In 2019, WCW's Justice and Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative concluded a study funded by the National Institutes of Justice on the prosecution of sexual assault cases in the U.S. Their final report found that for every 100 sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults reported to police, only one case ended in a guilty verdict through trial. The authors investigated why so few cases led to arrest or trial and identified common characteristics of cases that continued forward through the criminal justice system.
Citation: Morabito, M.S., Williams, L.M., & Pattavina, A. (2019) Decision Making in Sexual Assault Cases: Replication Research on Sexual Violence Case Attrition in the U.S.: Final Technical Report #252689. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
