NCJ Number
219193
Date Published
November 2006
Length
54 pages
Annotation
In response to a mandate under the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 on the prevalence of domestic violence, dating violence and sexual assault and stalking, this report addresses the issue of to what extent do national data collections efforts report prevalence of men, women, youth and children who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking?
Abstract
Several conclusions were drawn from the report. First, current national data collection efforts cover portions of these four categories of crime (domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking) among different segments of the victim population. Because the efforts use different definitions and vary in scope, they cannot be combined and leveraged to determine nationwide prevalence of these categories of crime. Second, the absence of comprehensive nationwide prevalence information somewhat limits the ability to make informed policy and resource allocation decisions about the statutory requirements and programs created to help address these crimes and victims. Third, the U.S. Department of Justice and Health and Human Services have collaborated to obtain more uniformity across research efforts and have initiatives in the early stages that could be used to collect information on prevalence. Fourth, the U.S. Department of Justice and Health and Human Services must determine to what extent they can cost-effectively revise current efforts or design new initiatives in order to collect more consistent data. Lastly, policymakers need to decide whether it is worth the cost to obtain better data. This decision should be based on judgments about marginal costs, utility of better data, benefits derived from the better data, and availability of funds to gather data. Recommendations in relation to these conclusions are presented and discussed. In hearings conducted between 1990 and 1994, the U.S. Congress noted that violence against women was a problem of national scope and that the majority of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking were perpetrated against women.