Washington, D.C. has seen a recent decline in reported sexual assaults, which contrasts the national trend of increasing reporting. Although this decline may seem troubling at a time when movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have made headlines, D.C. is working hard to provide resources to sexual assault victims.

National Data

The FBI Uniform Crime Report releases national crime data each year. The FBI’s 2017 UCR shows reported sexual assaults are up by almost 20 percent from 2013. Between 2010 and 2017, reported assaults in the U.S. have varied year by year, but have been on the overall rise.

For more than 80 years, the FBI’s definition of rape was: “Carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” This definition, the legacy definition, limited the crimes that could be classified as rapes.

In 2013, the FBI revised the definition of rape to be: “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

The new definition removed forcibly and refers to consent, while also including victims of any gender. It also expanded the number of assaults that could be classified as rapes. When the FBI collects the total number of sexual assaults using the revised definition of rape, the totals are much higher than when using the legacy definition.

D.C. Data

While national reporting statistics are climbing, D.C.’s reporting numbers are falling.

In D.C., sexual assaults are referred to in data collection as sex abuse. D.C.’s definition of sex abuse is almost identical to the FBI’s revised definition of rape, but the trends in reporting rates are different. In D.C., the number of reported sexual assaults increased steadily from 2010 until 2016, but then drops off.

The Metropolitan Police Department uses the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting system, which closes cases based on arrests and exceptional means, known as an exceptional clearance. Exceptional clearance is defined as a case that is cleared when police have enough evidence to make an arrest but cannot due to reasons outside their control.

According to MPD data, the Sexual Assault Unit cleared more than 50 percent of their cases between 2014 and 2016.

A recent ProPublica investigation revealed that police departments across the country are closing cases without an arrest using the rule of exceptional clearance, which is meant to be used only in extreme circumstances. However, MPD does not follow this trend.

Elisabeth Olds, the SAVRAA Independent Expert Consultant contracted by the Executive Office of the Mayor, is responsible for monitoring the way the D.C. handles sexual assault cases. Olds confirmed that the MPD is following appropriate case closing protocol.

“By and large, as a unit, the Sexual Assault Unit is not inappropriately closing cases,” Olds said. “These people work absurdly hard.”

The MPD has been responsive to victims of sexual assault in recent years. A 2015 report released by the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants said that 77 percent of victims interviewed reported that they felt believed and detectives were empathetic to their situation.

MPD did not respond to a request for comment.

Victim Services

D.C. has a network of politicians, advocates and medical professionals that are working hard to ensure that victims have the support they need to pursue their cases, if they choose to do so.

A key resource for victims seeking justice is a piece of legislation called the Sexual Assault Victims’ Rights Act of 2014. SAVRA grants victims the right to have an advocate present during forensic exams and law enforcement questioning, have their sexual assault evidence kits processed within 90 days, and to be informed of the results of any toxicology or DNA testing.

Regina Curran, American University’s Title IX coordinator, said that providing victims with a bill of rights is a helpful first step in the case review process.

“There could be no better change than empowering victims and giving them a voice that is taken seriously,” Curran said.

In 2017, Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed an updated version of SAVRA to the D.C. Council. Bowser’s proposal, known as SAVRA 2.0, included provisions that would expand the law’s coverage to include victims between the ages of 12 and 17.

SAVRA 2.0, which is still in committee in the D.C. Council, would expand the pool of advocates available to sexual assault victims to ensure that everyone has access to an advocate. However, non-profit organizations and service providers for victims find SAVRA 2.0 controversial. Leise Gergley, a senior case manager for the Network of Victim Recovery DC, said that allowing anyone to assist a victim at the crime scene could hurt their case.

“Saying that anyone could be a sexual assault advocate could also be problematic if they don’t have the right training,” Gergley said.

Gergely has assisted victims in many different ways, from recruiting advocates to go to hospitals to going to court with those seeking protection orders. NVRDC has seen an increase in the number of victims coming into the hospital to get forensic exams in recent years.

“I think the organizations that aren’t law enforcement are seeing more of an uptick because people are looking for that care,” Gergley said.

Gergley attributes the media as a major factor in the discretion between the number of cases reported and the number of victims seeking assistance.

“In the media, the way that they’ve seen people who come forward be treated in the criminal process or the various other processes we’ve seen survivors stand up for…I think it’s really discouraging for folks,” Gergley said.

NVRDC is an advocate arm of DC’s Sexual Assault Response Team, which is made up of nurses, police, medical examiners and other nonprofits to provide care and legal help for victims.

Colleen Gallopin, Executive Director of D.C. Forensic Nurse Examiners and one of SART’s co-chairs, said that the bringing this group of people together is “groundbreaking” for finding the best practices in sexual assault response.

SART gives the key players in sexual assault prevention a chance to brainstorm as a team. When a forensic lab technician suggests a more accurate data collection method for the forensic nurses to implement, the Metropolitan Police Officers and prosecutors have a chance to weigh in. If a call for change by one branch of SART is echoed by another, that new protocol will be implemented, so long as it does not impede the prosecution process.

“We’re able to move the District a little closer to whatever that ideal is,” Gallopin said.