Reported sexual assault in Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee, 1980 to 1982

Abstract

A review of the experience of 440 women reporting they had been raped was made from their initial contact with the police, through their medical-forensic examination at the county hospital emergency room, by any judicial proceedings, and by their longer term psychological counseling. The data were then compared with those from other municipalities. The assailant's use of a weapon seemed the strongest variable correlated with the victim's decision to press for prosecution. Being raped by a stranger or being physically injured did not correlate with this decision. Women most likely to have been victims of a previous rape were over 40 years old, were black, were assaulted by someone well known to them, or had some sort of mental health problem, and these variables were independent of each other. This implies these victims somehow suffer from an increased vulnerability to repeated rape. The data suggest that use of a county hospital emergency room for the medical management of rape victims discourages their reporting the event to the authorities and their seeking medical treatment.