Report on State Domestic and Sexual Violence Data Collection

• NCJ Number: 159567
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 34 pages
• Grant Number(s): 95-IJ-CX-0010
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Presentation

Annotation

The current status of reporting of domestic assault and sexual assault in States was studied to determine ways that States could centrally collect information on the incidence of these offenses.

Abstract

The research focused mainly on police-based indicators of these types of criminal offenses. It also considered information sources outside of law enforcement and even outside the criminal justice system. A panel of experts representing backgrounds in criminal justice statistics, law enforcement, and victim service providers as well as other related concerns met twice to provide comments and suggestions to the project staff. A survey and followup interviews gathered information from all States and territories on their data collection programs and issues. The most significant finding was that the majority of States collect some statistics annually on these offenses. Thirty- five collect domestic assault statistics; 30 collect sexual assault statistics. However, States vary widely in definitions, counting methods, measures, and types of victims included. Therefore, State statistics may not be comparable or suitable for aggregation. Findings indicated that both organizational and technical solutions are needed to improve reporting and provide more comprehensive statistics. Tables, appended instrument and additional results, and list of project participants