Dear Trolls, Let's Look at the Facts and Believe Her

Today I am leaving you with a guest post written by my daughter-in-law, Dr. Smith. You can find her at Smith Happens. She responds with this post after my disclosure on Monday. I want to thank her for this thoughtfully researched piece. My greatest hope is that it won't fall on deaf ears.

 

Today, my beautiful, amazing, compassionate mother-in-law disclosed that she was sexually assaulted when she was a teenager. She did this in the context of the #metoo movement and the currently trending #BelieveHer discussion that is ongoing about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accusing Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in their teens. After writing her blog post, my MIL shared it on her Facebook page. Evidently, she knows some beautiful people and some trolls. 

Today, I’m writing to the trolls.

Before I go too far, I want to disclose a few things. I am a white, cis-gendered woman who holds a PhD in sociology with an emphasis on criminology. My research looks at how social institutions create the environment necessary for high crime rates in the United States. As a result, I know a great deal about why people do and do not report crime as well as the cultural structures that make crime possible. Given my possession of a vagina and higher education, I know that some of the readers of this are likely to question my credibility. 

In what follows, I first talk about how we know what we know about the reporting of rape and sexual assault, the myth of false accusations, and why these matter.

How We Know What We Know About Rape and Sexual Assault

There are two primary ways that crime is measured in the United States – the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). You can read more about both of these measures here (https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ntcm_2014.pdf). While the UCR only measures crimes known to the police, the NCVS measures both crimes known and unknown to police because respondents of the survey are directly asked if they reported their victimization. I’ll limit this discussion to reporting of rape and sexual assault victimizations.

Below is a table that shows the number of rape and sexual assault victimizations reported by the NCVS from 2012 to 2016. As you can see, most rape and sexual assault victimizations are not reported to the police. If you crunch the numbers, in 2016, only 22.9 percent of rape and sexual assault victimizations were reported. Over the five years, the average percentage of rape or sexual assault victimizations reported to police is 30.4. 

		2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Rape/Sexual Assault		346,830	300,165	284,345	431,837	323,449
	Yes, reported to the police	97,925	104,556	95,420	140,331	74,075
	No, did not report to the police	246,751	188,154	182,391	286,681	249,373
	Do not know	2,154	-- --	-- --	4,824	-- --

In comparison to other violent victimizations, rape and sexual assault are reported much less frequently. For example, in 2015, approximately 47 percent of violent victimizations (this includes rape and sexual assault) were reported to police. In contrast, only 32.5 percent of rape and sexual assault victimizations were reported that year (https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv15.pdf). Overall, most violent victimizations are NOT reported to the police and, in particular, rape and sexual assault victimizations are NOT reported to the police.

But why are these victimizations not reported? The NCVS can tell us a bit about that as well. Between 2006 and 2010 (the most recent report available – (https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vnrp0610.pdf), 65 percent of rape and sexual assault victimizations were not reported to the police. Twenty-eight percent of the NCVS respondents who were raped or sexually assaulted stated that they did not report the victimization to the police because of “fear of reprisal or getting the offender in trouble,” 20 percent did not report the victimization because they “dealt with it in another way or that it was a personal matter,” 13 percent did not report the victimization because the “police would not or could not help.”

So, we want to blame women for not reporting rape or sexual assault victimizations, yet we ignore the reality that for many the choice to not report is informed by what they know of our culture. They are unlikely to be believed (especially if the victimization does not conform to culturally held rape myths), reporting may actually lead to additional victimization (most rapists are known to their victims), and even if they do report the track record of the criminal justice system in handling cases of acquaintance rape (i.e., non-stranger rape) is abysmal (see: the bevy of news articles about Brock Turner’s case). 

But What about False Reporting?

Really?! This is what you’re concerned about. Well, let’s dive into what we (as criminologists – the people who study these issues) know. The current research shows us that approximately 2-10 percent of reported rape cases are unfounded. Let’s turn this on its head: 90 to 98% of rape cases reported to police ARE credible! (You can read more here: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077801210387750). Moreover, those who do falsely report DO NOT name a suspect and their stories conform to most rape myths (e.g., stranger rape, quick reporting, lack of alcohol/drug use, etc.). That being said, with the percentage of rape and sexual assaults reported to police as low as it is – for all of the reasons previously stated – it would behoove the police to treat and investigate all allegations as credible. 

Bringing It Back Around…

Now that we have covered what we know about the nature of rape and sexual assault victimization, lack of reporting to the police and the reasons for not reporting, and dispensed with the nonsense of false reporting, it is appalling that people are up in arms about the allegations against Kavanaugh. Dr. Ford has repeatedly asked for an investigation into her accusations. She has not wanted to try this case in the court of public opinion. In fact, she reported the accusations anonymously at first because she thought it was her duty to inform those in charge of ensuring the sanctity and credibility of the U.S. Supreme Court of possible concerns with the potential newest member. 

Are Dr. Ford’s (and the other women’s) accusations credible? Yes! Should they be investigated? Yes!

Lastly, the vitriol that I have seen thrown at Dr. Ford in the Facebook comments on my MIL’s post is atrocious. Let’s remember the following: She is a person. While she is a woman, stating “that woman” in reference to her is repugnant because it assumes that she is somehow less credible due to her possession of a vagina. Further, Dr. Ford is a tenured professor of psychology. She has spent decades learning, teaching, and researching her subject matter. She is an expert in her field. Referring to her as “Ms. Ford” is an insult that again attacks her credibility. She knew the risks of reporting her accusations and going public but decided that the consequences of not reporting would be greater.