Status of sexual violence prevention in Indiana

In an effort to assess the status of sexual violence in Indiana, a variety of actions were taken including a literature review, key informant interviews, analysis of the 2007 Female Victimization in Indiana Survey data, and facilitation of district forums to collect qualitative data. The American Medical Association refers to sexual violence as a “silent, violent epidemic.” Pre-1986, Indiana's anti-sexual violence programs consisted of 26 response-type programs for victims serving 92 counties. In 1996, the CDC shifted focus to primary prevention of sexual violence through funding aimed at rape prevention and education. Consequently, an influx of anti-sexual violence programs followed in Indiana. However, each program began to collect rape and sexual violence data differently. Thus, an incongruence in comparable data existed across the state and demonstrated the need for consistent data collection. Accordingly, the 2007 Female Victimization in Indiana Survey, a randomized telephone survey, aimed at measuring the prevalence of victimization of adult females. Despite the inherent limitations to telephone surveys, 13% of females in Indiana responded to being a victim of a completed rape. Moreover, specific demographics, such as age, race, marital status, and religious preference, will be analyzed through logistic regression as predictors for being a victim of a specific crime, ranging from theft to stalking to completed rape. With these analyses combined with district forums aimed at collecting opinions/beliefs from Indiana residents on why sexual violence happens, this state hopes to find measures that will champion the initiative for primary prevention of this epidemic.