The Government Has No Clue How Many People Have Experienced Sexual Assault

Researchers compared the data collection efforts of the Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice and found that there are at least 10 different ongoing endeavors to understand how widespread sexual violence is. The problem is that each agency defines sex crimes differently. Not only do they use different terms to describe sexual violence (the study found 23), but they also categorize actions differently.

According to the report released last week, some agencies considered "sexual violence involving vaginal penetration" as "rape," but others used the phrasing in their measurements of "nonconsensual sexual acts" or "sexual coercion." When agencies did agree on terminology, they disagreed on contextual factors. For instance, some of the data collection efforts determined a rape had occurred if actual physical force was used; others considered the threat of physical force a sufficient measure.

Even a single study could yield unclear results. Researchers found that the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) characterizes vaginal penetration as either "rape" or "coercion," depending on the circumstances. "NISVS characterizes vaginal penetration of a victim as 'rape' if the act involves the use of physical force or threats to physically harm the victim," the report states. "On the other hand, NISVS characterizes this same act as 'sexual coercion' if the act occurs after the victim is verbally pressured in a nonphysical way, for example if the perpetrator uses their influence or authority."

As a result, there are huge discrepancies in the numbers. "For example," the study's authors write, "in 2011 (the most recent year of available data), estimates ranged from 244,190 rape or sexual assault victimizations to 1,929,000 victims of rape or attempted rape. These differences can lead to confusion for the public."

The study was requested by Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. "Without the ability to make apples to apples comparisons across populations, it's difficult to measure trends over time and determine how we're doing in terms of reducing incidents and boosting reporting," she said in a press release.

Terri Poore, policy director at the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV), says the inconsistency in data is a well-known problem. "What advocates have known for decades is that gathering sexual violence data is quite a complicated undertaking because of the intense victim blaming in our culture," she tells Broadly. "Researchers have struggled for years to figure out how to ask questions in a way that survivors feel comfortable giving information. It's obviously a very private thing."

People who have experienced sexual violence, she points out, may define what happened to them differently. Generational and cultural factors may also be at play. "What people experience is more than a number," she says. "It's more than a statistic."

Poore notes that there are some consistencies in studies, such as the statistic that one in five women in college will experience sexual violence. But it's important to continue to work toward getting a better picture of the overall problem. The report recommends that the entities collecting data on sexual violence share their information through a federal interagency forum.

"It's not that anyone has horribly failed," Poore says. "It's just that we are trying to figure out how best to ask these questions to get the information we need."