Victim Participation in Sexual Assault Cases: The Importance of Investigative Actions and Victim Support

Abstract

Victim participation has been found to be one of the most important predictors of sexual assault case progression. Previous research has identified a number of factors that predict victim participation in sexual assault cases. However, further research is needed to examine the effects of investigator actions and victim support on participation. A random sample of sexual assault reports was gathered from one police department in the western U.S. The results indicated that investigative actions were strong predictors of victim participation, in addition to victim age. However, victim support did not predict participation as hypothesized. These findings suggest that efforts to illustrate to victims that their case is being taken seriously may be particularly helpful for increasing victim participation.