Voices of Female Sexual Assault Survivors: Striving for Survivor-Centered Reporting Processes in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

Abstract

In the present qualitative study, we analyzed voices of female sexual assault survivors to enhance the survivor-centered framework. We reviewed over 1,000 comments from a survey asking participants to share experiences following their sexual assault. Participants were 460 female survivors, including 163 reporters (those who reported their sexual assault to police officers) and 297 nonreporters. We identified four core themes (safety, empowerment and choice, collaboration, and explanation of procedures) as desired characteristics for the five key response personnel groups: patrol officers, detectives, sexual assault forensic examiner nurses, State's Attorney's Office staff, and victim advocates. We identified the strengths and weaknesses of each group based on the shared experiences of culturally marginalized and nonmarginalized reporters. A general free-text question answered by participants reflected on the four core themes, but also stressed the need for multiple layers of intervention in responding to sexual assault, as seen in two secondary themes (extra support and systemic change). Nonreporters also stressed barriers to reporting and regrets about not reporting. The power of survivors’ narratives can be used to guide the criminal justice system to uphold a truly survivor-centered approach. The complexities of gender and power inequality between the perpetrators, survivors, and response personnel should also be addressed.