Department of Justice Makes False Claims About Sexual Assault, Diverting Focus Away from Proven Risk Factors

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Department of Justice Makes False Claims About Sexual Assault, Diverting Focus Away from Proven Risk Factors

WASHINGTON / January 21, 2021 – Department of Justice official Laura Rogers recently made a claim about sexual assault that is false, and could harm the overall effectiveness of rape prevention programs. Rogers asserted that “stalking of the victim by the offender is a frequent precursor of the sexual assault.” The 370-word post expounds on the issue of stalking as if it were an important risk factor for sexual assault (1).

No scientific evidence could be located that supports the DOJ claim.

For example, the Centers for Disease Control identifies 29 separate risk factors for sexual violence that are categorized as individual, relationship, community, or societal. “Stalking” is not mentioned in the CDC compilation (2).

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center enumerates the following risk factors: societal norms, poverty, lack of employment opportunities, lack of support from police and the judicial system, societal tolerance of sexual assault, weak community sanctions, family environment, emotionally unsupportive family environment, poor parent-child relationships, association with sexually aggressive persons, and general acceptance of violence (3). “Stalking” is not included in NSVRC’s lengthy list.

The DOJ-funded Campus Sexual Assault Study identified the following nine risk factors: prior sexual assault victimization, substance use, age, race/ethnicity, residential status, sorority membership, dating violence history, consensual sexual experiences, and attitudinal characteristics (4). “Stalking” is not cited once in the 111-page report.

A 2015 study conducted by the Harvard Sexual Assault Task Force titled, “Review of Prevalence and Risk Factors Related to Sexual Assault” identified the following risk factors: age, year in school/timing, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, geographic region, alcohol usage, location/party attendance, and previous sexual assaults (5). Again, “stalking” was not found to be a risk factor.

In short, there is no scientific basis to the claim that “stalking of the victim by the offender is a frequent precursor of the sexual assault.”

False statements can divert programmatic focus away from addressing the proven risk factors of sexual assault and undermine the credibility of the broader movement to end sexual assault. The Coalition to End Domestic Violence urges the Department of Justice to retract its misleading statement, and issue a new post that is based on data and science, not speculation.

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