#MeToo and Sexual Violence Reporting in the National Crime Victimization Survey

Abstract

The Me Too Movement has reshaped cultural awareness about sexual violence but little is known about how this shift may have coincided with changes in the reporting of sexual violence. The current study is the first to use the National Crime Victimization Survey to compare pre-#MeToo and post-#MeToo reports of sexual violence across three different blocks of time (Time 1: 2014–2015; Time 2: October 2017–September 2019; Time 3: October 2019–September 2021). Comparisons include prevalence rates of overall sexual violence, self-reports of sexual violence, official police reports of sexual violence, and situational characteristics of sexual violence (offender was a stranger, victim injury, victim services used). We also examine gender (women/men) and racial (White women/non-White women) differences in sexual violence reporting. Using formal comparisons, we find a significant increase in the rates of overall sexual violence as well as self-reports and stranger-offender reports of sexual violence between the pre- (Time 1) and the first post-#MeToo time point (Time 2). However, these increases are no longer evident in Time 3. In addition, the changes between the pre- (Time 1) and the first post-#MeToo time point (Time 2) are driven primarily by White women’s reporting of sexual violence, and we find no significant changes in the rates of sexual violence experienced by men nor non-White women during these time periods.

Keywords

prevention sexual assault media and violence

Movements encouraging awareness about and support of survivors of sexual violence have been around for more than 50 years with Tarana Burke’s founding of The Me Too Movement gaining notable traction since the early 2000s. But American actress Alyssa Milano’s 2017 post on Twitter, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet,” with the accompanying text-based image of “Suggested by a friend: If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem” (Milano, 2017), received a staggering response with some 20,000 retweets, replies, and likes. Some even hailed this to be a “watershed moment” in the acknowledgment of sexual violence (Hindes & Fileborn, 2020, p. 1). Though contention exists about the significance of Milano’s tweet and the years of activism that preceded it, collectively, what is now known as “The Me Too Movement” has reshaped cultural awareness about sexual violence. We do not know, however, whether this growing awareness has coincided with changes in the national-level reporting rates of sexual violence.

Various movements including Take Back the Night, which started in the 1970s (Take Back the Night, n.d.), as well as rape reform legislation changes (Spohn & Horney, 1993; Williams et al., 2019), have created more awareness about the diversity of sexual violence in the past 50 years. In terms of reporting, analyses of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate a 39% increase in police reports of rape from 1973 to 2005, with much of that shift being attributed to increases in the reports of non-stranger and non-violent sexual assaults (Baumer et al., 2003; Baumer & Lauritsen, 2010). Reasons for reporting/not-reporting have also changed over time (Bachman, 1993, 1998; Hart & Rennison, 2003) and hashtagged social media waves have created an outpouring of unofficial reports and a space to discuss police reporting of sexual violence and lack thereof. With the Me Too Movement and related social media waves shining a light on sexual violence, it is important to examine possible changes in the situational characteristics of sexual violence reports. Reporting/recognition of sexual violence is one goal of #MeToo, and unlike studies of Twitter posts, by using the NCVS, we are able to investigate national-level sexual violence reporting rates in order to discern potential large-scale changes over time. In doing so, the current study is an essential contribution to our understanding of how changes in sexual violence reporting may overlap with #MeToo.

The current study is the first to use the NCVS to compare pre-#MeToo and post-#MeToo reports of sexual violence in the years immediately prior to and after the date of Alyssa Milano’s (now) historic tweet, which is often regarded as the official start of The Me Too Movement (we complicate this history below). Specifically, we compare pre-#MeToo and post-#MeToo reports of sexual violence between three different blocks of time (Time 1: 2014–2015; Time 2: October 2017–September 2019; Time 3: October 2019–September 2021) and examine prevalence rates of overall sexual violence, self-reports of sexual violence, official reports of sexual violence, and some situational characteristics of sexual violence using large-scale, nationally representative data (the NCVS). We also examine gender (women/men) and racial (White women/non-White women) differences in rates of reporting sexual violence. In all, the current study considers how cultural and social media advancements in awareness about sexual violence may also coincide with shifts in reporting and ideally, a reduction in sexual violence.

Fifty Years of Changes in Recognizing Sexual Violence

To best understand #MeToo, it is important to review some of its historical context. Starting in the 1970s, activists began to spread awareness about sexual violence. This included various “Take Back the Night” demonstrations that still take place today (Take Back the Night, n.d.). The 1970s also saw the creation of community-based rape crisis centers, and in the 1980s, scholars provided evidence that demonstrated that one in four women have experienced rape (Campbell & Wasco, 2005; Koss et al., 1987; Russell, 1982). The discussion of inaccuracies surrounding narratives about rape and sexual assault, particularly the acknowledgment of “acquaintance rape” and “date rape,” also emerged in the 1980s and continues today (Burt, 1980; Koss et al., 1987; Kunst et al., 2019). The 1990s saw development of sexual assault nurse examiner programs as well as new rape reform legislation (Ahrens et al., 2000; Baumer et al., 2003; Campbell & Wasco, 2005; Spohn & Horney, 1993). Across these decades of cultural shifts, increasing awareness of the scope of sexual violence has helped many recognize the diversity in types of sexual violence and the need for a continued dialogue.

Social Media Shifts

Social media outlets have created an unprecedented platform for discussing sexual violence. Launched in 2006, Twitter’s use of hashtags to create conversations around particular topics has proved to be especially useful. For example, #feminism, among others, has been notably present in discussions of sexual violence throughout Twitter’s history (Mendes et al., 2018). Hashtagged conversations about reporting sexual violence have included #BeenRapedNeverReported, which trended in 2014 (Keller et al., 2018), #MeToo, which started its trend in 2017, and #WhyIDidntReport, which started its trend in 2018 (Schneider et al., 2021). Among these, none has been more successful than #MeToo (Bogen, Bleiweiss, et al., 2021). This is likely due to three factors. First, the founder of The Me Too Movement, Tarana Burke, had already been doing activist work surrounding sexual violence since 2006. Thus, when Alyssa Milano tweeted the phrase and it was soon after connected with Burke’s decades of work, this produced an influential coalition involving grassroots activists, famous Hollywood actors, and other powerful people. Second, under Donald Trump’s presidency (2016–2020), the U.S. experienced open mockery of violence against women (e.g., Trump’s comment “Grab ‘em by the pussy”, Victor, 2017; see also Rothe & Collins, 2019). The timing of the initial #MeToo tweet provided a much-needed release valve and thousands flocked to social media to connect with one another during these difficult times. Third, as #MeToo continued to gain recognition, Trump’s nomination of (now) Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court despite Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s public 2018 testimony of his 1980s assault against her left many survivors of sexual assault needing to speak out, many of whom used social media and the hashtags #WhyIDidntReport and #MeToo to do so (Deal et al., 2020; Schneider et al., 2021). Together, these events paved way for the cultural influence of The Me Too Movement alongside more public conversations about sexual violence. Yet, we do not know if this shift in awareness coincided with more reporting of sexual violence.

Changes Post-#MeToo

#MeToo was used 19 million times on Twitter (an average of 55,319 per day) from October 15, 2017 to September 30, 2018 (Anderson & Toor, 2018). In another analysis of U.S. internet search volume comparison data, keyword searches for “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault” were found to be 86% higher than expected from October 15, 2017 to June 15, 2018 (Caputi et al., 2019, p. 258). Another study of over 13 million tweets between October 2017 and October 2018 found that many of the hashtags that frequently co-occur with #MeToo were centered around activism (i.e., #TimesUp, #WithYou, #Resist) (Williams et al., 2019). This suggests that the global conversation about sexual violence increased in volume in the immediate post-#MeToo era (October 2017/2019), with much of the conversation focusing on the need for change.

There is also some evidence of increased discussions about sexual violence reporting since #MeToo began. One analysis found that the second-most prevalent legal term used in #MeToo tweets from October 2017 to October 2018 was “report” (just behind “harass”) (Williams et al., 2019). Another study comparing pre-/post-#MeToo internet search volumes found that searches related to the reporting of sexual assault/harassment were 30% higher than expected post-#MeToo (Caputi et al., 2019). With social media discussions about reporting increasing alongside conversations of sexual violence, official reporting to the police may have also changed due to post-#MeToo legislative shifts. For example, in 2018, 281 bills relating to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and gender equity in employment were proposed (the majority of which, 66, were passed in 2018) compared to only three passed bills (out of 12 proposed) in 2016 (Williams et al., 2019). This is significant because rape law reforms have been found to be strongly associated with increased police reporting (Frank et al., 2009).

In addition, some research reflects possible changes in societal attitudes about sexual violence since #MeToo. For example, in a 2018 Gallup Poll, women reported significantly elevated fears about sexual assault with more than one-third (36%) indicating that they have frequent/occasional concerns about being a victim of sexual assault, up from 29% in 2017 (McCarthy, 2018). In addition, college women (n = 25) in a small post-#MeToo (spring 2019) qualitative study indicated that their greater exposure to The Me Too Movement since 2017 contributed to significant increases in their fears surrounding sexual assault (Cary et al., 2022). More discussions and awareness about sexual assault brought about by #MeToo in late 2017 may have contributed to these sharp shifts in the fearfulness of sexual violence.

Overall, there is evidence to support significant social and cultural changes in the immediate years following #MeToo. However, beyond 2018, there is little research to support continued change and some have expressed concerns about backlash. For example, scholars have noted that men survivors are often missing from #MeToo conversations and that sexual violence is still sometimes being painted exclusively as an issue facing cisgender women (Gill & Orgad, 2018; Hindes & Fileborn, 2020). In addition, while the Me Too Movement was started by an African-American activist, Tarana Burke, #MeToo’s “‘footnoting’ of Black people” (Gill & Orgad, 2018, p. 1319) has been especially concerning (Fileborn & Loney-Hawes, 2019). In particular, the ways people of color experience sexual violence are still sometimes disregarded (Onwuachi-Willig, 2018). Together, it is important to recognize the ways historical cleavages that have led to critiques of the inclusiveness of The Me Too Movement may relate to sexual violence reporting.

Fifty Years of Changes in Reporting Sexual Violence to the Police

Despite notable shifts in the criminal justice system concerning rape and sexual violence since the 1970s (see Spohn & Horney, 1993), rape/sexual assault continues to be one of the most consistently underreported violent crimes to the police (Allen, 2007; Bachman, 1993, 1998; Baumer et al., 2003; Bosick et al., 2012; Chen & Ullman, 2010; Fisher et al., 2003). Even so, there have been changes in police reporting of rape and sexual assault over the past 50 years. For example, looking across NCS (National Crime Survey, 1973–1991) and NCVS (1992 to present) trends from the 1970s to the early 1990s, about half of the rapes/sexual assaults reported in these data were also reported to the police during these two decades (Allen, 2007; Bachman, 1993; Baumer et al., 2003). However, when the NCS was revised into the NCVS and its methodology was substantially redesigned in the early 1990s, significantly more unwanted sexual activity was/is now being reported.¹

For example, analyses of the NCS 1973 to 1991 and the NCVS 1992 to 2000 show that despite raw differences in rape and sexual assault reports made to police (52% vs. 31% comparatively), there were notable increases in police reporting of rape/sexual assault throughout the 1990s (Baumer et al., 2003). These increases were due to more victims indicating assaults by non-strangers (e.g., acquaintances and intimates) and assaults that were less in line with being “attacked” (e.g., less or no physical force, weapons, and/or injury) than in years prior (Baumer et al., 2003). This is not surprising given that the NCVS redesign no longer cued the respondent toward the “attack” rape stereotype (discussed further below). In addition, as noted earlier, in the 1990s, there was increasing awareness about the diversity of sexual violence (also away from the “attack” rape stereotype) as a result of various activism efforts and criminal justice reform. Incorporating data from the early 2000s, another study using data from the NCS 1973 to 1991 and the NCVS 1992 to 2005 demonstrated an overall 39% increase in the likelihood of police notification for sexual assault during this time (Baumer & Lauritsen, 2010) and other studies also find evidence of increases in rape reporting over time (Bosick et al., 2012; Wolitzky-Taylor, Resnick, McCauley, et al., 2011). Overall, official police reports of sexual violence have been increasing over the past several decades. However, it is unclear if the rising cultural awareness inspired by social media activism such as #MeToo may coincide with significant increases in police reporting of sexual violence.

Changes in Characteristics and Factors that Impact Reporting to Police

The decision to report sexual violence to a police entity is plagued with difficulties (for a review, see Belknap, 2010). Situational characteristics of assaults that fit the “blitz attack by a stranger” stereotype involve a perpetrator who is a stranger who surprises, attacks, and physically injures the victim. Especially when injuries occur, survivors have been found to be more likely to seek victim services/medical attention (Warnken & Lauritsen, 2019). All of these are factors associated with a higher likelihood of reporting rape (Allen, 2007; Bachman, 1993, 1998; Baumer & Lauritsen, 2010; Chen & Ullman, 2010; Du Mont et al., 2003; Fisher et al., 2003; Pino & Meier, 1999; Williams, 1983). However, some research suggests that many of these patterns have shifted overtime (Baumer et al., 2003) and that the “blitz attack by a stranger” stereotype may not always prevail in the decision of whether to report/not to report. This may be especially true in the post-#MeToo world due to the proliferation of informal self-reports that go against such stereotypes.

Changes in Gender and Reporting Sexual Violence

Overall, most studies indicate that women are more likely than men to experience sexual violence (e.g., Cantor et al., 2020; Smith et al., 2020). There is also evidence of gender differences in the situational rape characteristics. For example, using NCS data from 1979 to 1987, one study found that men were more likely than women to indicate being raped by a stranger with the use of a weapon (Pino & Meier, 1999). In a more recent study, women were more likely than men to indicate that they did not know the person who sexually assaulted them (36% vs. 24%), and women were more likely than men to indicate physical injury as a consequence of penetrative sexual violence (15% vs. 8%) (Cantor et al., 2020). Women also comprise the majority of victims in police reports of sexual violence and this has been the case for decades. Analyzing NCS data from 1973 to 1983, men victims were found to be 14% less likely to report to the police than women victims were (Allen, 2007). These gender differences in sexual violence reporting are well established (see also: Pino & Meier, 1999; Weiss, 2010) but it is unclear if such patterns have changed post-#MeToo.

Changes in Race/Ethnicity and Gender and Reporting Sexual Violence

People of color are at a heightened risk for sexual violence and these experiences intersect with gender. One study using NCVS data from 1992 to 2000 found that 1 in 3 (33%) men rape/sexual assault victims were non-White while only 17% of women rape/sexual assault victims were non-White (Weiss, 2010). Using NCVS data from 1999 to 2001, rates of sexual violence were highest among Native women (7.2 per 1,000 were sexual assaulted), followed by African American women (4 per 1,000), White women (3 per 1,000), Latina women (2 per 1,000), and Asian American women (1 per 1,000) (Bubar, 2009; see also: Cantor et al., 2020). In addition, people of color have experienced difficulties with reporting crime to the police related to racial biases embedded in the criminal justice system as well as direct instances of police brutality, especially against Black people (Baldwin, 2018; McManus et al., 2019). Regarding rape/sexual assault, using NCS and NCVS data from 1973 to 2005, rape/sexual assault victims that are non-Latino/a Black, Latino/a, or some other race or ethnicity have been found to be less likely to report to police when compared to White rape/sexual assault victims (Baumer & Lauritsen, 2010; Bosick et al., 2012; Rennison, 2007).

However, looking at intersections of race and gender, findings are mixed. For example, using NCVS data from 1992 to 1994, African American women were more likely to report rape to the police when compared to non-African American women (Bachman, 1998). Using a national sample of women, those identifying as a racial/ethnic category other than White or African American (which included Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander women) were 4.32 times more likely than White women to have reported their rape to the authorities (Wolitzky-Taylor, Resnick, McCauley, et al., 2011). The National College Women Sexual Victimization study found that being African American/Black increased likelihood of reporting sexual assault among college women (Fisher et al., 2003). In contrast, another study focused on college women found that being non-White (compared to being White) was associated with a lower likelihood of reporting rape to law enforcement (Wolitzky-Taylor, Resnick, Amstadter, et al., 2011). Especially in light of the Black Lives Matter Movement (Baldwin, 2018; McManus et al., 2019), it is important to consider how race/ethnicity relates to reporting sexual violence to the police post-#MeToo.

Current Study

The current study is the first to use the NCVS to compare pre-#MeToo and post-#MeToo sexual violence reporting across three different blocks of time. The authors are aware of only one other investigation that has examined the current study’s focus. An unpublished paper available on SSRN found that the reporting of sexual crimes increased by 10% during the first 2 years of The Me Too Movement (Levy & Mattsson, 2020). The current study continues to advance this important line of inquiry by using longer time periods (both pre- and post-#MeToo) and nationally representative data to understand how increased awareness about sexual violence in the post-#MeToo era may coincide with shifts in reporting sexual violence. Consistent with the goals of The Me Too Movement and existing post-#MeToo research, we expect that compared to pre-#MeToo (Time 1), NCVS reports of sexual violence have significantly increased post-#MeToo (Times 2 and 3). We explore this prediction among the overall sample, among women, among men, and among White and non-White women in terms of total sexual violence, self-reports, police reports, and among incidents that involve strangers, victim injury, and use of victim services. In doing so, the current study provides a vital contribution to our understanding of how changes in national-level sexual violence reporting may overlap with #MeToo.

Methods

Data

Data come from the public use NCVS for the years 2014 to 2021 (concatenated file, 1992–2021: ICPSR 38430).² The NCVS is implemented by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and is a nationally representative survey of criminal victimization. The NCVS probabilistically samples U.S. households that are included for three and a half years with interviews occurring every 6 months. Eligible respondents in a sampled household include all persons who are 12 years old or older. If the respondent(s) report(s) a criminal incident, the NCVS constructs a detailed incident report (one for each crime reported). This information is then aggregated into person-level, household-level, and incident-level datasets by the BJS. Because we are focused on person-level crimes (sexual violence), we used the person-level and incident-level files in our analyses. Individuals may report more than one crime in the previous 6-month span; as such, each crime includes its own incident report with the exception of series victimization.³

The BJS aggregates the NCVS data to produce yearly reports on crime victimization rates.⁴ Across the years of interest for the current study, the NCVS surveyed around 250,000 respondents per year. To allow for comparisons over time, we created three 2-year groupings.⁵ This includes a combination of data from the years 2014 to 2015 for a pre-#MeToo comparison point (Time 1), combined data from October 2017 through September 2019 for a post-#MeToo estimate (Time 2), and then our final 2-year grouping includes data from October 2019 through September 2021 for a second post-#MeToo estimate (Time 3). In 2016, the NCVS refreshed its household sampling parameters and this created issues with the weighting conditions for this particular year of data collection (more about weighting in the Appendix). We exclude the year 2016 here because the NCVS survey weights do not allow for comparing estimates across years.⁶

The NCVS uses a multistage cluster sampling design and the U.S. Census Bureau provides a series of weights with these data to account for this complex design. These weights allow analysts to produce population estimates and decrease the sampling bias as well as the unequal probability of selection. For all analyses, we use weighted data to account for nonresponse and selection bias. See the Weights and Standard Errors section of the Appendix for more details.

Dependent Variables

Total Sexual Violence and Victimization Rates

Following the standard approach to measuring rape and sexual assault using the NCVS (Flores et al., 2020), we created an aggregate measure of sexual violence at the individual level by combining eight different NCVS type of crime (TOC) measures from “Completed Rape” (TOC code 1) to “Verbal Threat of Sexual Assault” (classified as sexual assault—TOC code 19) (Morgan & Truman, 2018) (see Appendix Table 1). We examine this measure of sexual violence in combination with a variety of other variables, including gender and race, to estimate victimization rates per 1,000 persons in the population. (For a thorough discussion of how we calculate these victimization rates, see Victimization Rate Calculation in the Appendix).

Self-Report and Official Reporting of Sexual Violence

The NCVS asks victims whether or not they reported the incident to the police. If an incident was reported to the NCVS but not the police, this was coded as a self-report. If the incident was reported to the police, this was coded as a police report.

Situational Characteristics of Sexual Violence

We examined three situational characteristics of sexual violence. First, we focus on those who report that their attacker(s) was a stranger. Second, we examine if the sexual violence resulted in injury. Third, we examined whether or not victims reported that they sought help from a victim services agency (V4467) following an incident of sexual violence. See Appendix for more details.

Independent Variables

Gender

The NCVS provides a consistent binary measure of sex/gender differences (variable V3018) which allows compare men/males to women/females. See Appendix for more details.

Race/Ethnicity

The NCVS race/ethnicity response options are White, Black, Latino/a, and other/mixed race individuals. Due to the small cell count of sexual violence reported by some of these groups, we focus on White (non-Hispanic) compared to non-White groups.

Analytical Strategy

Our analyses focus on comparing the descriptive rates of sexual violence for the three time periods: pre-#MeToo (Time 1), and post-#MeToo (Times 2 and 3). We produce the weighted mean rates for each year group (via the svy: mean command with the over () option in STATA) and then formally compare these weighted means using a linear combination difference test (via the lincom command). These difference tests subtract the mean of the early point estimate from the more recent point estimate while accounting for the weighted standard error to allow for significance tests of differences. We plot both the point estimates and the difference tests in the figures and provide the formal tables of the estimates in the Appendix. The BJS recommends flagging certain estimates as unreliable and we mark estimates with large relative standard errors with a superscript ^a and for estimates based on small cell size in unweighted data we mark with a superscript ^b. See more in the Flagging Unreliable Estimates section in the Appendix.

All calculations include 95% confidence intervals based on the appropriate weighting procedures for the particular estimation tests. While we rely on figures for our statistical analyses in the main text, we include a series of formal tables in our Appendix that provides more detail. Figure notes signal the appropriate table references for the estimates produced in each figure.

Results

Figure 1 presents the descriptive differences across year categories for total sexual violence rates for a particular reporting period.⁷ Cell A presents rates from pre-#MeToo (Time 1: 2014–2015) to post-#MeToo Time 2 (October 2017–September 2019). From Time 1, the rate of total sexual violence is about 1.35 per 1,000 persons in the population. In Time 2, there is an increase in the estimated rate of total sexual violence at 2.50 per 1,000 people. Cell B presents the formal linear difference comparisons of these two rates. Here, there is a significant 1.148 increase in total sexual violence per 1,000 persons, and this represents a significant change (Belia et al., 2005).⁸ However, not all types of sexual violence explored here show a difference across these time periods. For example, there is no significant change in sexual violence reported to the police but there is a significant 0.850 increase per 1,000 people in self-reported sexual violence. Finally, somewhat contrary to our expectations, there is a 0.326 increase in the rates of sexual violence that were committed by individuals who were strangers to the victim and a 0.553 increase in the rates of sexual violence with injury. However, there are no significant differences between victim service use.

Figure 1.

Adjusted rate of rape and sexual assault victimization by time categories. (A) Time 2 rates of sexual violence per 1000 persons compared to Time 1, (B) Linear difference comparisons of Time 2 victimization rates compared to Time 1, (C) Time 3 rates of sexual violence per 1000 persons compared to Time 1, (D) Linear difference comparisons of Time 3 victimization rates compared to Time 1, (E) Time 3 rates of sexual violence per 1000 persons compared to Time 2, (F) Linear difference comparisons of Time 3 victimization rates compared to Time 2 .

The second row from Figure 1 performs the same comparison as the first row, but here we compare pre-#MeToo (Time 1: 2014–2015) to post-#MeToo Time 3 (October 2019–September 2021). Focusing on Cell D, there are very few statistically significant differences in rates of sexual violence across these time periods. These reported rates of sexual violence at Time 3 are similar to those from Time 1. The one exception here is that we observe a meaningful decrease in the use of victim services between Times 1 and 3. It appears that fewer individuals who are victims of sexual violence are using these resources across these comparative moments in time.

The final row of Figure 1 compares both post-#MeToo time periods: Time 2 (October 2017–September 2019) and Time 3 (October 2019–September 2021). Focusing on Cell F, we find a striking decrease in the relative reporting of sexual victimization. For all categories explored here, we find a significant decrease of the reported rates of sexual violence.

In Figure 2, we examine the gender differences between pre-#MeToo (Time 1: 2014–2015) to post-#MeToo Time 2 (October 2017–September 2019).⁹ The first row shows the rates of sexual violence from each time period for men as well as the linear difference between these two time periods. Focusing on Cell B, there is no change in sexual violence reporting for men. For some of these cases, the number of individuals reporting these moments of victimization is too small for formal comparison (see Appendix).

Figure 2.

Adjusted rate of rape and sexual assault victimization by time categories for men and women. Men (A) Time 2 rates of sexual violence per 1000 persons compared to Time 1, (B) Linear difference comparisons of Time 2 victimization rates compared to Time 1. Women (C) Time 2 rates of sexual violence per 1000 persons compared to Time 1, (D) Linear difference comparisons of Time 2 victimization rates compared to Time 1.

Focusing on women, the second row of Figure 2 shows large changes in rates of sexual violence. We see significant increases in the rates of total sexual violence, self-reported sexual violence, and sexual violence committed by a stranger. Specifically, we see a 2.002 increase in the rates of total sexual violence per thousand individuals. In addition, there is a 1.554 increase in self-reported sexual violence rates and a 1.026 increase in sexual violence resulting in injury from Time 1 to Time 2. However, there are no significant differences in sexual violence reporting rates to the police or victim services used.

In Figure 3, we focus on Times 1 and 2 comparisons for White and non-White women. There are no significant changes in the reported sexual violence rates between these time periods among non-White women in this sample. However, it is important to note that this may be the result of the low unweighted number of sexual violence incidents reported by these women, making many of these comparisons statistically unreliable. Yet, for White women, there are many statistically significant changes between these two time periods, including significant increases in total sexual violence, self-reports, assault with an injury, and offenses committed by a stranger. However, there are no significant changes in the rates of sexual violence reported to the police and where a victim service was used.

Figure 3.

Adjusted rate of rape and sexual assault victimization by time categories for White and non-White women. White Women (A) Time 2 rates of sexual violence per 1000 persons compared to Time 1, (B) Linear difference comparisons of Time 2 victimization rates compared to Time 1. Non-White Women (C) Time 2 rates of sexual violence per 1000 persons compared to Time 1, (D) Linear difference comparisons of Time 2 victimization rates compared to Time 1.

Summary of Results

These data demonstrate an increase in overall reporting of sexual violence from October 2017 to September 2019 inclusive of an increase in the total rates of sexual violence as well as rates of self-reports and stranger-offender reports of sexual violence between the pre-#MeToo (Time 1) and the first post-#MeToo time point (Time 2). However, by Time 3, sexual violence reporting rates looked similar to Time 1 reporting rates. This represents a significant decline in reporting from Time 2 to Time 3. Further analyses show that the changes between Times 1 and 2 are driven primarily by White women’s reporting of sexual violence because there are no significant changes in the rates of sexual violence experienced by men or non-White women.

Discussion

In the wake of The Me Too Movement and the more than 50 years of activism surrounding additional cultural and social media advancements in awareness about and diversity within sexual violence, this study investigated sexual violence reporting rates pre- and post-#MeToo in efforts to deepen our understandings of how changes in sexual violence reporting may overlap with #MeToo. Based on existing work (Alaggia & Wang, 2020; Bogen, Bleiweiss, et al., 2021; Fileborn & Loney-Hawes, 2019; Szekeres et al., 2020; Williams et al., 2019), we predicted that there would be increases in sexual violence reporting rates post-#MeToo. Surprisingly, the findings showed evidence of a rather short-lived increase in sexual violence reporting post-#MeToo that largely dissipated by the years 2019 to 2020. The reporting of sexual violence has changed in the years coinciding with the proliferation of The Me Too Movement, but these increases have not been long-term. Instead, it appears that there is evidence of a short-term shift between sexual violence reporting and time (years), with the peak of reporting being in the years 2017/2018, overlapping strongly with #MeToo. Such findings are consistent with qualitative research wherein rape victim advocates interviewed in 2019 described The Me Too Movement as more of a “moment” because they perceived it to be “fading away” or “fizzling” (Maier, 2022, p. 16).

Interestingly, when probing further into these relationships, this same short-term shift was evidenced by the total rates of sexual violence reporting as well as rates of self-reports and reports of sexual violence where the offender was a stranger. In particular, self-reports stand out as the major contributor to these patterns. This may be at least partially because the initial #MeToo tweet was soliciting exactly this: self-reports of sexual violence (via the use of “Me too” tweet replies) in efforts to “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem” (Milano, 2017). Social media lends itself nicely to self-reports because it allows some sense of anonymity (via veiled profiles) but also, some sense of community via hashtags (e.g., #MeToo). For example, a 2017 analysis of #MeToo tweets in the five consecutive weekdays following the initial #MeToo tweet found that more than half were disclosures of sexual victimization (Bogen, Bleiweiss, et al., 2021). A year later in 2018, another thematic analysis of Twitter and Reddit posts determined that the MeToo/#MeToo Movement triggered sexual abuse/assault disclosures on social media in unprecedented ways (Alaggia & Wang, 2020). With more social media self-reporting of sexual violence, it makes sense there might also be more self-reporting in survey research as well.

By increasing awareness about the complexities of sexual violence, people are more apt to recognize and code their unwanted sexual experiences as sexual violence. For example, one study conducted in 3 years overlapping with the onset of the #MeToo movement found that college students who indicated that they had experienced behaviors consistent with sexual assault were increasingly likely to label the experience a “sexual assault” after #MeToo (Jaffe et al., 2021). This pattern suggests a positive relationship between #MeToo and the recognition of past unwanted sexual experiences as “sexual assault” over time. Another set of studies that examined disclosures pre- (March 2017) and post-#MeToo (March 2019) found that students who believed #MeToo had an effect on how they think about past experiences were more likely to report unwanted sexual activity (Palmer et al., 2021). The evidence from the current study suggests that these processes of disclosure and recognition may have been heightened at the peak of #MeToo (2017/2018) and may have coincided with increases in self-reports of sexual violence in the NCVS during this time period. However, by incorporating data from time periods even further removed from 2017, we find evidence of a decline in these promising patterns.

The increases in overall stranger-offender reports of sexual violence and increases in reports with an injury post-#MeToo were not as large as the increases for self-reports, but they were statistically significant. Although this was somewhat contrary to our expectations that cultural shifts post-#MeToo might be associated with increased reporting of sexual violence incidents that do not fit the “blitz attack by a stranger” stereotype, the increased rate of stranger-offender reports and reports with an injury found here may reflect a general shift in increased recognition and awareness about sexual violence, similar to the increases in self-reporting. Indeed, in one 2017 analysis of #MeToo tweets, of those that discussed the perpetrator’s identity, a common theme was whether the person was known or unknown (stranger) to the victim and the broad findings indicated that these #MeToo tweets largely contradicted the “blitz attack by a stranger” stereotype (Bogen, Bhuptani, et al., 2022). Exposing the realities of sexual violence via social media and #MeToo may mean that more survivors are coming forward with such details. Indeed, though short-lived, the findings from the current study demonstrate that overall stranger-offender sexual violence reporting and reports with an injury increased at the peak of #MeToo (2017/2018) alongside increases in self-reports of sexual violence.

In contrast to these increases in self-reports and stranger-offender reports, there were no significant shifts during these time periods in the rates of sexual violence reported to the police nor assaults that accompanied the victim’s use of victim services. This may be because #MeToo and similar social activism movements have not focused on these aspects of sexual violence. Instead, much of the surrounding #MeToo sexual violence social activism has highlighted problems associated with (lack of) police recognition of sexual violence, including disturbing continued stereotypes about sexual violence incidents necessarily resulting in physical injury (e.g., the “classic rape” Williams, 1983). Troublingly, there is evidence that many of these problems and stereotypes remain post-#MeToo (Purvis & Blanco, 2020). For example, one 2019 experimental study found that victims were still being perceived as “more credible” if they reported their sexual assault to the police (Shi, 2022). Another study conducted in 2018 found evidence of problematic treatment by police upon disclosure of sexual assault (Alaggia & Wang, 2020). Rape victim advocates interviewed in 2019 also recognize that the dramatic increase in sexual violence disclosures via social media post-#MeToo has led to further scrutiny (Maier, 2022). Questions about the particulars of the assault (e.g., Did they even go to the police? Or the hospital?) spurred on by viewing so many sexual violence disclosures can allow for greater skepticism from onlookers built from long-standing rape myths (Burt, 1980). Overall, findings from the current study suggest that some stereotypes about what characteristics constitute a “reportable rape” may be evident even in the post-#MeToo era.

When we further explored these relationships by focusing on gender differences, our findings were both encouraging and discouraging. On the one hand, it appears that there were increases in women’s reporting post-#MeToo. Though this may have been short-lived, this is encouraging because this may mean that more women were recognizing and reporting their sexual violence perhaps more than ever before. On the other hand, there were no changes in men’s reporting of sexual violence during these time periods. This is discouraging because this lack of change may mean that recent activist efforts have not reached/helped men survivors on large scale. Indeed, unfortunately, the vast majority of previous and current discourse about sexual violence has ignored the experiences of men as victims (Hindes & Fileborn, 2020; Stemple & Meyer, 2014). The evidence here suggests a potential lack of progress toward dispelling the myths that “women are victims” and “men are perpetrators” (Stemple & Meyer, 2014).

This may be at least partially because the involvement of men in #MeToo has had its own set of challenges. For example, some research focusing on #HowIWillChange (a hashtag designed to encourage men/boys to think about their involvement in sexual violence) has found that though some men are actively interested in dismantling rape culture, others are “indignantly resistant” to social change (PettyJohn et al., 2019, p. 1). Young men may feel especially disconnected to The Me Too Movement due to their own prominent use of social media (and thus, their awareness of #MeToo) coupled with the Movement’s focus on calling out predatory men (Nutbeam & Mereish, 2022). Indeed, the hashtag #NotAllMen has been used by some to claim that men are being treated unfairly in the Me Too Movement (PettyJohn et al., 2019). Overall, it is essential that we continue to explore these patterns to understand how men (and others) are responding to #MeToo.

Our next investigation focused on gender and race and found that the short-term relationship between sexual violence reporting over these time periods was largely driven by White women’s reporting of sexual violence because there were no significant changes in the rates of sexual violence reported by non-White women over these time periods. This difference may reflect the lack of representation of women of color and more specifically, Black women’s systemic erasure from #MeToo (Fileborn & Loney-Hawes, 2019; Gill & Orgad, 2018; Onwuachi-Willig, 2018). Indeed, the African American woman founder of The Me Too Movement, Tarana Burke, and her supporters have been particularly vocal about the ways #MeToo has been problematically shaped by privileged White women (Fileborn & Loney-Hawes, 2019; Gill & Orgad, 2018; Onwuachi-Willig, 2018). It may be that #MeToo has impacted women of color in ways that differ from White women (Cantalupo, 2019; Palmer et al., 2021). More pointedly, the White-washing of #MeToo means that it is essential to go beyond #MeToo when working toward dismantling systemic problems related to sexual violence against people of color (Bubar, 2009; Johnson & Renderos, 2020). Focusing on specific efforts other than #MeToo might be particularly informative.

For example, for Native and Indigenous women, related movements such as #MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women), which launched in 2016 and brings awareness to the murders/disappearances of Native women and girls, may closely relate to changes post-#MeToo (Isaacs & Young, 2020). For Latina women, other movements, such as #Cuéntalo (tell it), may be especially important to investigate (Ureta et al., 2019). Overall, future research that can better discern how different racial/ethnic groups are responding to The Me Too Movement, #MeToo, and other anti-sexual violence activism is essential.

Differences between White and non-White women’s reporting of sexual violence post-#MeToo may also be related to a more generalized elevated distrust of police authorities among people of color, especially in the wake of the Black Lives Matter Movement (Baldwin, 2018; McManus et al., 2019). The heightened concerns about immigrants/immigration during Donald Trump’s presidency (2016–2020) (Finley & Esposito, 2020) may also relate to a lack of police contact among Latino/a individuals post-#MeToo. Thus, especially in the time periods investigated in the current study, a lack of reporting of sexual violence may be embedded within a lack of police trust among people of color. Together, such findings demonstrate the need for continued intersectional conversations about these issues that center gender and race/ethnicity especially.

Overall, there have been changes in the reporting of sexual violence in the post-#MeToo era as also found in one unpublished paper (Levy & Mattsson, 2020). Though by incorporating extended years of data and utilizing a national-level dataset, the findings from the current study demonstrate that these increases in sexual violence reporting were short-lived. This is evidence that the myriad difficulties that have burdened survivors of sexual violence for so long (Belknap, 2010) may have shifted, but perhaps only briefly. While it is unclear as to how exactly The Me Too Movement and #MeToo played a role in these shifts, it is certainly clear that people are discussing sexual violence more in online spaces, and many are seeking efforts for social change in form of rape law reform as well as efforts to improve reporting (Caputi et al., 2019; Frank et al., 2009; Williams et al., 2019). Together, findings from the current study support more research over longer periods of time to better discern any firm conclusions about these changes in reporting sexual violence post-#MeToo to ultimately reduce sexual violence.

Thinking Ahead to Post-Post-#MeToo Interpretations

The shift in sexual violence reporting post-#MeToo likely has multiple explanations that cannot be isolated easily. There may have been a decline in the significance in The Me Too Movement and #MeToo during the time periods examined here but there are other possible interpretations for these shifts in sexual violence reporting. For example, research indicates that news and mass media communication and persuasion campaigns are only effective for a short period of time before people lose interest and a new issue replaces the old (Hill et al., 2013). The Me Too Movement may have been eclipsed by numerous events such as the early 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which changed the landscape of the political climate, social media, and likely swayed interests away from interpersonal violence to a focus on the global health crisis. George Floyd’s public murder in police custody on May 25, 2020 sparked heated support of Black Lives Matter with protests continuing throughout 2021. The U.S. Presidential election of Joe Biden on November 3, 2020 was followed by the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack and subsequent arrests/coverage are ongoing today. With such shifts away from the significance of speaking out against sexual violence, people may be less inclined to come forward. In today’s post-post-#MeToo world, it is important to continue to examine possible reasons for shifts in sexual violence reporting that incorporate the diversity of changes happening all around us.

Limitations and Future Research

Although the current study’s findings are highly informative because they utilize NCVS nationally-representative data, there are some limitations worth noting. First, despite the trends we have isolated in this paper, we are unable to determine if the changes in sexual violence reporting are in fact due to The Me Too Movement. Other possible contributors to these changes include the probable increases in awareness/reporting of sexual violence due to Christine Blasey Ford’s 2018 testimony against now US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to possible shifts toward other powerful issues such as COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter in 2020 and beyond. Second, though we argue that increases in reporting demonstrate increases in recognition and awareness of sexual violence, and thus, decreases in reporting represent a lack of recognition/awareness, another interpretation of these increases/decreases in reporting could be that there have been decreases in the actual prevalence of sexual violence. Ultimately, the goal of any anti-sexual violence activist movement is to reduce the amount of sexual violence that people actually experience. Unfortunately, because of the complex nature of sexual violence, we are unable to determine if this is the case from these data. Third, though multiple types of sexual violence were examined in the current study, these are still limited because they fail to fully capture the diversity of sexual violence. Future studies should incorporate more dimensions of sexual violence, including the ways drugs/alcohol may be involved in sexual violence as well as additional forms, such as stalking (Cohn et al., 2013; Fisher et al., 2003). Fourth, the race measures were limited to White/non-White (due to low Ns for non-Whites) which is not adequate for best understanding the experiences of people of color. Fifth, following the lead of others (Hindes & Fileborn, 2020; Johnson & Renderos, 2020; Meyer, 2015; Worthen, 2020), LGBTQ people should be incorporated into future research. Sixth, the second post-#MeToo time period we examined included the year 2020, which was the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and it is unclear exactly how these dramatic global shifts may have played a role in sexual violence reporting. Seventh, a deeper investigation of age is needed, especially because younger people are more inclined to use virtual spaces and social media platforms, which have been the location of a majority of anti-sexual violence activism (e.g., #MeToo, #WhyIdidntReport) (Wojcik & Hughes, 2019).

Finally, we would be remiss not to point out that while the NCVS is an excellent resource for understanding national patterns of sexual violence, this dataset alone cannot explain the myriad macro level processes that may or may not contribute to changes in sexual violence reporting. Even so, our ancillary analyses of other datasets find a similar set of patterns to those represented here. For example, in the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Report (UCR), the rate of (revised) rape offenses in 2015 (39.3 per 100,000 persons) increased from 2016 to 2019 (from 40.9–41.7 to 44–43.6) but decreased in 2020 to 38.4 per 100,000 persons, even lower than the 2015 rate (FBI 2021).¹⁰ In the Association of American Campus Climate Survey, there was a statistically significant increase in the reporting of nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent among undergraduate women between 2015 (23.4% reported this type of victimization) and 2019 (26.4% reported this type of victimization) (Cantor et al., 2020, see Figure E3). In the National Survey of Family Growth, the percent of women aged 18 to 49 who have ever been forced by a male to have sexual intercourse at some time in their lives increased from 18.8% in 2015–2017 to 21.2% in 2017–2019 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2020). In the U.S. Coast Guard Service Academy Gender Relations Survey, the percent of women reporting unwanted sexual contact in the past year increased from 2016 (8%) to 2018 (13.2%), but the 2022 percentage (14.4%) was not statistically significantly different from the 2018 percentage (Davis et al., 2023). Overall, across numerous large-scale datasets, there is evidence of an increase in sexual violence reporting from 2015 to 2019; however, this trend does not appear to remain beyond 2019 in the datasets that have those years of data collection. Although we cannot unequivocally establish #MeToo as the main driving force behind these notable shifts in sexual violence reporting, there is strong support for the patterns we reported here. We invite future scholarship to continue to shed light on these changes over time using the datasets described here, as well as others that can help elucidate these patterns.

This may even include investigations of possible changes in societal attitudes since #MeToo. For example, in a Pew Research Center study conducted in 2022, a majority agreed that those who commit sexual harassment or sexual assault are now more likely to be held responsible and a majority agreed that victims are now more likely to be believed compared to 5 years ago at the start of #MeToo in 2017 (Brown, 2022). Thus, most generally speaking, in 2022, there appeared to have been a positive shift in perspectives about several of the important goals emphasized by The Me Too Movement, including believing victims and holding assaulters reliable, as compared to 2017. However, other shifts in attitudes, such as those that may have taken place between 2017 and 2021 or those beyond 2022 are unknown. Especially because this same study showed that only about half supported the #MeToo movement (Brown, 2022), more surveys investigating general perspectives about #MeToo and sexual violence as they trend over time would be most informative.

Concluding Remarks

The current study is an essential contribution to our understanding of how changes in sexual violence reporting overlap with #MeToo. Specifically, our findings show that there was an increase in reporting/recognition of sexual violence post-#MeToo at the national level, though brief. Overall, #MeToo has been and continues to be an important framework for understanding sexual violence in a variety of contexts. Beyond its influence in social media via grassroots efforts, it has sparked changes in the realm of academia (i.e., #MeTooAcademia) (Richards & Nystrom, 2020), in legislative efforts (Williams et al., 2019), and in a global context (e.g., #MeTooIndia) (Sambaraju, 2020). Additional movements including Black Lives Matter have continued to push for social justice and have increased the visibility of conversations that critically discuss the relationships between sex, race/ethnicity, and social power (Baldwin, 2018; Gill & Orgad, 2018). Even so, the findings from the current study suggest that some groups may be left out of the conversation and that people of color, perhaps Black women and Latina women especially, should be centered in the conversations about sexual violence (Onwuachi-Willig, 2018). Overall, though there is much to be lauded about #MeToo, there are still some troubling concerns about the recurrent lack of visibility of marginalized groups when it comes to dismantling the social problem of sexual violence. Thus, efforts to best understand the landscape of reporting sexual violence in the post-#MeToo era should continue to be made with special attention to intersectionality and survivors’ lived experiences. It is also important to recognize that although initial successes may have accompanied the #MeToo tweet in the years 2017/2018 as evidenced by the patterns revealed in the current study, we need to continue to push further and conceptualize ways to sustain a long-term solution to sexual violence.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.

ORCID iD

Meredith G. F. Worthen

Notes

Author Biographies

Meredith G. F. Worthen is as a Professor of Sociology and elected faculty member of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma. She is interested in the sociological constructions of deviance and stigma, LGBTQ identities, as well as feminist and queer criminology.

Cyrus Schleifer is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma with a focus on Quantitative Methods, Longitudinal/Panel Statistics, and the Sociology of Religion.

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