

- Ceicei

Originally posted by Ceicei
Do you have a solution to this problem?

- Ceicei


I'd love to hear a solution to this problem. Personally, I'd love for every survivor to be able to file charges, but it's not going to happen. Even more than that, I'd love it if guys didn't commit sexual assault in the first place!!! See my post under "Stalking" regarding more information on not filing charges.


Another thing I wanted to remind you all of.........I'm almost positive every state does it, but I know Virginia has an online Sex Offender's Registry where you can search for all convicted sex offenders by zip code, city, or name. It's a great resource to check out, even if you're just curious.

http://sex-offender.vsp.state.va.us/Static/Search.htm


Erin

Do you have a solution to this problem?

The only solution is education. I can see no other way. Even then some women won't report attacks because of their relationship to their attacker.

Its essentially the same thing with women who won't leave an abusive boyfriend/husband. We can't MAKE them. We can only educate them and hope they use the information wisely.


Regards,



Steve

Originally posted by hardheadjarhead
The only solution is education. I can see no other way. Even then some women won't report attacks because of their relationship to their attacker.

Its essentially the same thing with women who won't leave an abusive boyfriend/husband. We can't MAKE them. We can only educate them and hope they use the information wisely.


Even if you educate people, sometimes their experience--emotions can be stronger than logic--defeats what is taught.

When people get away from the situation for a while, they think back and wonder "why did I ever let this happen?" I wish there was an easy answer. Hopefully, something could be learned that they don't revert back again to a similar situation.

- Ceicei

Even if you educate people, sometimes their experience--emotions can be stronger than logic--defeats what is taught.

"We do not what we ought,
And what we ought not, we do;
And lean upon the thought,
That chance will bring us through."

--Matthew Arnold.


What you describe, Ceicei, is true for many situations. It describes the Human Condition.


Regards,


Steve

You can't make someone get help. It doesn't matter if it is drug abuse, alcoholism, or domestic violence. the person involved has to bottom out on their own first. Unfortunately, some are raped or killed before the hit bottom.
This was THE most frustrating thing to me about working the street; going to the same places over and over to help a victim who may well have called 911, but certainly didn't want me there when I arrived.

On a loosely related note I would be very sceptical of any DOJ stats; crime reporting is entirely too subjective. Complaints are routinely re-classified to something else, for reasons ranging from initial call taker error to officer not wanting to write report. Several staff-level officers in NOPD were canned 6 or so months ago for seriously cooking their numbers to make their city appear safer that it was/is.

Chad

Chad,
Thank you for your insights from an LEO perspective.

Statistics can be skewed by how jurisdictions report and under what categories. Even then, you noted a few might "cook" the data.

It is difficult when people ask for help and at the same time, reject that.

- Ceicei

Chad has a very good point regarding crime stats.

Ceicei also scored by pointing out the different standardizations of reporting criteria from one area to another. Comparing stats between two countrys can be misleading because they each might have different definitions of a particular crime.

Stats like those can at least give one the sense of enormity of a particular problem.


Regards,


Steve

actually the stats are categorized on federal standards. For myself, I have never been trained in these. For years our records personnel (civilian) filled in the block on the report; then we went to coputer generated reports and the line officer had to figure it out... I always just winged it; I am told the records folks fix them after the fact. (the Federal tag, Uniform Crime something, is distinct from the criminal code selection, which will be unique to each jurisdiction, and also covers non-criminal incidents; ie assist other agency, injured person/no crime associated, etc.) Number cooking would be clear mis-representation; for example classifing what is in fact a burglary to a simple trespass (felony to a nuisance crime) or a domestic assault to disorderly conduct or check on the welfare.