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RAINN’s Guide To Reporting on Sexual Violence

This guide equips journalists with clear, actionable standards for reporting responsibly, minimizing harm, and maintaining public trust.

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Sexual violence is a widespread issue that affects millions of people across the United States and around the world. Newsrooms play an essential role in shaping public understanding, influencing community responses, and highlighting institutional accountability.

Best Practices for Responsible, Trauma-Informed Journalism

Strong reporting can illuminate patterns of harm, identify systemic failures, and help audiences understand the realities survivors face.

At the same time, reporting can cause unintentional harm if it reinforces myths, reveals identifying details, or frames stories in ways that blame survivors rather than abusers. We developed this guide to support journalists who strive to report with accuracy, fairness, and trauma-informed care.

RAINN’s Guide To Reporting on Sexual Violence

Clear, actionable recommendations for journalists, editors, producers, and standards teams.

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About the Guide

Our guidance is grounded in decades of experience working with survivors, research from national anti-sexual violence organizations, and robust state-level reporting guides created by coalition partners across the country. We synthesized insights from leading research, newsroom experts, and survivors to outline a unified national standard.

The work done by these state coalitions was instrumental in the development of this guide:

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Last updated: May 31, 2026
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