“I Was Worried I Wouldn’t Be Believed”: Sexual Assault Victims’ Perceptions of the Police in the Decision to Not Report
The majority of sexual assault victims make the decision to not report their victimization to the police (Bachman, 1998; Ullman & Filipas, 2001; Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2011). While there are many reasons why a victim may choose to not report, most notable in the research are victims’ concerns about fears of mistreatment, not being taken seriously, not being believed, and the prospect of reprisal from the perpetrator (Logan, Evans, Stevenson, & Jordan, 2005; Patterson et al., 2009; Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2011).