Survey of Sexual Assaults Survivors

6. DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO REPORT

As previously mentioned, the great majority (87) of the women interviewed for this survey said that they had thought about reporting their experience(s) of abuse to the police.  Only 14 said that they had not considered it (and one respondent did not provide an answer to this question).

Women were asked to talk about the reasons that encouraged them to report the abuse, as well as the reasons that discouraged them from doing so.  Again, the questions were open-ended so that the women would have the freedom to identify all of the factors that impacted on their decision. Many of the women cited more than one reason for following a particular course of action, especially for not reporting.

As the following figures will indicate, the women’s decision to report (or not) is influenced by a number of considerations. One of the most important considerations is the women’s perception of how the criminal justice system responds to sexual assault, including the behaviour and attitudes of criminal justice personnel. Another is their perception of what happened.  For example, women who recognise the assault as abuse and that abuse is a crime are more likely to report than women who feel ashamed or feel responsible for what happened to them. Yet another influence on the decision whether to report is the reaction of their spouses, family members and/or friends.

6.1.a. Reasons for Reporting

Of the 64 women who indicated that they reported their assault to the police, 55 provided reasons for doing so.  As 14 respondents gave more than one reason, there are a total of 70 responses. These are summarised in Figure 6.1.

FIGURE 6.1 - REASONS FOR REPORTING

FIGURE 6.1 - REASONS FOR REPORTING
Description of Figure 6.1

It can be seen that almost 40 percent of responses indicated that survivors reported their abuse to police to stop or prevent further abuse to self and others (combining “for the protection of siblings/children”, “for own safety” and “for protection of other women”).

Approximately a quarter of the responses indicated a desire on the part of the women to expose or punish the perpetrator.  They expressed various reasons for doing this.  For example, they believed that “what happened was wrong”, that “it was an assault” (not something that they had brought on themselves) and that “no one should get away with woman or child abuse”.

Other women said they reported because of the support they had received from those around them: partners, relatives, friends, counsellors, healthcare professionals and - in two instances – an empathetic (male) police officer.  In one case, the woman stated that the police officer’s empathy had encouraged her to proceed with charges.  In the other case, the woman recalled that the detective involved in the investigation had helped her get through the Crown interview, adding, “it would have been terrible without him”.

Women with little or no previous knowledge or experience of the criminal justice system had hoped that reporting would somehow help them to heal and to regain some degree of control over their lives. Unfortunately, they generally indicated that their experiences did not meet their expectations.

It is also noteworthy that some women only turned to the justice system once other options had failed. For instance, one explained that the abuser’s refusal to seek counselling left her with “no other choice” but to go to the police.  Another decided to report a colleague’s sexual harassment “because ‘no’ was not being taken as an answer”.

6.1.b. Reasons for Not Reporting

Of the 38 women who provided reasons for not reporting their abuse to the police, 25 gave more than one reason, for a total of 79 responses.  These are summarised in Figure 6.2.

FIGURE 6.2 - REASONS FOR NOT REPORTING

FIGURE 6.2 - Reasons for not reporting
Description of Figure 6.2

PROPORTION OF TOTAL RESPONSES (N=79)

Some women did not report because they were afraid of their abuser and – as one of them put it - “frightened into silence”.  For example, a woman who was repeatedly abused by her stepfather recalled that he had threatened to kill her, her mother and her siblings if she never told “the secret” to anyone.

Others decided against reporting because of pressure from their families.  A woman who had been trying to report her experience of child sexual abuse since the age of 13 recalled her family’s persistent denial and insistence that she “not tell”.  It is only as an adult with children of her own that she reported the abuse for the protection of her children and the children of others.

However, the most frequently mentioned reasons for not reporting are related to the women’s past experiences or current beliefs concerning criminal justice responses to sexual assault cases.

Based on their own negative experiences with the system or those of other women they knew, some respondents feared that they would not be believed or taken seriously by the police or the courts.[8] For instance, women who were abused by a respected or influential man in their community feared that their word would not be taken over his.  Similarly, a woman of Indonesian descent did not report her assault because she felt that systemic racism would prevent “anyone believing the story of a dirty Indian over that of a nice white boy”.

Women also feared that they would somehow be blamed for the assault.  This was the case for a woman who was sexually assaulted after a party, as she had had a few drinks and had accepted a ride home from the man who assaulted her.

These findings are consistent with the findings of other studies.  Lizotte (1985) found that unlike the victims of non-sexual assault, “victims of rape have a tendency to only report to the police when the probability of conviction is high.  And they tend not to report when it is low”.

[9]  He relates this finding to what he calls the “trauma of the conviction process”.

Tomlinson (1999) calls this trauma “secondary victimization”.[10]  However, Tomlinson points out that “it is important to the discussion of secondary victimization to acknowledge survivors need not have experience with or even know someone who has had experience with secondary victimization in order for it to have an influence on their decision to report. Equally influential in the reporting decision are survivors’ perceptions or anticipation of secondary victimization by helping professionals.”[11]  Tomlinson argues that the majority of factors that limit police reporting, including the trauma of the conviction process, stem directly from rape myths that are deeply embedded in our general culture.[12]

Concern over the possibility of record disclosure was also a major reason for not reporting.  Women said that they were unwilling to risk being re-victimised by “being put under the microscope during the trial”, by having their personal life exposed in front of their abuser and others, or by having their personal information used against them.