U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Violent crime

Director's Message: Making Progress on Understanding and Investigating Sexual Assault

While NIJ is proud of the progress we have made, we know there is still a great deal more to be done to improve sexual assault investigations, provide trauma-informed support to victims, and strengthen the efficiency of sexual assault kit testing.

–Nancy Rodriguez

Sexual assault is a traumatic crime with a wide range of impacts on both the victim and public safety. Over the last...

Sex Offenders in the Community: Post-Release, Registration, Notification and Residency Restrictions

May 2010

The management of sexual offenders in the community post-release is an issue of increasing concern to law enforcement, policymakers and the public. In recent years, efforts to strengthen registration and notification have been enhanced. At the same time, comparatively little attention has been paid to related matters, such as how residency restrictions may impact offenders' efforts to find stable work and living arrangements once they are released from prison, whether rates of recidivism have changed, and whether these policies increase the safety of potential victims.

Violent Crime

In a violent crime, a victim is harmed by or threatened with violence. Violent crimes include rape and sexual assault, robbery, assault and murder.

NIJ supports research that strives to understand and reduce the occurrence and impact of violent crimes. This includes describing the scope of these crimes, such as how and when they occur and their consequences. NIJ also supports evaluations of existing programs...