THE MEASUREMENT OF RAPE VICTIMIZATION IN CRIME SURVEYS

Although the past 20 years have seen changes in the statutory definiti on of rape, its investigation, and its adjudication, for the bulk of t his period those responsible for the measurement of rape victimization in national and international crime surveys have clung to inadequate rape screening. Because the resultant victimization estimates failed t o capture accurately the incidence of rape, independent researchers tr ied to fill the data vacuum, a situation that has precluded a cumulati ve database and promoted an antirape backlash. Flawed federal data ill -serve policy needs and fuel a negative recovery climate for victims. This article argues that it is time for U.S. victimization statistics to measure rape with the same precision accorded other crimes and to c ommunicate more openly to the public the limitations of crime survey m ethodology to detect intimate violence including rape.