PUBLICATION ADVISORY

BJS Releases Interactive Reports on Sexual Assaults Recorded by Law Enforcement

      WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics today released Sexual Assaults Recorded by Law Enforcement, 2015 and Sexual Assaults Recorded by Law Enforcement, 2019.  These online, interactive reports present statistics on sexual assault victimizations that were reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).  State specific data are presented for 15 states in 2015 and for 21 states in 2019—the states in which all law enforcements agencies met the criteria for reporting their crime data to NIBRS.

      These reports visualize statistics through charts and graphs and include an interactive feature that lets readers choose how they view the data.  The reports provide detailed statistics on four types of violent sexual assaults recorded by law enforcement:  rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object and fondling.  Within states, users may compare the demographic characteristics of sexual assault victims to victims of other serious violent crimes, examine sexual victimization rates by victim demographics and view statistics on police clearance and arrest outcomes for sexual assaults.  Statistics for individual states are visualized separately for each report year; however, readers are cautioned against making comparisons between states, as many factors impact the state-specific sexual assault statistics in these reports.

      TITLES:  Sexual Assaults Recorded by Law Enforcement, 2015
                      (NCJ 301235) by BJS Statistician Kimberly Martin, Ph.D.

                      Sexual Assaults Recorded by Law Enforcement, 2019
                      (NCJ 301236) by BJS Statistician Kimberly Martin, Ph.D.

      AUTHOR:  Bureau of Justice Statistics

      WHERE:  bjs.ojp.gov

      The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing and disseminating reliable statistics on crime and criminal justice in the United States.  Doris J. James is the acting director.

      The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law.  More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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OFFICE:  bjs.ojp.gov
CONTACT:  Tannyr Watkins at 202-532-3923 or [email protected]