The Underreporting of Sexual Assaults and Violent Acts

Please note that we are NOT the original writers of this blog post. All credit goes to the original writers. Find the original post as published at this link: http://invictaselfdefense.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-underreporting-of-sexual-assaults.html

Sexual assaults and violent acts are chronically underreported around the world, which is unfortunate because a lack of reporting translates into a lack of resources and programs, a lack of understanding of how uncontrolled these problems are, the promotion of rape culture, and a lack of policy making.  Prof. Walter DeKeseredy writes,”Perhaps among the most important [causes of lack of changes in policies] is that policy-makers tend to listen only to big numbers. Unfortunately, if government officials are led by some survey researchers… to believe that violence against women isn’t a statistically significant issue, they are not likely to devote sufficient resources to prevent and restrain one of Canada’s most pressing social problems.”  (1)

We see evidence of an increase in reporting in the Middle East and in Asia. 
The recent, very public and horrifyingly brutal gang rape of a woman in December 2012 by half a dozen men was certainly a turning point in India. Thousands of protesters hit the streets in the days after her passing on December 29, 2012 to push on the government to make changes, and to hold police accountable for their ineffectiveness and their attempts to stop the rape epidemic. 

In New Delhi just this past month, two 5-year old girls were raped (and one was tortured) by two guys, which follows the rape of two foreign girls (one Swiss, one British). Tourism has steadily declined to India by women due to widespread and well-founded fears. 

But is this a new epidemic? Of course not. The difference is that crimes are being reported by more women in the Middle East and Asia, and the media is being forced to listen to women speaking up and demanding policies that are better and policing practices. This is a huge step forward, and one which North American women can surely have a cue from, because we’re still a far cry from where we should be in terms of this identical problem. In actuality, 1 in 3 (two ) women in Canada will experience sexual assault, though we know that those numbers are likely higher because most girls (young girls, in particular) choose to tell no one. Part of the issue for underreporting stems from our narrow definition of what”violence” encompasses.   DeKeseredy argues,”Narrow definitions not only exacerbate the issue of underreporting, but they also trivialize women’s feelings and experiences.” (3), 

Changes in policies, the amount of programs available to women who experience sexual or violence attack and our whole culture’s attitude towards rape culture can be shifted, but the changes must happen from the ground-up for anyone to notice. It’s in not just your best interest to report it if you experience an act of violence or sexual assault, but it is in the interests of every girl out there. We are seeing progress all the time, such as in Saudia Arabia (http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/04/30/saudi-arabia-abuse-ad/), and in Egypt (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22367447)so it’s imperative that we continue to advance in our policies, but progress even further in our thinking about what’s acceptable and what’s not.  http://www.women.gov.on.ca/english/resources/stats.shtml

(3) DeKeseredy, p. 7.