Despite the harm they cause, the vast majority of perpetrators—nearly 98%—are never held fully accountable through the criminal justice system.
The Vast Majority of Perpetrators Will Not Go to Jail or Prison
98% of perpetrators walk free.
For every 1000 sexual assaults, 50 reports lead to arrests, 28 cases lead to a felony convictions, and only 25 perpetrators are sentenced to incarceration. 1Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Incident-Based Reporting System, 2012-2016 (2017).
See More Facts & StatisticsMost Survivors of Sexual Violence Never Report to Law Enforcement
1 in 3 victims report
sexual assault to law enforcement—that’s 310 out of every 1,000 survivors. 1Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 (2013).
80% of female college students do not report to the police.
Among college-age women who experience sexual violence, 20% of college students and 32% of non-students report to law enforcement. 1Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Rape and Sexual Victimization Among College-Aged Females, 1995-2013 (2014).
See More Facts & Statistics28% of elderly victims report to the police.
When adults aged 65 and older experience sexual violence, 72% do not report to law enforcement. 1Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Crimes Against the Elderly, 2003-2013 (2014).
See More Facts & StatisticsWhy Survivors Chose to Report
Survivors who reported sexual violence to law enforcement between 2005 and 2010 cited the following motivations for coming forward:
- 28% reported to protect the household or victim from further crimes by the offender
- 25% reported to stop the incident or prevent recurrence or escalation
- 21% reported to improve police surveillance—or they believed they had a duty to do so
- 17% reported to catch, punish, and/or prevent perpetrator from reoffending
- 6% gave a different answer, or declined to cite one reason
- 3% reported to get help or recover loss
Why Survivors Decide Not to Report
Reporting sexual violence is never easy. Between 2005 and 2010, survivors who didn’t report to police gave the following reasons for their decision:
- 20% feared retaliation
- 13% believed the police would not do anything to help
- 13% believed it was a personal matter
- 8% reported to a different official
- 8% believed it was not important enough to report
- 7% did not want to get the perpetrator in trouble
- 2% believed the police could not do anything to help
- 30% gave another reason or did not cite one reason
See more statistics:
RAINN presents this data for educational purposes only and strongly recommends using the citations to review sources for more information and detail.