Prevalence of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, and Stalking
Gao ID: GAO-07-148R November 13, 2006In hearings conducted between 1990 and 1994, Congress noted that violence against women was a problem of national scope and that the majority of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking were perpetrated against women. These hearings culminated in the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 to address these issues on a national level. VAWA established grant programs within the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) for state, local, and Indian tribal governments and communities. These grants have various purposes, such as providing services to victims and training for law enforcement officers and prosecutors. The 2006 reauthorization of VAWA expanded existing grant programs and added new programs addressing, among other things, young victims, the housing and economic needs of victims, and the health care system's response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Although criminal justice, health, and domestic violence experts believe that valid and reliable estimates have the potential to be of use to policy makers, service providers, and researchers, there are concerns that current crime statistics do not provide a full assessment of the problem. The Violence Against Women and DOJ Reauthorization Act of 2005, enacted January 5, 2006, requires GAO to conduct a study and report on data indicating the prevalence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking among men, women, youth, and children, as well as services available to these victims. We developed two objectives to respond to this mandate: (1) To what extent do national data collection efforts report prevalence of men, women, youth, and children who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, and (2) What support services (e.g., counseling, medical, legal, etc.) are available to victims of these categories of crime and what are the number and characteristics of victims receiving these services by type of service. This report addresses the first objective. Our work on the second objective is ongoing.
Since 2001, the amount of national research that has been conducted on the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault has been limited, and even less research has been conducted on dating violence and stalking. No single, comprehensive effort currently exists that provides nationwide statistics on the prevalence of these four categories of crime among men, women, youth, and children. Rather, various national efforts address certain subsets of these crime categories among some segments of the population. Some of these national data collection efforts focus largely on incidence--the number of separate times a crime is committed against individuals during a specific time period--rather than prevalence--the unique number of individuals who were victimized during a specific time period. Obtaining both incidence and prevalence data is important for determining services to provide to victims of crimes. In addition, HHS noted that both types of data are important for determining the impact of violence and strategies to prevent it from occurring. The national data collection efforts we reviewed cannot provide a basis for combining their results to compute valid and reliable nationwide prevalence estimates because the efforts use varying definitions. Further, the national data collection efforts we reviewed cannot provide a basis for combining their results to compute valid and reliable nationwide prevalence estimates because the efforts have varying scopes in terms of the incidents and categories of victims that are included. Although perfect data may never exist because of the sensitivity of these crimes and the likelihood that not all occurrences will be disclosed, initiatives are under way to provide additional information related to the prevalence of these issues. In addition to these efforts, under an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) grant, the University of New Hampshire is planning to conduct the National Study on Children's Exposure to Violence. If these efforts are completed as planned, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DOJ will make progress in collecting information needed to determine the extent to which men, women, youth, and children are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. However, some information gaps will remain, particularly in the areas of dating violence among victims age 12 and older and stalking among victims under age 18. To cost-effectively address information gaps, it is important to consider additional costs that would be incurred in collecting new or different data as well as the usefulness of such data. It is equally important to consider the benefits resulting from the use of these data (different allocations of resources) and the availability of funds to collect such data (a cost-benefit analysis).
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Eileen R. Larence Team: Government Accountability Office: Homeland Security and Justice Phone: (202) 512-6510GAO-07-148R, Prevalence of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, and Stalking
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November 13, 2006:
Congressional Committees:
Subject: Prevalence of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating
Violence, and Stalking:
In hearings conducted between 1990 and 1994, Congress noted that
violence against women was a problem of national scope and that the
majority of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault,
and stalking were perpetrated against women. These hearings culminated
in the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 to
address these issues on a national level.[Footnote 1] VAWA established
grant programs within the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and
Human Services (HHS) for state, local, and Indian tribal governments
and communities. These grants have various purposes, such as providing
services to victims and training for law enforcement officers and
prosecutors. The 2006 reauthorization of VAWA expanded existing grant
programs and added new programs addressing, among other things, young
victims, the housing and economic needs of victims, and the health care
system's response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking.[Footnote 2] The total fiscal year 2006
appropriation level for violence against women programs is about $560
million--approximately $382 million for programs administered by DOJ
and about $178 million for programs administered by HHS.[Footnote 3]
Although criminal justice, health, and domestic violence experts
believe that valid and reliable estimates have the potential to be of
use to policy makers, service providers, and researchers, there are
concerns that current crime statistics do not provide a full assessment
of the problem. The Violence Against Women and DOJ Reauthorization Act
of 2005, enacted January 5, 2006, requires GAO to conduct a study and
report on data indicating the prevalence of domestic violence, dating
violence, sexual assault, and stalking among men, women, youth, and
children, as well as services available to these victims.[Footnote 4]
We developed two objectives to respond to this mandate.
1. To what extent do national data collection efforts report prevalence
of men, women, youth, and children who are victims of domestic
violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking?
2. What support services (e.g., counseling, medical, legal, etc.) are
available to victims of these categories of crime and what are the
number and characteristics of victims receiving these services by type
of service?
This report addresses the first objective. Our work on the second
objective is ongoing.
To assess the extent to which national data collection efforts report
prevalence of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating
violence, and stalking, we obtained information from and interviewed
officials at DOJ's Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice
Statistics, National Institute of Justice, and Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office on Violence Against Women,
and Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information
Services Division. We also obtained information and interviewed
officials at HHS's National Institutes of Health and Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention
and Control--Division of Violence Prevention. Further, we gathered
information from research and advocacy organizations related to the
crimes under study, including the National Academy of Sciences'
National Research Council; Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse
Reporting; Men's Health Network; Rape, Abuse, and Incest National
Network; National Center for Victims of Crime; National Domestic
Violence Hotline; and Stalking Resource Center. We reviewed pertinent
federal laws and conducted literature searches, focusing on reporting
systems and surveys from which results were issued or reported since
2001.[Footnote 5] However, we did not independently evaluate the
methodology used in any of these studies and we are not making any
assessments regarding their overall merit.
In October 2006, we briefed your offices on the results of our work or
provided a copy of our briefing slides to your staff. This report
conveys the information provided during those discussions.
We conducted our work from April through October 2006 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Results:
Since 2001, the amount of national research that has been conducted on
the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault has been
limited, and even less research has been conducted on dating violence
and stalking. No single, comprehensive effort currently exists that
provides nationwide statistics on the prevalence of these four
categories of crime among men, women, youth, and children. Rather,
various national efforts address certain subsets of these crime
categories among some segments of the population. For example, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Violent
Death Reporting System, which collects incident-based data from
multiple sources, such as coroner/medical examiner reports, gathers
information on violent deaths, including those resulting from domestic
violence and sexual assaults. This system and the other national data
collection efforts were not intended to provide comprehensive estimates
on the prevalence associated with domestic violence, sexual assault,
dating violence, and stalking. Some of these national data collection
efforts focus largely on incidence--the number of separate times a
crime is committed against individuals during a specific time period--
rather than prevalence--the unique number of individuals who were
victimized during a specific time period.[Footnote 6] Obtaining both
incidence and prevalence data is important for determining services to
provide to victims of crimes. In addition, HHS noted that both types of
data are important for determining the impact of violence and
strategies to prevent it from occurring. Table 1 in the attached
briefing slides (see enc. II, p. 29) shows the 11 national efforts we
identified that have reported data since 2001 on certain aspects of
domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. More
detailed information about these efforts is contained at the end of
enclosure II.
The national data collection efforts we reviewed cannot provide a basis
for combining their results to compute valid and reliable nationwide
prevalence estimates because the efforts use varying definitions. For
example, CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System's definition of
dating violence included the intentional physical harm inflicted upon a
survey respondent by a boyfriend or girlfriend. In contrast, the
Victimization of Children and Youth Survey's definition did not address
whether the physical harm was intentional. Officials from the National
Institute of Justice (NIJ) and Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
acknowledge that estimating prevalence in the absence of widely
accepted and used uniform definitions is a challenge.
Certain agencies have taken steps to build consistency in some of their
collection efforts. For example, CDC, in collaboration with the Office
of Justice Programs (OJP) and others, established uniform definitions
for certain forms of domestic violence in 1999 and for sexual assault
in 2002, with the intent of promoting and improving consistency among
the research community. CDC and OJP encourage but do not require
grantees to use these definitions as part of their research efforts and
cannot always use these definitions in their own work. Although CDC and
OJP acknowledge that using standard definitions of these offenses may
be advantageous, they believe there are circumstances that preclude
such use. For example, CDC officials said that some of the current data
collection efforts, such as the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance
System, were developed before CDC established the uniform definitions.
They also said it would be difficult to alter the definitions used in
these efforts because the efforts continue to be used to provide
comparable data to measure trends over time in the United States.
However, in 2004, the National Academy of Sciences' National Research
Council reported that top priority should be given to developing clear
definitions and cautioned that without consistency in the use of terms
across studies, accurate prevalence estimates will remain elusive.
Further, the national data collection efforts we reviewed cannot
provide a basis for combining their results to compute valid and
reliable nationwide prevalence estimates because the efforts have
varying scopes in terms of the incidents and categories of victims that
are included. For example, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data
System includes only reported sexual assaults against children, not
unreported incidents. Furthermore, as noted earlier, CDC's Youth Risk
Behavior Surveillance System definition of dating violence includes
intentional physical harm inflicted upon a survey respondent, but
excludes youth who are not in grades 9-12 and those who do not attend
school. In contrast, the Victimization of Children and Youth Survey was
addressed to youth ages 12 and older, or those who were at least in the
sixth grade.
Although perfect data may never exist because of the sensitivity of
these crimes and the likelihood that not all occurrences will be
disclosed, initiatives are under way to provide additional information
related to the prevalence of these issues. For example:
² Domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking initiatives: CDC,
NIJ, and the Department of Defense are collaborating on a National
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey to address certain forms of
domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. CDC reported that it
expects the survey to be fully administered by 2008. Although the
survey will gather information regarding experiences that occurred
during an individual's life span, it will not be administered to people
under age 18.
² Other stalking initiatives: The Office on Violence Against Women and
BJS told us that they collaborated to conduct the National Crime
Victimization Survey--Stalking Supplement and expect to report results
in the summer of 2007. According to BJS, this survey will obtain
information about the identity of the stalker, nature of the stalking
incidents, consequences to the victim, and actions the victim took
about the incident, including whether it was reported to the police.
However, while this supplement will gather data on stalking incidents
involving adult victims, it will not collect information on stalking
associated with youth ages 12-17.
² Other domestic violence and sexual assault initiatives: CDC began
collecting data through a telephone survey on intimate partner violence
and sexual violence as part of its ongoing Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System. In 2005, CDC administered the intimate partner
violence module to approximately 77,000 people in 16 states and
administered the sexual violence module to about 115,000 people in 26
states.
In addition to these efforts, under an Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) grant, the University of New Hampshire
is planning to conduct the National Study on Children's Exposure to
Violence. DOJ officials told us the data will be collected from
September 2007 to June 2008, and OJJDP officials said that the study
will assess variations in incidence and lifetime prevalence of
children's exposure to a broad array of violence and abuse.
Furthermore, NIJ recently sponsored two seminars aimed at identifying
key issues related to measuring the prevalence of dating violence,
domestic violence, and sexual assault against women, improving
interagency coordination on these issues, and highlighting the results
of the latest efforts on domestic violence and sexual assault.
If these efforts are completed as planned, CDC and DOJ will make
progress in collecting information needed to determine the extent to
which men, women, youth, and children are victims of domestic violence,
sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. However, some
information gaps will remain, particularly in the areas of dating
violence among victims age 12 and older and stalking among victims
under age 18.
To cost-effectively address information gaps, it is important to
consider additional costs that would be incurred in collecting new or
different data as well as the usefulness of such data. It is equally
important to consider the benefits resulting from the use of these data
(different allocations of resources) and the availability of funds to
collect such data (a cost-benefit analysis). According to DOJ
officials, a cost-benefit analysis should precede any future large-
scale effort aimed at national prevalence estimates.
Conclusions:
Current national data collection efforts cover portions of domestic
violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking among different
segments of the population. Because the efforts use different
definitions and vary in scope, they cannot be combined and leveraged to
determine the nationwide prevalence of these categories of crime. The
absence of comprehensive nationwide prevalence information somewhat
limits the ability to make informed policy and resource allocation
decisions about the statutory requirements and programs created to help
address these four categories of crime and victims. Although
policymakers may never have perfect data, DOJ and HHS have collaborated
to obtain more uniformity across research efforts and have initiatives
in the early stages that could be used to collect information regarding
the prevalence of certain crimes for some segments of the population.
However, some information gaps will remain. DOJ and HHS have not yet
determined to what extent they can cost-effectively revise current
efforts or design new initiatives so as to collect more consistent data
that can be combined to better build nationwide estimates. To decide on
the cost-effectiveness of obtaining better data, policymakers would
need to consider the marginal costs to collect more or different data,
the utility of obtaining better data, benefits to be derived from the
use of better data (different allocations of resources), and
availability of funds to gather better data.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To provide Congress and agency decision makers with more comprehensive
information on the prevalence of domestic violence, sexual assault,
dating violence, and stalking to assist them in making policy decisions
on grants and other issues associated with these four categories of
crime, we are recommending that the Attorney General and the Secretary
of Health and Human Services collaboratively take the following four
actions:
² determine the extent to which initiatives being planned or under way
can be designed or modified to address existing information gaps;
² identify and evaluate alternatives for addressing any remaining gaps;
² incorporate such alternatives deemed cost-effective in future budget
requests; and:
² to the extent possible, require the use of common definitions when
conducting or providing grants for federal research to leverage
individual collection efforts so that the results of such efforts can
be readily combined to achieve nationwide prevalence estimates.
Agency Comments:
We provided a draft copy of this report with the attached briefing
slides to HHS and DOJ for comment. HHS provided formal written comments
on a draft of this report on October 25, 2006, which are presented in
enclosure III. In commenting on the draft report, HHS concurred with
the recommendations and stated that it will continue to expand its
collaborations with DOJ to improve data collection and monitoring of
violence. HHS also provided technical comments, which we have
incorporated as appropriate.
DOJ declined to provide formal written comments on a draft of this
report. However, DOJ provided technical comments on the draft briefing
slides, which we incorporated as appropriate. In its technical
comments, DOJ expressed concern regarding the potential costs
associated with implementing our proposed recommendations and suggested
that a cost-benefit analysis be conducted. We agree that performing a
cost-benefit analysis is a critical step, as acknowledged by our
recommendation that DOJ and HHS incorporate alternatives for addressing
information gaps deemed cost-effective in future budget requests. DOJ
officials also expressed concern that our work was primarily focused on
issues associated with prevalence data. As discussed in this report and
the attached briefing slides, we believe obtaining information on both
prevalence and incidence data is important for determining services to
provide to victims of crime. However, we did not conduct a detailed
analysis of incidence data because doing so was outside the scope of
our review.
We are sending copies to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, the House Committee on Government Reform, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and other interested
parties. We will also make copies available to others on request.
In addition, the report will be available on GAO's Web site at
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If your office or staff have any questions concerning this report,
please contact me at (202) 512-8777 or by e-mail at Larencee@gao.gov.
Other GAO contacts and key contributors to this report are listed in
enclosure IV.
Signed by:
Eileen Regan Larence, Director:
Homeland Security and Justice Issues:
Enclosures (4):
Enclosure I: List of Committees:
The Honorable Arlen Specter:
Chairman:
The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on the Judiciary:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Michael B. Enzi:
Chairman:
The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:
United States Senate:
The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Chairman:
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on the Judiciary:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Joe Barton:
Chairman:
The Honorable John D. Dingell:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Energy and Commerce:
House of Representatives:
Enclosure II: Briefing to Congressional Committees:
Prevalence of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, and
Stalking:
Briefing to Congressional Committees:
Introduction:
In hearings conducted between 1990 and 1994, Congress noted that
violence against women was a problem of national scope and that the
majority of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault,
and stalking were perpetrated against women. These hearings culminated
in the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 to
address these issues on a national level.[Footnote 7]
VAWA established grant programs within the Departments of Justice (DOJ)
and Health and Human Services (HHS) for state, local, and Indian tribal
governments and communities. These grants have various purposes, such
as providing services to victims and training for law enforcement
officers and prosecutors. The total fiscal year 2006 appropriation
level for violence against women programs is about $560 million-
approximately $382 million for programs administered by DOJ and about
$178 million for programs administered by HHS.[Footnote 8]
Although the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported a decline in
family violence[Footnote 9] between 1993 and 2002, some service
providers and advocacy groups do not believe current crime statistics
provide a full assessment of the problem.
* For example, National Domestic Violence Hotline officials cautioned
that statistical reports must be used carefully because they do not
account for all cases of violence, such as those that are
unreported.[Footnote 10]
Criminal justice, health, and domestic violence experts believe that
valid and reliable estimates have the potential to be of use to
policymakers, service providers, researchers, and others in determining
the success of programs to combat domestic violence, sexual assault,
dating violence, and stalking and the need for changes or additions to
these programs.
* The Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization
Act of 2005, enacted January 5, 2006, requires GAO to conduct a study
and report on data indicating the prevalence of domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking among men, women, youth,
and children, as well as the services available to these
victims.[Footnote 11]
Objectives:
In responding to this mandate, we outlined two objectives. We assessed:
1. to what extent national data collection efforts report prevalence of
men, women, youth, and children who are victims of domestic violence,
sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking and:
2. the support services (e.g., counseling, medical, legal, etc.)
available to victims of these categories of crime and the numbers and
characteristics of victims receiving these services by type of service.
This briefing addresses the first objective. Our work on the second
objective is ongoing.
Scope and Methodology:
To address the first objective, we obtained information from and
interviewed officials of the following key federal entities because
they are involved in ongoing efforts to (1) collect and maintain
information or (2) conduct or fund research to address certain aspects
of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking:
* DOJ:
- Office of Justice Programs' BJS, National Institute of Justice (NIJ),
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP):
- Office on Violence Against Women (OVW):
- Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Criminal Justice Information
Services Division:
* HHS:
- National Institutes of Health:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center
for Injury Prevention and Control-Division of Violence Prevention:
Through research efforts, we also identified the following research or
advocacy organizations and contacted them to obtain information related
to the prevalence of these categories of crime:
* National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council:
* Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting:
* Men's Health Network:
* Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network:
* National Center for Victims of Crime:
* National Domestic Violence Hotline:
* Stalking Resource Center:
We reviewed pertinent federal laws related to domestic violence, sexual
assault, dating violence and stalking.
We conducted literature searches of DOJ publications, HHS publications,
prior GAO report Congressional Research Service reports., and the
Internet. As assault we reviewed information on pertinet national
health and crime reporting systems and surveys that are ongoing,
episodic and onetimeffrts from federal and non-federal sources. To
obtain recent information, we focused on reporting systems and surveys
from which results were issued or re ported since 2001.[Footnote 12] We
did not independently evaluate the methodology used in any of these
studies.
We attended an NIJ workshop that gathered representatives from various
program and research funding agencies to discuss the results of recent
research and data collection efforts.
We conducted our work from April through October 2006 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Results in Brief:
No single, comprehensive effort currently exists that provides
nationwide statistics on the prevalence of these four categories of
crime for men, women, youth, and children. Designing a single effort
would be costly given the resources required to collect such data and
may be duplicative of some existing efforts.
Available national data collection efforts contain information on
various subsets of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence,
and stalking among certain segments of the population and were not
intended to provide comprehensive estimates.
Some of these efforts collect data on incidence rather than prevalence.
Both are important for appropriately determining resources needed to
provide services to victims of crimes.
* Incidence refers to the number of separate times a crime is committed
against individuals during a specific time period.
* Prevalence is the unique number of individuals who were victimized
during a specific time period.
We cannot combine the results of the various collection efforts to
estimate the prevalence of these four categories of crime nationwide
among all segments of the population because the efforts:
* use different definitions to measure the various offenses, and:
* have varying scopes such as including different categories of victims
and not always including estimates of unreported incidents.
Several initiatives are under way that could help address some
information gaps if they are completed as planned, but other gaps will
remain, such as in the area of dating violence.
To provide Congress with more comprehensive information on the
prevalence of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and
stalking to assist in carrying out its legislative and oversight
agenda, we are recommending that DOJ and HHS:
* determine the extent to which initiatives being planned or under way
can be designed to address existing gaps in information on domestic
violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking,
* identify and evaluate alternatives to address any remaining gaps,
* incorporate alternatives deemed cost-effective in future budget
requests, and:
* to the extent possible, require the use of common definitions when
conducting or providing grants for federal research to leverage
individual collection efforts so that the results of such efforts can
be readily combined to achieve nationwide prevalence estimates.
Background:
Domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking are
complex subjects. They can include many forms of violence, such as
verbal threats, physical assaults, murder, and rape and a wide range of
victims (e.g., spouses, intimate partners, children, and other family
members).
Some of these forms of violence have not always been considered crimes.
The offenses involved in these forms of violence, like most violent
crimes, generally are prosecuted at the state and local levels.
VAWA created a number of grant programs to address domestic violence,
sexual assault, and stalking as well as authorized additional funding
for domestic violence shelters.[Footnote 13]
In 2000, during the reauthorization of VAWA, language was added to the
law to provide greater emphasis on dating violence in efforts to
address violence against women.
The 2006 reauthorization of VAWA expanded existing grant programs and
added new programs addressing, among other things, young victims, the
housing and economic needs of victims, and the health care system's
response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking.[Footnote 14]
Limited National Data Are Available to Estimate Prevalence:
Since 2001, the amount of national research that has been conducted on
the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault has been
limited, and even less research has been conducted on dating violence
and stalking.
No single, comprehensive data collection effort has been conducted to
determine the prevalence of these four categories of crime among men,
women, youth, and children. Rather, various national efforts address
certain subsets of these categories of crime among some segments of the
population and were not intended to provide comprehensive estimates.
Designing a single, comprehensive data collection effort to address
these four categories of crime among all segments of the population
independent of existing efforts would be costly, given the resources
required to collect such data. Furthermore, it would be inefficient to
duplicate some existing efforts that already collect data for certain
aspects of these categories of crime.
Some of these efforts focus largely on incidence rather than
prevalence.
* Incidence refers to the number of separate times a crime is committed
against individuals during a specific time period.
* Prevalence is the unique number of individuals who were victimized
during a specific time period.
The following hypothetical statements illustrate incidence and
prevalence:
* 4,110 separate occurrences of domestic violence against women were
reported during 1938 (incidence), whereas:
* 2,500 women were victims of these 4,110 occurrences (prevalence).
Obtaining both incidence and prevalence data is important for
determining services to provide to victims of crimes. In addition, HHS
noted that both types of data are important for determining the impact
of violence and strategies to prevent it from occurring.
The National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center reported
that to effectively measure rape, it is important to determine how many
rape cases have occurred (incidence) and how many women have ever been
raped (prevalence) to determine the level of services that the state
will need to provide to victims.[Footnote 15]
As reflected in table 1, we identified 11 national efforts that have
reported data on certain aspects of these categories of crime. These
efforts provide a mixture of prevalence and incidence data. Additional
information on these efforts is provided in appendix I.
Table 1: National Data Collection Efforts with Results Reported or
Issued since 2001 Relevant to Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating
Violence, and Stalking.
Data collection effort: Summary Uniform Crime Reporting Program;
categories of crime: Sexual Assault;
Prevalence data: No;
Incidence data: Yes.
Data collection effort: National Incident-based Reporting System;
categories of crime: Domestic violence, Sexual assault, stalking;
Prevalence data: No;
Incidence data: Yes.
Data collection effort: national crime Victimization Survey;
categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault;
Prevalence data: Potentially[A];
Incidence data: Yes.
Data collection effort: National Violent Death Reporting System[B];
categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault;
Prevalence data: Yes;
Incidence data: Yes.
Data collection effort: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System;
categories of crime: Sexual assault, dating violence;
Prevalence data: Yes;
Incidence data: no.
Data collection effort: National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System;
categories of crime: Sexual Assault;
Prevalence data: Yes;
Incidence data: No.
Data collection effort: National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-
All injury program;
categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault;
Prevalence data: No;
Incidence data: Yes.
Data collection effort: Extent, nature, and Consequences of Rape
Victimization: Findings from the National Violence Against Women
Survey;
categories of crime: Sexual Assault;
Prevalence data: Yes;
Incidence data: Yes.
Data collection effort: The Harris Poll #50;
categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault;
Prevalence data: yes;
Incidence data: No.
Data collection effort: The Victimization of Children and Youth;
categories of crime: Sexual assault, dating violence;
Prevalence data: Yes;
Incidence data: Yes.
Data collection effort: Injury Control and Risk Survey-2;
categories of crime: Stalking;
Prevalence data: Yes;
Incidence data: Yes.
[A] Although BJS collects data that could be used to determine
prevalence related to domestic violence and sexual assault, BJS has
declined to produce prevalence estimates because of the difficulties
and complexities associated with the task.
[B] This system contains data only on fatalities, thus, an individual
is entered into the system one time upon death. Therefore, the
prevalence and incidence rates for data in this system would be the
same.
Source: GAO's analysis of national data collection efforts.
[End of table]
Varying Definitions and Scope Make It Difficult to Combine Results for
Nationwide Estimates:
In 2004, the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council
reported that currently available information on prevalence was
inadequate because it had been derived from efforts with varying
definitions and scope.
The national data collection efforts we reviewed cannot provide a basis
for combining their results to compute valid and reliable nationwide
prevalence estimates because the efforts use varying definitions and
have varying scopes.
National data collection efforts currently available use different
definitions to measure these various forms of violence.
* For example, CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System's
definition of dating violence included the intentional physical harm
inflicted upon a survey respondent by a boyfriend or girlfriend. In
contrast, the Victimization of Children and Youth Survey's definition
did not address whether the physical harm was intentional.
NIJ and BJS officials acknowledge that estimating prevalence in the
absence of widely accepted and used uniform definitions is a challenge.
Agencies have taken steps to build consistency into some of their
collection efforts.
* For example, CDC, in collaboration with OJP and others, established
uniform definitions for certain forms of domestic violence in 1999 and
for sexual assault in 2002, with the intent of promoting and improving
consistency among the research community. CDC and OJP encourage but do
not require grantees to use these definitions as part of their research
efforts and report they cannot always use these definitions in their
own work when these efforts began before the definitions were
developed.
Although CDC and OJP acknowledge that using standard definitions of
these offenses may be advantageous, they believe there are
circumstances that preclude such use.
* For example, CDC officials said that some of the current data
collection efforts, such as the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance
System, were developed before CDC established the uniform definitions.
They also said it would be difficult to alter the definitions used in
these efforts because the efforts continue to be utilized to provide
comparable data to measure trends over time in the United States.
In 2004, the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council
reported that top priority should be given to developing clear
definitions and cautioned that without consistency in the use of terms
across studies, accurate prevalence estimates will remain elusive.
Varying Scopes Make It Difficult to Combine Results for Nationwide
Estimates:
National data collection efforts also have varying scopes in terms of
the incidents and categories of victims and that are included.
* For example, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
includes only reported sexual assaults against children, not unreported
incidents.
* Furthermore, as noted earlier, CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance
System's definition of dating violence includes intentional physical
harm inflicted upon a survey respondent in grades 9-12. In contrast,
the question on dating violence included in the Victimization of
Children and Youth Survey was addressed to youth a ages 12 and older,
or those who were at least in the sixth grade, but its definition of
dating violence did not address if the physical harm was intentional.
Without comparable information, including both reported and unreported
incidents, it is not possible to combine prevalence estimates from
national data collection efforts, and these efforts likely
underestimate the prevalence of these categories of crime.
Recent Initiatives May Address Some Information Gaps:
Perfect data may never exist because of the sensitive nature of these
issues and the likelihood that all occurrences related to domestic
violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking will not be
disclosed. However, initiatives are under way to provide additional
information related to the prevalence of these issues.
If these efforts are completed as planned, CDC and DOJ will make
progress in collecting information needed to determine the extent to
which men, women, youth, and children are victims of these four
categories of crime. However, some information gaps will remain,
particularly in the areas of dating violence among victims ages 12 and
older and stalking among victims under age 18.
To cost-effectively address information gaps, it is important to
consider additional costs that would be incurred in collecting new or
different data as well as the usefulness of such data. It is equally
important to consider the benefits resulting from the use of these data
(different allocations of resources) and the availability of funds to
collect such data (a cost-benefit analysis).
According to DOJ officials, no cost-benefit analysis has been
performed, and such an analysis should precede any future large-scale
effort aimed at national prevalence estimates.
Domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking initiatives:
CDC, NIJ, and the Department of Defense are collaborating on a National
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey to address certain forms of
domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. CDC reported that it
expects the survey to be fully administered by 2008. Although the
survey will gather information regarding experiences that occurred
during an individual's life span, it will not be administered to
victims under age 18.
Other stalking initiatives:
OVW and BJS told us that the collaborated to conduct the National Crime
Victimization Survey-Stalking Supplement and expect to report results
in the summer of 2007.
* According to BJS, this survey will obtain information about the
identity of the stalker, nature of the stalking incidents, consequences
to the victim, and actions the victim took about the incident including
whether it was reported to the police.
* However, while this supplement will gather data on stalking incidents
involving adult victims, it will not collect information on stalking
associated with Youth ages 12-17.
Other domestic violence and sexual assault initiatives:
CDC began collecting data through a telephone survey on intimate
partner violence and sexual violence as part of its ongoing Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance System. In 2005, CDC administered the intimate
partner violence module to approximately 77,000 people in 16 states and
administered the sexual violence module to about 115,000 people in 26
states.
Under an OJJDP grant, the University of New Hampshire is planning to
conduct the National Study on Children's Exposure to Violence. DOJ
officials told us the data will be collected from September 2007 to
June 2008.
* OJJDP officials said that the study will assess variations in
incidence and lifetime prevalence of children's exposure to a broad
array of violence and abuse.
NIJ recently sponsored two seminars aimed at identifying key issues
related to measuring the prevalence of dating violence, domestic
violence, and sexual assault against women, improving interagency
coordination on these issues, and highlighting the results of the
latest efforts on domestic violence and sexual assault.
* In July 2006, NIJ sponsored an interagency seminar to discuss
challenges associated with measuring the prevalence of dating violence.
* In August 2006, NIJ sponsored a Violence Against Women seminar for
program and research funding agencies to present the results of recent
prevalence studies and to discuss unresolved questions that may guide
future research efforts.
Conclusions:
Current national data collection efforts cover portions of these four
categories of crime among different segments of the victim population.
Because the efforts use different definitions and vary in scope, they
cannot be combined and leveraged to determine the nationwide prevalence
of these categories of crime.
The absence of comprehensive nationwide prevalence information somewhat
limits the ability to make informed policy and resource allocation
decisions about the statutory requirements and programs created to help
address these four categories of crime and victims.
Although policymakers may never have perfect data, DOJ and HHS have
collaborated to obtain more uniformity across research efforts and have
initiatives in the early stages that could be used to collect
information regarding the prevalence of certain crimes for some
segments of the population. However, some information gaps will remain.
DOJ and HHS must determine to what extent they can cost-effectively
revise current efforts or design new initiatives so as to collect more
consistent data that can be combined to better build nationwide
estimates.
Policymakers need to decide whether it is worth the cost to obtain
better data. This decision should be based on judgments about the:
* marginal costs to collect more or different data,
* utility of obtaining better data,
* benefits to be derived from the use of better data (different
allocations of resources), and:
* availability of funds to gather better data.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To provide Congress and agency decision makers with more comprehensive
information on the prevalence of domestic violence, sexual assault,
dating violence, and stalking to assist them in making policy decisions
on grants and other issues associated with these four categories of
crime, we are recommending that the Attorney General and the Secretary
of Health and Human Services collaboratively take the following four
actions:
* determine the extent to which initiatives being planned or under way
can be designed or modified to address existing information gaps,
* identify and evaluate alternatives for addressing any remaining gaps,
* incorporate such alternatives deemed cost-effective in future budget
requests, and:
* to the extent possible, require the use of common definitions when
conducting or providing grants for federal research to leverage
individual collection efforts so that the results of such efforts can
be readily combined to achieve nationwide prevalence estimates.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
We provided draft copies of these briefing slides to HHS and DOJ for
comment.
HHS concurred with the recommendations and stated that it will continue
to expand its collaborations with DOJ to improve data collection and
monitoring of violence.
HHS and DOJ provided technical comments, which we have incorporated as
appropriate.
In its technical comments, DOJ expressed concern regarding the
potential costs associated with implementing our proposed
recommendations and suggested that a cost-benefit analysis be
conducted. We agree that performing a cost-benefit analysis is a
critical step, as acknowledged by our proposed recommendation that DOJ
and HHS incorporate alternatives for addressing information gaps deemed
cost-effective in future budget requests.
DOJ officials also expressed concern that our briefing was primarily
focused on issues associated with prevalence data. As discussed in the
briefing, we believe obtaining information on both prevalence and
incidence data is important for determining services to provide to
victims of crime.
Appendix I: National Data Collection Efforts with Results Reported or
Issued since 2001:
We identified 11 national data collection efforts that address various
aspects of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and
stalking from which results were reported or issued since 2001. The
national data collection efforts are discussed in table 2 and include
information on (1) the agency or sponsor responsible for conducting the
effort; (2) whether domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence,
or stalking was included in the scope of the effort; (3) the frequency
in which the effort is conducted; and (4) the data limitations
associated with the determination of reliable prevalence estimates
related to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and
stalking on a national basis. These efforts provide a mixture of
prevalence and incidence data.
Table 1: National Data Collection Efforts with Results Reported or
Issued since 2001 Relevant to Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating
Violence, and Stalking:
Data collection efforts: Summary Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR);
[Hyperlink, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm], [Hyperlink,
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/];
Agency/sponsor: Federal Bureau of Investigation;
Description: Summary UCR is a DOJ statistical program designed to
measure the magnitude, nature, and impact of certain crimes in the
United States. More than 17,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide
(about 94 percent of the total population in 2005) voluntarily report
crime data brought to their attention to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and findings are published in a detailed annual report;
Categories of crime: Sexual assault;
Data Collection Frequency: Ongoing;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include crimes that are not reported to the police;
* This effort does not include the full range of sexual assaults (i.e.,
male rapes, forcible groping);
* Does not include data on prevalence.
Data collection efforts: National Incident-Based Reporting System
(NIBRS); [Hyperlink, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm], [Hyperlink,
http://www.fbi.gov/filelink.html?file=/ucr/cius_03/pdf/03sec5.pdf]; See
PDF file page 5 (report page 341) under center column heading labeled
"DATA";
Agency/ sponsor: Federal Bureau of Investigation;
Description: NIBRS is an incident-based reporting system designed to
collect more detailed information than is reported under the
traditional Summary UCR program. According to DOJ, to date about 33
percent of the 17,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide report crime
information to the FBI using NIBRS;
Categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking;
Data Collection Frequency: Ongoing;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include crimes that are not reported to the police;
* Currently, 30 states as well as the District of Columbia are NIBRS
certified. Of these, 10 have participation from all law enforcement
agencies in their state;
* Does not include data on prevalence.
Data collection efforts: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS);
[Hyperlink, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm], [Hyperlink,
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cv05.htm];
Agency/sponsor: Bureau of Justice Statistics;
Description: NCVS is a DOJ statistical program designed to measure the
magnitude, nature, and impact of certain crimes in the United States,
including crimes reported and not reported to the police. Twice a year,
the U.S. Census Bureau interviews household members ages 12 and over in
a nationally representative sample of approximately 42,000 households
(about 75,000 people);
Categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault;
Data Collection Frequency: Ongoing;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include individuals under age 12;
* Does not include individuals not living in a household;
* Does not include homicides;
* Although BJS collects data that could be used to determine prevalence
related to domestic violence and sexual assault, BJS has declined to
produce prevalence estimates because of the difficulties and
complexities associated with the task.
Data collection efforts: National Violent Death Reporting System
(NVDRS); [Hyperlink,
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/profiles/nvdrs/facts.htm], [hyperlink,
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5415a1.htm];
Agency/sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
Description: NVDRS collects incident-based data from multiple sources,
such as death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, and
police reports. Information is collected about the relationship between
victims and suspects as well as circumstances preceding the death, such
as whether intimate partner violence was involved;
Categories of crime: Domestic; Violence, sexual assault;
Data Collection Frequency: Ongoing;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include incidents other than violent deaths;
* NVDRS is used in 17 states.
Data collection efforts: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
(YRBSS); [Hyperlink,
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/overview.htm], [Hyperlink,
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5519a3.htm];
Agency/sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
Description: YRBSS collects data through a nationally representative
school-based survey of students in grades 9-12 that monitors priority
health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death,
disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United
States. Students are asked to complete a self-administered
questionnaire covering a variety of health risk behaviors and topics;
Categories of crime: Sexual assault, dating; violence;
Data Collection Frequency: Biennial;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include individuals who do not attend school;
* Excludes students in grades other than 9-12;
* Respondents are asked only one question on physical dating violence
and only one question on sexual assault.
Data collection efforts: National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
(NCANDS); [Hyperlink, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/systems/],
[Hyperlink,
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#can];
Agency/ sponsor: Children's Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth
and Families, Administration for Children and Families;
Description: NCANDS is a voluntary system that currently collects
annual case-level child abuse and neglect data from almost all states
(48 states and the District of Columbia for fiscal year 2005) as well
as key aggregated child abuse and neglect statistics from all states'
child protective services agencies;
Categories of crime: Sexual; assault;
Data Collection Frequency: Ongoing;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Excludes data on abused children not reported to child protective
service agencies.
Data collection efforts: National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-
All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP); [Hyperlink,
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/3002.html], [Hyperlink,
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5121a3.htm];
Agency/sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Consumer Product Safety Commission;
Description: NEISS-AIP collects data about all types and external
causes of nonfatal injuries and poisonings treated in emergency
departments in a subset of a nationally representative sample of 100
U.S. hospitals. The system collects data about the relationship of the
perpetrator to the victim (e.g., spouse, parent), as well as the
context of the crime (e.g., sexual assault);
Categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault;
Data Collection Frequency: Ongoing;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include injuries that are not reported to an emergency room;
* Does not include data on prevalence.
Data collection efforts: Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Rape
Victimization: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey
(January 2006); [Hyperlink, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-
sum/210346.htm];
Agency/sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National
Institute of Justice;
Description: This report was prepared using data collected in a
telephone survey administered to a sample of 8,000 women and 8,005 men.
Although this report was issued in 2006, the data were originally
collected from November 1995 to May 1996 to obtain information about
lifetime experiences with various types of violence;
Categories of crime: Sexual assault;
Data Collection Frequency: Onetime;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include individuals that do not live in a residential
household;
* Does not include individuals under age 18;
* Data are over 10 years old; * Does not include individuals without a
telephone.
Data collection efforts: The Harris Poll[®] #50 (June 2006);
[hyperlink,
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=677];
Agency/ sponsor: Harris Interactive;
Description: An online survey of 2,377 adult respondents ages 18 and
older was conducted to gauge the magnitude of domestic violence in the
United States;
Categories of crime: Domestic violence, sexual assault;
Data Collection Frequency: Onetime;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include individuals under age 18;
* Does not include individuals without a computer or Internet access;
* Non-probability sample.
Data collection efforts: The Victimization of Children and Youth: A
Comprehensive, National Survey (February 2005); [Hyperlink,
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV74.pdf];
Agency/sponsor: University of New Hampshire and University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill;
Description: This survey examined a large spectrum of violence, crime,
and victimization experiences in a nationally representative sample of
about 2,000 children and youth ages 2 to 17 years in the contiguous
United States. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,000 children
age 10 to 17 years and the caregivers for 1,030 children age 2 to 9
years;
Categories of crime: Sexual assault, dating violence;
Data Collection Frequency: Onetime;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include individuals over age 17;
* Does not include individuals without a telephone.
Data collection efforts: Injury Control and Risk Survey-2 (2006);
[Hyperlink,
http://www.ajpmonline.net/article/PIIS074937970600167X/abstract];
Agency/sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
Description: The first survey, conducted in 1994, involved a nationally
representative telephone survey of 5,238 individuals aged 18 and older,
and the results were reported in 1999. The second national telephone
survey, conducted from 2001 to 2003, collected data from a nationally
representative sample of 9,684 respondents (4,877 women and 4,807 men);
Categories of crime: Stalking;
Data Collection Frequency: Episodic;
Data limitations associated with the determination of reliable
nationwide prevalence estimates:
* Does not include individuals under age 18;
* Does not include individuals without a telephone.
Source: GAO analysis of national data collection efforts.
[End of table]
Enclosure III: Comments from the Department of Health and Human
Services:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation:
Department Of Health & Human Services:
Washington, D.C. 20201:
OCT 25 2006:
Eileen R Larence:
Director, Homeland Security And Justice Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Ms. Larence:
The Department of Health and Human Services has reviewed the U.S.
Government Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report entitled,
"Prevalence of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, and
Stalking"(GAO 07-148R).
HHS concurs with the draft Recommendations for Executive Action, and
will continue and expand its collaborations with the Department of
Justice to improve data collection and monitoring of violence. However,
in addition to requiring the use of common definitions, it may be
beneficial to include measurement. Although definitions may be similar,
if different operationalizations and measures are used, the result
could be that survey questions will be different and, if so, prevalence
estimates could not be combined across those studies.
The Department provided several technical comments directly to your
staff.
The Department appreciates the opportunity to comment on this draft
report before its publication.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Vincent J. Ventimilgia:
Assistant Secretary for Legislation:
Enclosure IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:Eileen R. Larence, (202) 512-8777:
Acknowledgments:
In addition to the contact named above, Debra B. Sebastian, Assistant
Director; David P. Alexander; Frances Cook; Katherine M. Davis; Melissa
Hermes; Varflay C. Kesselly; Deborah Ortega; and Clarence Tull made key
contributions to this report.
(440497):
FOOTNOTES
[1] Pub. L. No. 103-322, §§ 40001-703, 108 Stat. 1796, 1902-55 (1994).
[2] Pub. L. No. 109-162, tits. I-VII, 119 Stat. 2960, 2972-3053 (2006).
[3] These amounts reflect the across-the-board rescission reductions of
1 percent for fiscal year 2006 discretionary appropriations.
[4] Pub. L. No. 109-162, § 119, 119 Stat. 2960, 2989-90 (2006).
[5] Some of these systems and surveys obtain information about
incidents not reported to police or other authorities.
[6] The following hypothetical statement illustrates incidence and
prevalence: 4,110 separate occurrences of domestic violence against
women were reported during 1938 (incidence); whereas 2,500 women were
victims of these 4,100 occurrences (prevalence).
[7] Pub. L. No. 103-322, §§ 40001-703, 108 Stat. 1796, 1902-55 (1994).
[8] These amounts reflect the across the board rescission reductions of
1 percent for fiscal year 2006 discretionary appropriations.
[9] The Bureau of Justice Statistics defines "family violence" as all
types of violent crime committed by an offender 3 who is related to the
victim either biologically or legally, through marriage or adoption.
[10] While some data collection efforts, such as the National Crime
Victimization Survey, obtain information from survey participants about
crimes not reported to the police, some survey participants may not
disclose all incidents of crime during the survey.
[11] Pub. L. No. 109-162, § 119, 119 Stat. 2960, 2989-90 (2006).
[12] Some of these systems and surveys obtain information about
incidents not reported to police or other authorities.
[13] Pub. L. No. 103-322, §§ 40121, 40151-52, 40231, 40241, 40295,
40602, 108 Stat. 1796,1910-16,1920-21, 1932-35, 1940-42, 1951.
[14] Pub. L. No. 109-162, tits. I-VII, 119 Stat. 2960, 2972-3053
(2006).
[15] National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, "Rape
in South Carolina: A Report to the State," 20 April 9, 2003.
