Why do some victims of gender-based violence flat out reject coming forward? Don’t they want justice? 

We like to think that if something terrible happened to us, if we were assaulted, violated, or harmed, we would speak up. We imagine justice being served. But the reality is sadly the opposite for countless survivors of gender-based violence.

 A national CDC survey reveals that one in four women in the U.S. have survived either a completed or attempted rape. Close to half have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner at some point in their life. Despite horrific crimes being committed against these victims, crimes that rob them of their dignity, RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) still says that only 1 in 5 sexual assault victims go to the authorities. The question arises again. Don't they want justice? 

They obviously do, however, the disparity itself is deeply telling. It highlights how cultural stigma surrounding gender-based violence is not separate from the slander and blame victims often face – rather, it fuels it. This stigma, deeply embedded in social norms and perpetuated by media narratives, often manifests as victim-blaming, character assassination, and public scrutiny. Following the decision to report events to police, victims are oftentimes met with blame, dismissal, and are frequently shunned by those around them. Considering these possible outcomes, victims may decide that coming forward isn’t worth risking their emotional and physical well-being.

A prime example is Amber Wyatt, a 16-year-old cheerleader who was raped on August 11th, 2006, at an after-party by two of her classmates. Wyatt was driven to a shed by two of her classmates who said that there was alcohol there; they led her to a loft on the top of the shed where the rape happened. She told her mom, one of her best friends, a boy at the party, Arthur Aven, who called the host, Cindy Mark; more importantly, she told the police and went to the hospital the next morning for a rape kit. During an interview with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly and Amber Wyatt herself, Washington Post reporter Elizabeth Bruenig expresses that although sexual assault cases are difficult to prosecute, Wyatt had a strong case, attributing it to the DNA evidence from the rape kit, including injuries and semen from one of the boys she named. Despite evidence of the rape, no one was ever prosecuted. 

In return for reporting her perpetrators, Wyatt was met with death threats from classmates at school, taunts, and was referred to as a “stupid drunk sl*t.” It got to the point where Wyatt had to be accompanied to her classes by a schoolmate because of the severity of the threats. This case in itself is an embodiment of why victims may refuse to come forward. Amber Wyatt did everything right; she told a trusted adult and peers, she reported to police, and even got a rape kit done the next morning. Victims fear being treated like Amber Wyatt, being shamed, ignored, and isolated. Society demands that victims report to police, and yet we are so quick to shame them, we require that they seek help, and then accuse them of lying or putting the situation on themselves. The upsetting reality is that Amber Wyatt’s story isn’t rare; there are many Amber Wyatts across the U.S., victims who not only had to endure gender-based violence but also had to endure the misfortune of being failed by their community and justice system.

Another factor to be taken into consideration is that gender-based violence cases are prevalent in the media, and victims, especially female survivors, are often slandered and, to a certain extent, even blamed for what happened to them. Survivors, aware of how others in similar situations are treated, may take what they know and make the decision not to go to authorities. Considering these factors, would you choose to come forward? Would you be willing to risk your emotional well-being and safety in exchange for justice that’s not guaranteed?

Gender-based violence survivors often avoid reporting due to fear of victim blaming, social rejection, and psychological trauma. The justice system's frequent failure to prioritize these cases and hold perpetrators accountable further discourages reporting. Marginalized communities face even harsher responses, making them less likely to come forward. Survivors' reluctance stems not from lack of impact, but from wanting to avoid the negative consequences that typically follow reporting.

It's evident that the justice system often fails victims of gender-based violence, offering little to no consequences for perpetrators. Victims of gender-based violence may feel as though there is no point in reporting their stories if their perpetrators aren’t going to receive consequences in the first place. The Detroit rape kit backlog exemplifies systemic failures in handling sexual assault cases. Over 11,000 untested kits from 1984-2009 were discovered abandoned in a police facility. When finally processed, they led to 239 convictions and identified 841 suspected serial rapists across 40 states. This delay allowed dangerous perpetrators to continue offending while evidence sat untested, demonstrating how deprioritizing sexual assault cases discourages victims from reporting. The justice system’s evident lack of priority in cases typically plays a key role in a victim’s refusal to come forward about gender-based violence. Like the Amber Wyatt case, situations nearly identical to the Detroit rape kit backlog exist in many other regions in the United States. Cities like Memphis, Las Vegas, Cleveland, and more have also discovered thousands of neglected sexual assault tests. 

Situations like these expose the systemic deprioritization of victims of gender-based violence (in this case, sexual assault victims), which contributes to the culture that places little to no value on gender-based violence cases and then leads to victims’ refusal to come forward. 

Nonetheless, change is possible. A 2014 state law was passed in Michigan that sets a timeline as to when police must deliver a rape kit to a laboratory for DNA analysis, along with allowing victims access to information regarding their rape kits. Michigan was also the first state to implement a statewide system to track rape kits. The justice system failed these victims for 10+ years, further pushing a narrative that states that coming forward is useless and not worth the hassle. However, the rest of the United States needs to take after Michigan and attack the culture that prevents victims from coming forward.

While systemic improvements like Michigan's reforms offer hope, the barriers to reporting remain particularly severe for vulnerable populations.

The fact that marginalized communities such as women of color, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately impacted by gender-based violence is another example of systemic failure regarding gender-based violence, as members of these communities are even more likely to be disappointed by the justice system and victim-blamed due to bias and potential language barriers. 

In the case of the Detroit rape kit backlog, more than 80% of the untested rape kits were administered on victims of color, a large share belonging to Black women. These women went through the trouble of potentially reliving their assault and seeking justice just to be put to the side for years on end. After these kits were finally tested, many serial rapists were caught. This sent the catastrophic message to Black women that their victimization isn’t "significant,” which has been reinforced through decades of systemic oppression. 

On top of women of color, immigrants pose a greater risk of experiencing an assault and not reporting it. A survey conducted by Tahirih in 2017 states that 78% of agencies claimed that immigrant survivors of violence have concerns about contacting the police. Immigrants fear seeking justice due to language barriers, limited information on the justice system, and outright fear of the police. The fact that these victims reject coming forward does not say anything about the severity of the crime or the extent to which the victim is harmed, but it shows that they have to deal with additional barriers when it comes to a system that ultimately works against them. 

Similarly, other marginalized groups face their own unique obstacles when seeking justice. Members of the LGBTQ+, despite being at a higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence, are likely to be ignored, and even flat out denied assistance in cases of gender-based violence. 47% of transgender people have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime; furthermore, 56.3% of lesbian women, 69.3% of bisexual women, 35.8% of gay men, and 38.4% of bisexual men have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, and/or stalking by an intimate partner (LGBTQ+ Relationships | Women Against Abuse, n.d.). However, compared to their heterosexual or cisgender peers, members of the LGBTQ+ are more likely to experience gender-based violence and yet are still more prone to receiving backlash and less than adequate assistance in reporting their perpetrators. 

These systemic faults are not attributed to simple errors but to a systemic mindset that labels who is “reliable” based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and status. Victims in marginalized communities not only have to face the standard setbacks a survivor goes through when reporting to police, but also additional setbacks when attempting to utilize a system that ultimately goes against them. Gender-based violence as a whole oppresses disadvantaged communities to a more disproportionate degree, which manifests itself through police bias, fear of victim-blaming, or in some extreme cases, criminalization.

The harsh reality of the matter is that a victim’s refusal to come forward doesn’t mean that the crime didn’t impact them, but the fact is that many are attempting to protect themselves from the damage that comes from reporting gender-based violence. When victims of gender-based violence choose to come forward to police, they are essentially taking extreme risks for justice that isn’t guaranteed. 

Regardless, we can look at these issues and attempt to progress to ensure victims feel comfortable and safe enough to report their perpetrators. This would not only prevent reoffenders but also send a message to all victims, a message stating that their voices matter and that their likelihood of receiving justice is higher than they think it is.