Anonymous reporting tools for sexual assault contribute to gathering intelligence, reducing crime, increasing reporting and supporting survivors. This article examines victim-survivors’ knowledge of and experiences using alternative reporting options, drawing on data collected from a broader study of alternative reporting options for sexual assault. Focus groups with victim-survivors and interviews with support service staff reveal that survivors and support staff are unclear about how authorities use data from alternative reporting tools but can identify preferred designs for a form. Victim-survivors in particular strongly support having an alternative reporting option available.
References
URLs correct as at July 2023
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2022. Sexual assaults increase for tenth year in a row. Media release, 28 July. https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/sexual-assaults-increase-tenth-year-row
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2017. Personal Safety, Australia. Canberra: ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/2016
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2020. Sexual assault in Australia. Canberra: AIHW. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/sexual-assault-in-australia/
Braun V & Clarke V 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bryman A 2012. Social research methods. Fifth edition. Oxford University Press
Carson J & Carson B 2018. The historical roots and future direction for military law and policies on rape and sexual assault. Military Psychology 30(2): 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1037/mil0000180
Fileborn B & Loney-Howes R 2020. Using social media to resist gender-violence: A global perspective. In E Erez & P Ibarra (eds), Oxford encyclopaedia of international criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.613
Fitzgerald J 2021. Why did sexual assault reports spike in March 2021? Bureau Brief no. 155. Sydney: New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_publication/Pub_Summary/BB/BB155-Summary-Why-did-sexual-assault-reports-spike-in-March-2021.aspx
Friedman J 2007. Reporting sexual assault of women in the military. Cardozo Journal of Law & Gender 14: 375–400
Frith H 2000. Focusing on sex: Using focus groups in sex research. Sexualities 3: 275–297. https://doi.org/10.1177/136346000003003001
Heenan M & Murray S 2006. Study of reported rapes in Victoria 2000–2003: Summary research report. Melbourne: Office of Women’s Policy, Department for Victorian Communities
Heffron L, Busch-Armendariz NB, Vohra S, Johnson RJ & Camp V 2014. Giving sexual assault survivors time to decide: An exploration of the use and effects of the nonreport option. American Journal of Nursing 114(3): 26–35. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000444489.49091.10
Hesse-Biber S 2007. Feminist research: Exploring the interconnections of epistemology, methodology and method. In S Hesse-Biber (ed), Handbook of feminist research: Theory and praxis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412984270
Heydon G, Henry N, Loney-Howes R & Hindes S 2023. Alternative reporting options for sexual assault: Investigating their use, purpose and potential. Report to the Criminology Research Advisory Council. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.52922/crg77116
Heydon G & Powell P 2018. Written-response interview protocols: An innovative approach to confidential reporting and victim interviewing in sexual assault investigations. Policing and Society 28(6): 631–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2016.1187146
Hope L, Gabbert F, Heaton-Armstrong A & Wolchover D 2013. Self-administered witness interview. Criminal Law and Justice Weekly 177(4)
Jordan J 2008. Perfect victims, perfect policing? Improving rape complainants’ experiences of police investigations. Public Administration 86: 699–719. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2008.00749.x
Kitzinger J 1994. The methodology of focus groups: The importance of interaction between research participants. Sociology and Health & Illness 16(1): 103–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.ep11347023
Liu H 2018. When whispers enter the cloud: Evaluating technology to prevent and report sexual assault. Harvard Journal of Law and Technology 31(2): 939–963
Loney-Howes R, Heydon G & O’Neill T 2022. Connecting survivors to therapeutic support and criminal justice through information reporting options: An analysis of sexual violence reports made to a digital reporting tool in Australia. Current Issues in Criminal Justice 34(1): 20–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2021.2004983
Mitra-Kahn T, Newbigin C & Hardefeldt S 2016. Invisible women, invisible violence: Understanding and improving data on the experiences of domestic and family violence and sexual assault for diverse groups of women: State of knowledge paper. Landscapes DD01/2016. Sydney: ANROWS
Mortimer S, Powell A & Sandy L 2019. “Typical scripts” and their silences: Exploring myths about sexual violence and LGBTQ people from the perspectives of support workers. Current Issues in Criminal Justice 31(3): 333–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2019.1639287
Murphy-Oikonen J, McQueen K, Miller A, Chambers L & Hibert A 2020. Unfounded sexual assault: Women’s experience of not being believed by police. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 37(11–12): NP8916–NP8940. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520978190
Obada-Obieh B, Spagnolo L & Beznosov K 2020. Towards understanding privacy and trust in online reporting of sexual assault. In Sixteenth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2020): 145–164
O’Connor C & Joffe H 2020. Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: Debates and practical guidelines. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 19: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220
Rich K & Seffrin P 2012. Police interviews of sexual assault reporters: Do attitudes matter? Violence and Victims 27(2): 263–279. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.27.2.263
Richards TN 2019. An updated review of institutions of higher education’s responses to sexual assault: Results from a nationally representative sample. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 34(10): 1983–2012. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516658757
Rosenstein JE, De Angelis K, McCone DR & Carroll MH 2018. Sexual assault & sexual harassment at the US military service academies. Military Psychology 30(3): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2017.1422950
Smith J, Scammon D & Beck S 1995. Using patient focus groups for new patient services. Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement 21(1): 22–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1070-3241(16)30124-9
Spencer D, Dodge A, Ricciardelli R & Ballucci D 2018. “I think it’s re-victimizing victims almost every time”: Police perceptions of criminal justice responses to sexual violence. Critical Criminology 26(2): 189–209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-018-9390-2
Taylor S & Gassner L 2010. Stemming the flow: Challenges for policing adult sexual assault with regard to attrition rates and under‐reporting of sexual offences. Police Practice and Research 11(3): 240–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614260902830153
Tidmarsh P & Hamilton G 2020. Misconceptions of sexual crimes against adult victims: Barriers to justice. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 611. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.52922/ti04824
Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault 2018. CASA Forum annual report 2017–18. Victoria: VCASA. https://casa.org.au/about-us/annual-reports/