Health & Well-being: Texas Statewide Sexual Assault Prevalence Study Final Report

Abstract

Sexual assault is a concern among women and men and a prevalent public health problem impacting 6.3 million or 33.2% of adult Texans over their lifetime. In the year prior to this survey, 413,000 sexual assault crimes occurred in Texas. Before this study, the most current statewide study on sexual assault prevalence in Texas was in 2003. In 2003, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin found that approximately 1.9 million adult Texans (1,479,912 females and 372,394 males) or 13% of adult Texans reported sexual assault victimization at some point in their lives (Busch, Bell, DiNitto, & Neff, 2003). While the 2003 study created a foundation for our knowledge of statewide prevalence of sexual assault, innovations in the science of measuring sexual assault warrant another study. Current and comprehensive understandings of the prevalence and extent of reported and unreported sexual assaults are critical to understanding the scope of the problem, designing effective responses, and developing primary prevention strategies. Even though there were some more recent reports on sexual victimization, there was still a need to benchmark sexual assault prevalence data in Texas. Several state agencies in Texas also collect updated data on interpersonal violence and sexual assault, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, Office of the Attorney General of Texas, and Texas Health and Human Services Commission. While these data provide information on reported sexual assault cases, most cases of sexual assault go unreported. As a result, these estimates might not fully capture the scope of the problem. Our study presents more detailed data about the scope of sexual assault prevalence and incidence specifically focused on Texas. This report contains the results of Health and Well-Being: The Texas Statewide Prevalence Study on Sexual Assault. The purpose of this report is to present the descriptive findings on sexual assault prevalence, health and well-being in Texas, including the victims’ relationship to perpetrators, involvement of alcohol, reporting of sexual assault to the police and the impact of sexual assault on victims. Advocates, policy-makers, researchers, medical professionals and practitioners can use these findings to better inform institutional responses and service delivery to victims in Texas. How to read this report? This report has seven major sections. The introduction, background, and methodology sections provide details about the procedures. The findings section contains relevant analyses. To make statistical data available and easy to understand infographics and explanatory highlights are used for each major finding. Our hope is that this presentation achieves that purpose. There are twelve infographics findings. The infographics are designed as stand-alone sections. Readers may also download infographics individually at: https://socialwork.utexas.edu/cswr/institutes/idvsa/ Finally, it was important to include results that did not yield statistically relevant findings. It is important to understand that conclusions should not be drawn with these data.