The Department of Justice (Department) is committed to assisting law enforcement agencies

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United States Department of Justice

Improving Law Enforcement Response
to Sexual Assault and Domestic
Violence by Identifying and Preventing
Gender Bias

May 2022

Statement of   Purpose
The Department of Justice (Department) is committed to assisting law enforcement agencies
(LEA) in their efforts to combat sexual assault, domestic violence, and other forms of gender-
based violence. Through the Department’s partnerships with state, local, tribal, territorial, and
university LEAs, and the Department’s own law enforcement components, the Department
recognizes that law enforcement officers (LEOs) at all
ranks are striving to improve their response to reports
of these crimes and seeking assistance and support for
their efforts.
Gender-based violence is violence and other harmful
acts directed at an individual because of gender, which
includes biological or perceived gender, sexual
orientation, gender identity, and intersex traits.
Gender-based violence is rooted in gender inequality,
and perpetrators use violence to exert power and
control over their victims. Examples include domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, sexual
harassment, and gender-based hate crimes.
While this guidance focuses on domestic violence and
sexual assault, reducing gender bias in these areas will
improve law enforcement responses to other forms of
gender-based violence.
Recognizing and mitigating instances of bias in the law
enforcement response to sexual assault, domestic
violence, and other forms of gender-based violence is
critical to LEAs’ ability to protect and serve their
communities and enhance public trust. Too often
and for too long, gender bias within the justice system has thwarted investigations, caused
further harm to victims, and allowed perpetrators to evade accountability and continue to
commit crimes. For these reasons, this guidance provides LEAs with principles with which they
can align their policies, practices, and training so that gender bias and other types of bias do not
What is Gender-based
Violence?
According to the White House’s
National Strategy on Gender Equity
and Equality, “gender-based
violence can take many forms, and
it is rooted in structural gender
inequalities and power imbalances.
It includes the use or threat of
physical violence and coercive
control toward an intimate partner
(including domestic and dating
violence), sexual assault, and
stalking. Gender-based violence
also includes human trafficking,
online abuse and harassment, and
child sexual abuse.”

undermine justice in cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault, including those
perpetrated by LEOs. Additional resources accompanying this guidance can help LEAs put these
principles into practice.

This guidance is intended to reflect and advance the Department’s partnership with the police
leaders, line officers, detectives, and other law enforcement personnel who work tirelessly to
ensure that policing is bias-free, and to uphold the civil and human rights in the communities
that they serve.
1
 The Department extends its appreciation to the many police leaders, victim and
community advocates, and other experts
who worked with us helped to develop the
original guidance in 2015 and have
provided insights to inform this updated
edition.
2
 Furthermore, the Department
recognizes that LEOs at all ranks, in
communities across the country, work
tirelessly to ensure safety and justice for
victims of sexual assault and domestic
violence.

Addressing gender bias in policing is
essential because LEOs frequently have the
initial contact with victims, and LEAs
generally conduct the investigations of
sexual assault and domestic violence
incidents. Gender bias, whether explicit or
implicit, conscious or unconscious, may
contribute to LEOs failing to conduct
thorough investigations of reported crimes;
misclassifying cases as unfounded or
wrongly clearing them by exceptional
means; failing to submit sexual assault kits
for testing; interrogating rather than
interviewing victims and witnesses; treating
domestic violence as a family matter rather
than a crime; failing to enforce protection
orders; failing to treat same-sex domestic
violence or violence against people
engaged in sex trade as a crime; or treating
people as criminals, rather than victims of
abuse or sex trafficking.

Gender bias in policing may also include engaging in, or failing to prevent, detect, and respond
to, sexual or gender-based harassment, abuse, or assault of community members by members of
law enforcement. Like employers and schools, LEAs have a responsibility to prevent, detect, and
respond to these forms of misconduct and violence. Failing to do so may itself constitute gender
What is Bias?
A bias is a tendency, inclination, or prejudice
toward or against people or groups, often
based on stereotypes or assumptions. Biases
are part of the human condition, and affect
everyone. Bias can be implicit, meaning the
person who holds the bias is not aware of it;
or bias can be explicit, meaning it is    expressed
intentionally.
Bias and discrimination in law enforcement
responses to sexual assault and domestic
violence may result in LEAs providing less
protection to certain victims and failing to
respond effectively to these crimes.
Bias can affect how officers treat people and
make decisions. It can also be reflected more
broadly in the way agencies operate,
manifesting in policies and procedures or lack
thereof; and in resource allocation, such as
when investigators who handle sexual assault
cases manage significantly larger caseloads
than investigators who handle narcotics or
burglary cases.

bias on the part of the agency.

When bias compromises policing it is a form of discrimination. It may result in LEAs providing
less protection to, and less access to services for, certain victims on the basis of sex, race, color,
national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, familial status, pregnancy status,
or other characteristics about the person or groups to which they belong.
The response to sexual assault and domestic violence affects victim and community safety.
If gender bias influences LEAs’ initial response to or investigation of an incident, it may result
in LEAs providing less protection to certain victims on the basis of gender. It may also
compromise law enforcement’s ability to ascertain facts, determine whether an incident was
a crime, and develop a case that supports effective prosecution and holds the perpetrator(s)
accountable. Sexual and domestic violence can co-occur with other crimes and may be
committed by justice-involved people who—absent intervention or interruption—may
continue to use violence.

Bias based on gender can occur alongside other types of bias—including bias based on race,
color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, familial status, pregnancy
status, or religion—exacerbating any deficiencies in the criminal justice system’s response to
reports of violence and further undermining access to safety for those victims. For example,
racial and gender bias may occur when officers respond in an inappropriate and
discriminatory manner toward domestic violence victims who are women of color, such as
failing to treat them as victims in cases involving self-defense.
3
 Similarly, bias based on race
and gender identity might manifest in officers assuming that Black transgender victims are
engaged in criminal activity when they report sexual violence. Biases based on various
identities can intersect to cause discriminatory treatment of particular subgroups of victims,
causing variations in how victims of gender-based violence approach and view law
enforcement, and can result in underreporting of crime.
This guidance does not address all forms of gender bias, or other intersecting biases, that may
arise in policing or in the justice system more broadly. Applicable civil rights laws prohibit
discrimination based on a variety of protected classifications, much of which is outside the
scope of this guidance. The Department has provided other guidance addressing some of
these issues, and some of the principles and best practices identified in this guidance can and
should be applied to other aspects of LEAs’ day-to-day processes.
4

The purpose of this guidance is  to—
• examine how bias can undermine LEAs’ response to sexual assault and domestic
violence; and
• provide a    set of basic principles that—when integrated into LEAs’ policies, trainings, and
practices—help agencies enhance public trust and confidence in law enforcement and
ensure that agencies’ efforts to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable are
not undermined by bias, either intentionally or unintentionally.

The Department encourages LEAs to consider these principles and integrate them into—
• clear, unequivocal stand-alone policies about the proper handling of sexual assault and
domestic violence crimes, including when those offenses are perpetrated by LEOs;
• training for officers about these policies and about effective responses to sexual assault
and domestic violence, more generally; and
• supervision protocols and systems of accountability to ensure that officers responding
to reports of sexual assault and domestic violence act in accordance with these policies
and trainings.

Resulting policies, training, and supervision protocols should reflect a victim-centered and
trauma-informed approach that strives to recognize and meet the needs of victims from all
communities.
Alongside the Department’s other work in this area, including the provision of funding and
technical assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial LEAs, this document provides guidance
to agencies as they develop more effective policies, practices, and trainings. The Department
has additional resources to further assist LEAs in improving their response to victims of sexual
assault and domestic violence. These resources are presented at:
https://www.justice.gov/ovw/policing-guidance-resource-list.

Background
Gender-based violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence, are crimes that
disproportionately harm women and girls,
5
 and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and
intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals in the United States. Certain populations suffer higher rates of
sexual assault and domestic violence than the general population and face greater barriers to
safety and justice. For example:
• Nearly one in five women in the United States has been the victim of a completed or
attempted rape.
6

• Approximately one in four women and one in seven men in the United States have
suffered severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner.
7

• Forty-four percent of lesbian women and 61 percent of bisexual women have suffered
rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 35 percent
of heterosexual women.
8
 Twenty-six percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men
have suffered rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner.
9

• More than half of American Indian and Alaska Native women have suffered sexual
violence at some point in their lives, and more than half have suffered physical violence
by an intimate partner.
10

• Women and girls from lower income households and rural areas face some of the
highest rates of sexual violence.
11

• Non-Hispanic Black and American Indian or Alaska Native women experience the highest
rates of homicide, and more than half of these homicides are related to intimate partner
violence.
12

• Women who are immigrants face greater barriers to seeking help when they are
victimized by intimate partner violence.
13

• The rate of violent victimization against people with disabilities is at least 2.5 times the
rate for people without disabilities.
14
 Additionally, people with intellectual disabilities
are sexually assaulted at a rate seven times higher than that of people without
disabilities, according to an analysis of Justice Department data.
15

• An estimated 86 percent of women who have served a jail sentence have suffered
sexual violence at some point during their lives, and 77 percent have suffered violence
by an intimate partner.
16

• While there is a lack of data on the violence suffered by transgender people,
community-based studies indicate high levels of victimization,
17
 and research estimates
that transgender people are 2.5 times more likely than cisgender people to suffer sexual
violence during their lives.
18

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was
passed in 1994 to improve how communities
respond to domestic violence and sexual assault.
In the over 25 years since VAWA’s passage,
justice professionals, victim advocates,
healthcare providers, and others have worked
together to combat these crimes, establishing
model approaches and proven strategies for
assisting victims and holding offenders
accountable. Yet, despite this progress,
domestic violence still occurs at alarming rates
and too often becomes lethal. One in four
homicides in the United States is related to
domestic violence, and the use of a gun in
domestic violence incidents increases the risk of
multiple fatalities.
19
 In addition, an analysis of
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data found
that fatal domestic violence shootings increased
by 26 percent between 2010 and 2017.
20

Further, sexual assault remains the most
underreported violent crime by a    significant margin: in 2020, only about 23 percent of sexual
assaults were reported to police.
21

To address these persistent problems, LEAs must investigate these crimes thoroughly and with
the same vigor and skill as they do other crimes. By using thorough and effective investigative

Over the past decade, the criminal justice
community has considered the
implications of social science research
showing that “implicit biases are
predilections held by all [people] that
operate largely outside of one’s
awareness,” but can influence behavior.
a

Research has identified risk factors that
make implicit bias more likely to result in
discriminatory policing.
b

a
 Gove, T. G. (2011). Implicit bias and law enforcement, The
Police Chief, 44.  Alexandria, VA: The International Association
of Chiefs of Police.
b
 Swencionis, J. K., & Goff, P. A. (2017). The psychological
science of racial bias and policing. Psychology, Public Policy,
and Law, 23(4), 398–409.
https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000130.

techniques, LEAs can continue to improve their efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of these
crimes are held accountable, victims receive meaningful access to justice, and communities
experience greater safety.

Improving the Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence by Preventing
Gender Bias in Policing

Identifying the Impact of Gender Bias on Policing
Explicit and implicit biases—including stereotypes about gender roles, people or communities
based on race, gender-based violence, and particular crime victims—are embedded in our
society and affect everyone.
22
 With respect to policing, these biases may affect LEOs’
perceptions of sexual assault and domestic violence incidents and prevent them from
effectively handling reports of these crimes.
23

The intersection of stereotypes and biases about gender, race, sexual orientation, national
origin, age, disability, involvement in the sex trade, and other aspects of people’s lives and
identities can also pose challenges when people seek law enforcement services after a sexual
assault or domestic violence incident.
24
 Acting on stereotypes about why people are sexually
assaulted, or about how a victim should look or behave, can constitute unlawful discrimination
and profoundly undermine an effective response to these crimes. For example, if a male officer
believes a sexual assault to be less severe because the victim was assaulted by an acquaintance
or was intoxicated when the assault occurred, or because
of stereotypical assumptions about victims who are gay or
lesbian assaulted by their partners, or because the officer
relates more to the perpetrator than the victim, that is
gender bias and may lead to unlawful discrimination.

Even where LEOs harbor no explicit biases or stereotypes,
an officer’s unconscious bias towards these specific groups
can undermine an effective response to sexual assault and
domestic violence. It is important for law enforcement to
recognize the prevalence of implicit bias and to consider
how both explicit and implicit bias might impact the LEA
response to crimes involving sexual assault and domestic
violence.
Preventing gender bias in policing practices is an integral
part of combating sexual assault and domestic violence,
and it can have a real and immediate effect on the safety of individual victims and communities
at large. Appropriate criminal justice responses, including arresting offenders when probable
cause exists that a crime has been committed, can prevent future victimization.
25
 Testing sexual
assault kits—a key investigatory step—can identify serial offenders who will continue to
victimize people until they are stopped.
26
 Patrol officers can also take measures short of arrest

The Department of Justice’s
2017 guide, Best Practices for
Sexual Assault Kits: A
Multidisciplinary Approach,
contains recommendations for
collecting evidence during a
sexual assault medical forensic
exam; investigating sexual
assault; storing, maintaining,
tracking, and processing
evidence; and communicating
with victims.

to help victims achieve safety, such as providing them with access to services through
transportation and referrals to service providers. Further, an appropriate justice system
response can foster victims’ confidence in the justice system overall and may make victims
more likely to report future incidents and crime in general.
27
28

By contrast, if LEOs do not respond effectively to an incident of sexual assault or domestic
violence, victims may be less likely to participate in the investigation and prosecution of their
cases or seek law enforcement protection or assistance in the future. This phenomenon may
be intensified in communities that have disproportionately experienced inadequate police
responses to domestic violence or sexual assault.
29

Moreover, an effective police response to sexual assault and domestic violence can improve
safety throughout communities. Reducing domestic violence-related homicides also reduces
collateral homicides of children, other family members, and responding LEOs, while also
reducing abuser suicides. Because some pe
ople endure violence and abuse for a long time
before reporting to police, a full investigation of a particular domestic violence incident may
reveal additional and more serious prior incidents of abuse.
30
31

Key
 Resources
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) provides resources for LEAs on
investigating sexual assault and domestic violence, such as Sexual Assault Incident
Reports: Investigative Strategies, which contains guidelines for preparing sexual assault
cases for prosecution:
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/s/SexualAssaultGuidelines.pdf.

IACP’s Police Response to Violence Against Women Library contains tools, resources, and
policies to assist law enforcement in responding effectively to sexual assault, domestic
violence, stalking, officer-perpetrated offenses, strangulation, and trafficking:
https://www.theiacp.org/projects/police-response-to-violence-against-women-vaw.

End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI) provides a resource library with
training, tools, briefs, and other resources, including a training bulletin series on Gender
Bias in Sexual Assault Response and Investigation: https://evawintl.org/wp-
content/uploads/TB-Gender-Bias-1-4-Combined.pdf.

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) published the Executive Guidebook: Practical
Approaches for Strengthening Law Enforcement’s Response to Sexual Assault in 2018 to
identify concrete strategies for implementing the principles outlined in this guidance:
https://www.policeforum.org/assets/SexualAssaultResponseExecutiveGuidebook.pdf.

Vigilant police investigation of sexual assault and domestic violence and the necessary
resources to support these investigations may help prevent other violent crimes.
32
 Detroit’s
experience of finding more than 11,000 untested sexual assault kits in 2009 and endeavoring to
test them all illustrates the vital importance of fully investigating every reported sexual assault,
regardless of how a victim’s credibility was first assessed by LEOs.
33
 When just 1,595 of
Detroit’s kits were tested, they yielded 785 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligible
profiles. And, in turn, over half of those profiles belonged to individuals already in CODIS, and
28 percent yielded serial sexual assault hits (i.e., a DNA match across two or more sexual
assault cases).
34
 In short, the DNA from these untested kits belonged to offenders who had
committed other crimes, including multiple other sexual assaults.
35
 Efforts to test large volumes
of previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits in other jurisdictions have also led to the
identification of serial assailants.
36

Principles to Prevent Gender Bias in Policing
Certain aspects of the law enforcement response to sexual assault and domestic violence
appear particularly susceptible to explicit and implicit bias based on gender. Set forth below are
basic principles that help to reduce the potential for discrimination. The Department
encourages LEAs to consider these principles and integrate them into: (1) clear, unequivocal
stand-alone policies about the proper handling of sexual assault and domestic violence crimes,
including offenses perpetrated by LEOs; (2) training for officers about these policies and about
effective responses to sexual assault and domestic violence more generally; and (3) supervision
protocols and systems of accountability to ensure that officers responding to sexual assault and
domestic violence act in accordance with these policies and trainings.

In identifying these principles, the Department is not presenting an exhaustive list of ways that
LEAs can reduce gender bias in their policing activities. Rather, adherence to these basic
principles in developing policies, practices, and trainings related to sexual assault and domestic
violence will help LEAs provide police services free from discrimination on the basis of gender,
and therefore handle these cases more effectively. The Department encourages LEAs to
develop practices that build on and go beyond the basic principles described here. As set forth
in the conclusion of this document, the Department stands ready to assist and support these
efforts through training, technical assistance, and dissemination of promising practices.

Principle 1: Recognize and Address Biases, Assumptions, and Stereotypes about
Victims

When myths and misperceptions about sexual assault and domestic violence
influence law enforcement’s response, LEOs can blame victims and fail to hold

offenders accountable.
37

In responding to a report of sexual assault or domestic violence, LEOs should be careful to
ensure they do not base their judgments about the credibility of a victim’s account on
assumptions or stereotypes about the “types” of people who can be victims or how victims
“should” respond or behave. Officers should be particularly vigilant about not responding
differently to victims based on biases about particular subgroups of victims, such as victims of
color, victims who have limited English proficiency, victims who are LGBTQI+, victims with
criminal histories, or victims with disabilities. The following examples
38
 illustrate how
assumptions or stereotypes can influence how an LEO gauges a victim’s credibility, thereby
undermining an effective investigation and discouraging the victim from reporting and
participating in an investigation:
• A young white woman enters a police station and reports that, 2 weeks earlier, she was
raped at a house party by a colleague from work. The woman reports that she and the
person who she says raped her had been drinking that evening. The police officer on duty
asks how often the woman drinks excessively at house parties, and what she was
wearing that night. The officer then tells her that she should really watch how much
alcohol she consumes when she goes out at night, especially if she is getting dressed up.
• A tall Black man, in good physical condition and with no visible injuries, goes to the local
police precinct and reports that his boyfriend, with whom he lives, has been sending him
threatening texts and voice messages over the past several weeks. The man further
reports that his boyfriend assaulted him the night before. The responding officer looks at
the man skeptically and tells him that he’s not sure that he can take a report based on
this information. The officer tells the man to think carefully about whether he has a
crime to report and to come back another day if he still believes he needs assistance.
• A woman who has been known to engage in the commercial sex trade flags down a
police officer who frequently patrols her neighborhood. She reports to the officer that
she was just raped. The police officer on duty writes down her statement, but when he
returns to the police station, he immediately classifies the complaint as “unfounded,”
and takes no further action, because of the woman’s criminal history.
• A woman serving a prison sentence reports to law enforcement that a corrections
officer sexually assaulted her while she was in isolation due to COVID-19. She saved the
sheet on which the corrections officer ejaculated because she believes she will be
discredited due to her custody status. The responding investigator tells the woman that
her account makes no sense, and he does not know why she bothered saving the sheet.
• A woman reports that, while being transported to jail for a DUI arrest, the officer pulled

over and put his mouth on her breasts, fondled her, and took a picture of her bare
breasts with his cell phone. During a recorded interview of the woman, the investigator
(who was the supervisor of the subject officer) lied about the state of the evidence,
threatened to charge her with “slander,” and accused her of ruining an officer’s career.

Principle in Practice
LEAs should review and revise their policies and procedures, as necessary, and provide training
to ensure that responding officers and investigators gather all pertinent evidence in an
unbiased manner. A victim’s nonconformity with behavioral stereotypes should not impact the
way LEOs evaluate the complaint.
39
 Biases and stereotypes should also not prevent officers
from taking a report or collecting potential evidence, or detectives from conducting a full
investigation of all complaints received.
40
 Thus, the following factors, standing alone, are not
dispositive in determining a victim’s credibility: delayed reporting; the victim’s history of
making similar reports; the victim’s sexual history; the victim’s emotional state (e.g., whether a
victim appears calm versus emotional or visibly upset); the victim’s lack of resistance; the
victim’s criminal history or history of engaging in the commercial sex trade; knowledge or
suspicion that the victim has a mental illness; evidence that the victim has a history of abusing
alcohol or drugs; the victim’s race, ethnicity, or immigration status; what the victim was
wearing at the time of the victimization; whether the victim is of comparable size or strength to
the assailant; the lack of any visible signs of physical harm to the victim; the victim’s sexual
orientation or gender identity; and whether the victim was attacked by a person of the same
sex.
41

Bad Practice Example Good Practice Example
A woman who has a protection order
against her ex-boyfriend calls the police
to report that the ex-boyfriend is stalking
her and she is increasingly afraid of him.
She reports that he recently texted her a
picture of a firearm and she believes he
broke into her home while she was at
work and went through her belongings.
An officer comes to the woman’s home
and, guessing that the woman is
transgender based on her appearance,
asks her if she really needs the police to
get involved in “breakup drama” and
says, “Can’t you guys just work this out
on your own?”
When a self-identified transgender woman reports to
police that her ex-boyfriend, against whom she has a
protection order, has been stalking her, officers respond
in accordance with their LEA’s policies and procedures for
handling domestic violence and protection order
violations. They gather evidence, including digital
evidence from the woman’s cell phone. The police report
quotes the woman’s account of what has happened and
why she is afraid. The investigation establishes probable
cause to arrest the woman’s ex-boyfriend. Officers
provide the woman with the same referrals to victim
services providers that they offer to other domestic
violence victims, but—if available in the region—they
also provide information about organizations that are
operated by and specifically for members of the LGBTQI+
community.

Bad Practice Example
A young Black woman reports that
she was sexually assaulted by her
boyfriend two weeks ago. When
interviewing her, the detective asks
why she “waited so long” to come
to the police. At the end of the
interview, the detective asks the
victim, “Why do you want to mess
up this guy’s life”?
Good Practice Example
A young Black woman reports that she was sexually assaulted
by her boyfriend two weeks ago. When interviewing her, the
detective asks her to tell him what happened. He does not
interrupt her while she recounts the assault, and instead waits
until she has finished to ask follow-up questions, including
what brought her in that day to report and whether she told
anyone else about the assault after it happened. When the
victim leaves, the detective opens an investigation and calls
the witnesses the victim identified to determine if they can
corroborate her account.
Bad Practice Example
A woman involved in sex work reports to
patrol officers that she was sexually assaulted
at gunpoint by a stranger in the parking lot of
a liquor store. Detectives locate and interview
the suspect, whose account is almost entirely
consistent with that of the victim. Instead of
trying to further corroborate the victim’s
account by witness interviews or store
surveillance footage, the detectives charge the
suspect with gun possession and close the
case by arrest.
Good Practice Example
A woman involved in the commercial sex trade
reports to patrol officers that she was sexually
assaulted at gunpoint by a    stranger in the parking lot
of a liquor store. Detectives ask the store for its
surveillance footage and interview employees who
were working at the time of the assault. After the
footage and witness interviews, along with the
interview of the suspect, confirm the victim’s
account, the detectives charge him with gun
possession and aggravated sexual assault and close
the case by arrest.

Principle 2: Treat All Victims with Respect
Use interviewing strategies that are trauma-informed and support the victim’s disclosure
of facts about the incident.
42

All victims deserve respect, compassion, and self-determination; receiving the appropriate
response and services can help a victim begin to heal from the trauma of domestic or sexual
violence. In addition, a victim who is treated with respect is more likely to continue
participating in an investigation and prosecution than one who feels disbelieved, judged, or
blamed for the harm they have suffered. LEAs should take affirmative steps to ensure that,
throughout their investigations, officers treat victims with respect and dignity, and use
appropriate, trauma-informed interviewing techniques to elicit information and build trust with
the victim.

Principle in Practice
Although LEOs often must ask difficult questions to gather necessary information to investigate
a   complaint or prepare a    case for prosecution, LEOs should consider how and when to ask those
difficult questions. By taking affirmative steps to be kind, respectful, and fair to all
complainants, LEOs may be able to increase the quality and quantity of the information they
obtain. In addition, there are also some questions that are not appropriate to ask at any point
during the investigation, no matter how they are phrased. These types of questions ignore the

trauma that the victim has suffered and, whether intentional or not, suggest that blame should
be placed on the victim or that the victim should not have reported the incident to the police at
all.
Understanding the impact of
trauma may help explain many of
the challenges that officers face in
interviewing victims (e.g., gaps in
memory, inconsistent accounts, the
victim’s inability to recall details in
sequential order, or delayed
reporting) and prevent
inappropriate questioning. LEAs
should review and revise their
policies and procedures, as
necessary, and provide training so
that officers know how to account
for the emotional impact that
victims may endure when assisting
in an investigation after having
suffered something traumatic, like
sexual assault or domestic
violence.
43
 For example, a victim
may have flashbacks or intense
psychological distress when asked
to recall details about the incident.
It is important that officers convey
to a victim that the purpose of the
interview is to understand and
determine the facts, not to question
the victim’s choices.
44
 Accordingly, officers should be trained to ask neutral, open-ended
questions that elicit a narrative of the events from the victim, rather than leading questions or
questions that may be perceived as assigning blame.
45

A trauma-informed approach to asking questions during a victim interview can also help the
investigator with establishing trust, which in turn can help the victim feel more comfortable
disclosing aspects of the assault that could be difficult or embarrassing to talk about, or which
the victim might worry will damage their credibility. For example, a victim might be more
willing to disclose any voluntary or involuntary alcohol or drug use around the time of the
assault if the officer refrains from questioning why such an amount of alcohol or drugs was
used (or that they were used at all) and demonstrates understanding that the victim has
endured something traumatic. Although an investigator has to ask questions necessary to
corroborate the victim's account, many victims may become upset and frustrated by questions
regarding their actions or behavior around the time of the incident, including alcohol or drug
Trauma-informed: What Is It?
There is    no single agreed-upon definition for “trauma-
informed,” but the main goal of a trauma-informed
approach is to avoid further traumatizing someone
who has already suffered trauma.

“The four Rs” of a trauma-informed approach are:
realizing how trauma affects people and groups,
recognizing the signs of trauma, having a system
which can respond to trauma, and resisting re-
traumatization.
a

Training on trauma-informed interviewing techniques
can help law enforcement officers respond
appropriately to victims and conduct investigations
properly. But training alone is not enough. LEAs must
ensure officers have sufficient resources, support, and
supervision to effectively respond to sexual assault
and domestic violence.
a
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s Concept of
Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-informed Approach:
https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma14-4884.pdf.

use. These questions, depending on how they are phrased, can come across as accusatory and
can dissuade a victim from assisting with the investigation. T   herefore, training officers to
explain why they are asking difficult questions, and to rephrase questions in a way that avoids
victim-blaming language and adversarial tone, can help them earn victims’ trust and elicit
information that facilitates investigations.
46

What NOT to Say
• “Have you considered talking to
the man and letting him know
that you are upset?”
• “Have you thought about how
this is going to affect his
scholarship/career/reputation?”
• “Wasn’t this just a trick gone
bad?”
• “Tell me what happened from
start to finish.”
• “I’m sorry but you are reporting
an incident that occurred several
months ago. There is nothing we
can do at this point.”
• “What did you think was going to
happen after you went to his
room alone?”
• “Why didn’t you push him off you
and leave?”
• “I   can’t take this to the
prosecutor.”
What to Say
• “Can you tell me what happened?”
• “What can you tell me about the person who did this?”
• “What can you tell me about anything the person said
before, during, or after the incident?”
• “Can you tell me about any witnesses or   people who might
have seen the incident?”
• “Did anything in particular cause you to come tell us   about
this incident today?”
• “Have you received medical treatment? Would you like to go
to the hospital?”
• “I know that this question is difficult to answer and I want
you to know I am only asking to get a clear picture of what
you’ve experienced. I   am very sorry about what happened to
you and I do not think that you are responsible for it. Any
questions I ask about alcohol or drug use by you or the
offender I’m only asking to understand what happened.”
• [If it would not compromise the evidentiary value of the
interview:] “Would you like an advocate to be present?”
47

• “I’m sorry this happened, and I   commend you for reporting
it. Your health and safety are a priority. How can I support
you?”
Similarly, officers should not make statements or otherwise indicate to the victim that they
doubt the victim’s credibility, or exhibit any bias towards the victim based on gender. S   uch
statements and judgments could include: stereotyped negative assumptions about the truth of
a reported assault (e.g., that women are likely to report “regretted sex” as rape, that people
who are transgender or gender nonconforming are unlikely to be raped, that people who work
in the sex trade cannot be raped, or that people of certain ethnicities or races are more
“promiscuous”); automatically believing the reported assailant’s claim that the sex was
consensual because of a prior or current relationship; or subtly, or even blatantly, coercing the
victim to recant the report by blaming the victim for the assault or for making unwise choices.
48

Bad Practice Example
A Black woman reports to police that she was
accosted and sexually assaulted by a stranger
while walking to work. She tells a white officer
that the assailant was a young, slender, tall,
light-skinned Black man. The officer suggests
that the woman drive around with him to see if
they can spot the assailant on the street.
Several times the officer rolls up alongside
Black men who do not at all match the
description the woman gave, including an
elderly, overweight Black man. Frustrated, the
woman says, “I told you what he looked like
and none of these guys look anything close.”
The officer becomes defensive, replying, “Well,
don’t you want us to catch the person who did
this to you?” The interaction upsets the victim
so much that she asks to stop the search for
her assailant.
Good Practice Example
A Black woman reports to police that she was
sexually assaulted by a    stranger outside a    club after
she agreed to go outside with him to smoke a joint.
A white detective who interviews her asks
questions like, “Can you tell me what the person
looked like?” He assures the woman that it’s alright
that she can’t fully answer all the questions and
remember everything. She tells the officer that the
assailant was a young, slender, tall, light-skinned
Black man. Officers are promptly dispatched to the
club to speak to potential witnesses and collect any
evidence that may be at the scene. Security camera
reel from a    nearby business shows two people who
appear to be the victim and the described assailant
leaving the club and walking into an alley. A
bouncer at the club identifies the man by his first
name and says that he has had problems with the
man before.
Bad Practice Example
A review of complaints finds that young athletes
were sexually abused by a physician under the
guise of medical treatment. Despite the
extraordinarily serious nature of   the reports against
the physician and the possibility that his conduct
could be continuing, law enforcement officials
failed to respond with seriousness and urgency,
made numerous and fundamental errors when
they did respond, and failed to take steps to
mitigate the ongoing threat posed by the
perpetrator. For some victims, their abuse began
after law enforcement officials knew of the
allegations against the physician.
Good Practice Example
A student-athlete who was abused by a
university athletics trainer reports the trainer
to authorities. An investigator and a    prosecutor
work together to interview other student
athletes to determine whether there was a
pattern of   behavior, meet with initial disclosure
witnesses to corroborate the allegations, and
ultimately bring charges against the trainer.
Once the charges are made public, a former
student, who was abused earlier by the trainer
but who had not come forward, comments that
she feels vindicated by the prosecution.

Further, LEAs should train officers to write reports of interviews or statements that incorporate
the victim’s words, spontaneous statements, and narrative as much as possible, as opposed to
providing the officer’s own summary. Such an approach will further the goal of presenting the
victim’s account of the events from the victim’s perspective,
49
 and ensure that the officer’s
notes are accurate. Moreover, this practice avoids recording statements that incorrectly appear
to be made by the victim and may subject the victim to unfair cross-examination by defense
counsel at trial. To ensure privacy and encourage candor, victim interviews should not be
conducted in public waiting areas or in front of other witnesses.
Additionally, ensuring a victim has access to a victim advocate during a criminal investigation
can have a positive impact on the victim’s experience with law enforcement and the victim’s
coping and recovery.
50
 A victim advocate can provide support in several ways, including by

preparing a victim for law enforcement interviews—and for the criminal justice process
overall—by helping the victim know what to expect. This preparation may allow the victim to
feel at ease during the interview, as well as foster trust between the victim and the LEO. This
simple step of encouraging the victim to seek support during the criminal investigation process
may be critical to an effective victim interview, which in turn could prove important to the
investigation, the prosecution of any crime, and the victim’s continued cooperation with law
enforcement. LEAs can help ensure that victims have access to advocates by establishing
partnerships with victim services organizations in the community.

Principle 3: Ensure that Policies, Training, Supervision, and Resource Allocation
Support Thorough and Effective Investigations
Collect, preserve, and analyze evidence.
51

Unlike many other crimes, sexual assault and domestic violence frequently occur in more
private settings, with few, if any, witnesses present. As a result, it is crucial that LEAs conduct
thorough investigations of these crimes by promptly gathering, preserving, and analyzing
evidence, particularly corroborative evidence that supports victim and witness statements.

Bad Practice Example Good Practice Example
A woman reports to the police that the
previous day, her ex-boyfriend physically and
sexually assaulted her. After disclosing to her
roommate what had happened, the woman
goes to the hospital for a forensic examination
and the patrol officer who interviews her takes
the kit to an evidence storage facility. A
detective calls her a    few days later and leaves a
message. When he does not immediately hear
back, he closes the case, noting that the victim
cannot be located, is not cooperating, and that
there were no witnesses. The kit is never
submitted to the lab for testing and an arrest is
never made.
A woman reports to the police that the previous
day, her ex-boyfriend physically and sexually
assaulted her. After disclosing to her roommate
what had happened, an officer drives the woman
to the hospital for a    forensic exam, and  later takes
the kit to an evidence storage facility. A detective
calls her a few days later and leaves a message.
When the detective does not immediately hear
back, she makes additional attempts to reach the
woman, as does an advocate who works for the
LEA. The detective and advocate arrange a    time to
meet the victim for an interview, and the sexual
assault kit is submitted for analysis soon after.

Principle in Practice
To ensure that investigations are thorough, LEAs should implement clear stand-alone policies,
procedures, and training on how to conduct domestic and sexual violence investigations that
are complete and bias-free.
52
 At a minimum, LEAs should have guidelines that address the
following:
53
 collecting and preserving all relevant and corroborative evidence; ensuring that, for
victims who undergo medical forensic exams, sexual assault kit evidence is submitted to a crime
laboratory and tested in a    timely manner; identifying and documenting victim injuries (including
evidence of strangulation, such as pictures or use of a body diagram), both at the time of the
incident and during subsequent interactions; identifying and documenting all psychological and
sensory evidence; and separately interviewing all possible witnesses and suspects as soon as

possible.
54
 Furthermore, while medical forensic examinations are valuable tools in sexual
assault investigations, a    victim’s willingness to undergo such an examination or the information
gleaned from a particular exam are not substitutes or alternatives to conducting a thorough
investigation using all tools at the LEA’s disposal.
To ensure that all parties are able to communicate the relevant facts, it is important to ensure
meaningful access for people who have limited English proficiency
55
 and people who have
hearing or speech impairments. An LEA should have a language access plan
56
 that officers can
follow. Absent exigent circumstances, LEAs should always use an independent qualified
interpreter for interviews.
57
 To ensure independence and accuracy in investigations, LEOs
should not use a victim’s family or friends as interpreters. Moreover, it is critical that children
never be used as interpreters: this undermines effective language access for victims, can
traumatize children and may inhibit a victim from sharing important details about an assault.

The impact of properly investigating reports of sexual assault and domestic violence can go
beyond individual cases and public safety at large; it also helps LEAs establish and maintain
community trust. LEAs are encouraged to work in partnership with victim services providers,
culturally specific organizations, and other entities in their communities to craft and review
policies. Furthermore, recruiting and retaining LEOs from diverse backgrounds, including hiring
more women, may help mitigate gender bias in the law enforcement response to these
crimes.
58

Bad Practice Example
A 911 caller reports that someone is screaming in a
neighboring apartment and it sounds like she is being hurt.
Officers arrive and find a    woman who is crying and has visible
injuries. She does not speak English.
One officer says he “knows a little Spanish,” uses a louder
voice when talking to the woman, and intersperses Spanish
words into mostly English sentences, such as, “Quién? Who
did this to you? Your boyfriend? Your novio? What’s his name?
El nombre?”) One officer uses a translation app on her phone
to try and ask the woman if she wants to go to the hospital,
but the officer does not know how to pronounce Spanish
words. Eventually the officers begin using the woman’s young
son to translate their questions and her responses.

The next morning, a detective reads the officers’ report and
realizes he will need to find someone who speaks Spanish
before calling the victim. This detective, who is managing a
very high caseload, sets the report aside and intends to get
back to it when he has time to track down a    Spanish-speaking
colleague.
Good Practice Example
An officer who just received training
on his department’s language access
plan responds to a domestic
violence call. The victim doesn’t
speak English, and she doesn’t
understand his question when he
asks her what language she speaks.
He shows her Language Line’s
language identification card and she
points to Tagalog. The officer uses
Language Line to communicate with
the victim about her immediate
safety needs and to arrange for her
to be taken to the hospital for
treatment.
The next day, a detective—also
familiar with the agency’s language
access plan—arranges for a    qualified
interpreter to join him when he
interviews the victim.

Bad Practice Example
A detective is interviewing a teenage boy
whose mother reported that the boy was
sexually assaulted by a rideshare driver.
Instead of answering the detective, the boy
begins repeating the detective’s questions.
Thinking the boy is mocking him, the
detective snaps, “Reporting rape isn’t a    joke.”
The boy’s mother interjects and explains that
her son has autism spectrum disorder, and
when he is under stress he may
unintentionally repeat what is said to him.
The detective apologizes for being brusque
but says that since the boy cannot explain
what happened, he doesn’t have anything on
which to build a case.
Good Practice Example
A detective is interviewing a teenage boy whose
mother reported that the boy was sexually assaulted
by a rideshare driver. Instead of answering the
detective, the boy begins repeating the detective’s
questions. Thinking the boy is mocking him, the
detective snaps, “Reporting rape isn’t a joke.” The
boy’s mother interjects and explains that her son has
autism spectrum disorder, and when he is under
stress he may unintentionally repeat what is said to
him. Upon learning that the boy has a disability, the
officer arranges for him to be interviewed by a
forensic interviewer who is trained on interacting
with victims with developmental disabilities. The
officer observes the interview from another room.
Bad Practice Example
A 12-year-old Black girl was out walking her puppy when three
men abducted her. She was held captive for three days and
repeatedly raped before she escaped. Police never followed up
with the girl’s family.
When the child victim grew up and was in her 20s, she is sexually
assaulted again—this time by a coworker. She drives to a police
station and tells an officer that she was raped. The officer says she
is too busy to deal with the victim, and suggests she find her own
way to the hospital.

A   decade later, news reports divulge that the police department to
which this woman reported her sexual assaults has large volumes
of unsubmitted sexual assault kits in its custody. As old cases are
investigated for the first time, the woman learns that the sparse
police report from her assaults when she was 12 years old wrongly
identified her as a runaway, and the case was not investigated.
The kit from the rape when she was in her 20s is tested, and DNA
obtained from it is used to identify an offender who committed
multiple sexual assaults before and after the woman’s assault.
Other kits tested years and decades after they were first collected
also link to known offenders, including a serial killer who preyed
on Black women, and another assailant who murdered a police
officer.
Good Practice Example
A police chief learns that
hundreds of sexual assault kits
that had been sitting in a    police
warehouse were ultimately
destroyed by his agency.
The police chief and a
lieutenant, committed to
improving how sexual assaults
are handled, work with a rape
crisis center to call and
apologize to every victim whose
kit was destroyed. City attorneys
discourage these admissions of
fault, but the chief insists on
doing the “right thing.”

New policies are written and
enacted that require prompt
submission of   sexual assault kits
to the crime laboratory and
outline the steps for
investigating sexual assault,
including how to conduct
trauma-informed interviews
with victims.

Principle 4: Appropriately Classify Reports of Sexual Assault or Domestic
Violence
And appropriately document and clear them after a complete investigation.
59

Complaints of sexual assault and domestic violence should be properly classified. Rates at
which reported sexual assaults are cleared by arrest or exceptional means, and rates at which
they are classified as unfounded, may reveal a pattern within an LEA of failing to conduct
thorough investigations.
60

Furthermore, if a    sexual assault or domestic violence
complaint is given an improper or non-criminal
classification, the case may be closed before an
investigation has been conducted. Like any other
report of a crime, a determination that a sexual
assault or domestic violence complaint is
unsubstantiated should be made only after a
complete investigation, as discussed in Principle 3,
and not presumptively at the classification stage. To
ensure accurate classification of reports of sexual
offenses, an LEA’s policies must describe the
appropriate standards and protocols for case
classification and incorporate supervisory review of
 In addition, LEAs should train officers on their agency’s procedures for
do
cumenting such reports and the elements of sexual assault and domestic violence offenses,
so that they can better identify incidents that meet those criteria. The examples that follow
illustrate how misclassifying a sexual assault complaint can lead to the failure to properly
investigate the complaint and thwart its potential prosecution.
case classification.
61

Bad Practice Example
A friend brings a woman to a
police station and tells the
officer that her friend was
raped while on a date the
night before. While they are
still sitting in the public
waiting area, an officer asks
the woman what happened,
and the woman says she
does not remember and does
not know if she was raped.
The LEO on duty fills out a
report, but immediately
classifies the incident as
“unfounded.”
Good Practice Example
A friend brings a woman to a police station and tells the police that
her friend was raped while on a date the night before. An officer
brings the woman and her friend to a private area to ask the woman
about what happened. The officer asks her open-ended questions
and is unperturbed when she answers some of his questions with “I
don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” The woman is able to explain
that she can usually handle 2 drinks easily, but after a second drink
the night before, she became very drowsy and does not recall what
happened next. She says that she woke up in her date’s apartment
and she feels bruised and raw in her genital area. The officer arranges
for the woman to be driven to a hospital for a medical forensic
examination, and he explains to the woman that if she consents to
provide a urine sample that it will be transported immediately to a
crime laboratory for toxicology testing in accordance with the
jurisdiction’s drug-facilitated sexual assault policy.

The International Association of
Chiefs of Police created checklists to
help first responders and supervisors
ensure that necessary information
about a sexual assault or domestic
violence incident is documented in
reports. Available at:
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/
document/report-review-checklists.

Principle in Practice
LEAs should review and revise their policies and procedures regularly in keeping with a
predetermined timeline, and provide training to officers to ensure that complaints are properly
documented and only classified as non-criminal or unfounded after a complete investigation is
conducted.
62
 All sexual assault or domestic violence complaints should be investigated,
regardless of any of the following circumstances: the victim has gaps in memory; there are
potential contradictions in the victim’s statements; the victim is reluctant to share their story;
the victim expresses concern over having the alleged assailant charged with a crime; the victim
expresses self-blame (e.g., suggests that they didn’t
fight hard enough to stop the assault); the victim is
emotionally distraught and unable to discuss the
incident; the victim was under the influence of
alcohol or drugs at the time of the incident; the
victim is married to, in a relationship with, or
casually dating the assailant; the victim delayed
reporting; or the victim declines to participate in a
medical forensic examination.
63,64
 Supervisors must
provide oversight to ensure policies related to
classifying and investigating sexual assault and
domestic violence are followed.
65

Additionally, law enforcement should be aware that
victims of domestic violence and sexual assault may
also be victims of sex or labor trafficking, and
officers should receive training on identifying and
responding to trafficking victims. The Department
offers training and grants to assist law enforcement
and community partners in detecting trafficking and
providing services to trafficking victims.
66
 LEAs
should also develop policies and procedures
regarding applying for Continued Presence for
trafficking victims who may be witnesses, and for
providing a certification or declaration for T and U
visas, which are available for immigrant victims of
certain crimes—including trafficking, sexual assault,
and domestic violence—if they assist law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of
criminal activity and meet other eligibility criteria.
67

Victims may disengage from the
justice process for many reasons,
including fear for their safety and fear
of retaliation, wanting to move on,
pressure from their family and friends,
and/or because assisting law
enforcement with an investigation
demands more time and energy than
the victim has to give. Some victims
disengage because of inadequate and
victim-blaming responses from law
enforcement.

Referring victims to advocacy and
other services connects them with
resources to help them cope, heal, and
achieve safety and justice, no matter
what happens with the case. Advocacy
can also facilitate the victim’s
continued assistance with the
investigation, if the victim chooses.

Principle 5: Refer Victims to Appropriate Services
68

Make timely and suitable referrals for healthcare, advocacy, shelter, legal, and other
services.
LEAs can enable effective referral-making by establishing and maintaining relationships with
community partners. These partnerships can be nurtured in a variety of ways, including through
cross-training, collaborative policy development and review, and Sexual Assault Response Team
meetings. Officers should take steps to address the medical, emotional, safety, legal, and other
needs of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence at the time they report an incident or
make a complaint. Officers should connect victims with services that are available, whether
they choose to assist law enforcement with an investigation or not and no matter the
disposition of the case. For this reason, officers should be aware of the distinctions between
community-based and system-based advocates, which the graphic on the next page explains,
and be prepared to provide victims with meaningful referrals, depending on what services are
available in the jurisdiction.

Principle in Practice
LEOs should make timely and appropriate referrals to healthcare providers for victims of sexual
assault or domestic violence.
69
 Furthermore, policies and trainings should direct officers to—at
the earliest point possible—offer to contact a victim advocate for the victim and refer victims to
resources such as rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, legal services organizations,
and/or community-based and culturally specific organizations.
70
 These organizations can
support victims regardless of what happens with the case, or if the victim disengages from the
criminal justice process. At a minimum, officers should ensure that victims are aware of these
services.
71

It is important for law enforcement to know and have relationships with community-based
victim advocacy organizations, including any local culturally specific organizations or other
organizations that have established trust within underserved, marginalized, or non-English
populations. LEAs seeking to identify victim service providers in their jurisdictions should
contact their state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions. Contact information for
these organizations is available on the website of the Department’s Office on Violence Against
Women (OVW) at http://www.Justice.Gov/ovw/local-resources.
Principle 6: Properly Identify the Predominant Aggressor in Domestic Violence
Incidents
Distinguish between an assailant’s violence and a    victim’s self-defense actions.
72

It is common in domestic violence incidents for both the abuser and the victim to have used
physical force. Therefore, it is essential that officers are trained to identify the predominant
aggressor when responding to these incidents, and to make arrests accordingly. LEOs should be
aware of the potential for abusers to report domestic violence complaints preemptively,
claiming that they themselves are the victims, or that a victim may feel safe to retaliate once
law enforcement is present. The following examples illustrate why it is important to identify the
predominant aggressor.

Bad Practice Example
A man calls 911 to report
that his girlfriend assaulted
him. When an officer arrives,
he sees the man has a bite
mark on his inner arm. The
man’s girlfriend, while visibly
shaken, appears to be
physically unharmed,
although she claims that her
boyfriend tried to strangle
her. Without further inquiry,
the officer files a report,
citing the woman as the
predominant aggressor, and
arrests her.
Good Practice Example
A man calls 911 to report that his girlfriend assaulted him. When an
officer arrives, he sees the man has a bite mark on his inner arm. The
man’s girlfriend, while visibly shaken, appears to be physically
unharmed, although she says that her boyfriend tried to strangle her
and she bit him while struggling to free herself. The officer observes
that the man is much taller and more muscular than his girlfriend,
and learns from talking with the woman that she had to go to the
hospital to get treatment for her injuries the last time that she called
police when her boyfriend was abusing her. A neighbor also tells the
officer that the man “is always beating up on” the woman. The officer
documents the bite mark on the man’s arm and the parties’
conflicting accounts of how it happened. The officer arrests the man
and offers to transport the woman to a hospital. The officer also give
the woman a brochure from a domestic violence victim services
organization, explain that the organization has a 24-hour hotline, and
offers to put the woman in touch with an advocate.

Principle in Practice
LEAs should review and revise their policies and procedures, as necessary, and provide
specialized training to ensure that officers are capable of properly identifying the predominant
aggressor.
73
 Specifically, officers should be trained to consider and balance the following

factors, among others, to determine whose account is corroborated by the evidence, but
without relying on any one of these factors alone as determinative:
74

• A documented or undocumented history of domestic violence.
• Whether a party to the incident may have a motivation to be untruthful.
• Whether someone may have been injured as a result of the other person engaging in
self-defense (i.e., injury analysis).
• The existence of past or present protective orders.
• Criminal histories involving violence to others.
• Whether there were any witnesses to the criminal conduct.
• Whether there is any corroboration to aspects of the accounting.

LEAs also should discourage dual arrests in domestic violence cases, wherever feasible, as well
as issue policies that clearly delineate the limited circumstances under which dual arrests are
permissible.
75
 Training LEOs to understand and apply self-defense laws can help them avoid
making dual arrests. When a victim is arrested for retaliating in self-defense against their
abuser—or “hitting him first” in one instance even though the party who hit first is the victim of
ongoing and more dangerous abuse—it leaves the victim vulnerable to further harm and less
likely to call for police assistance next time. Arresting victims punitively subjects them to the
legal system when they are, in fact, in urgent need of protection. LEOs should use discretion in
making arrest decisions based on which party poses a threat to the other party or public safety.
Such discretion, if permitted, must be done in a bias-free manner and reviewed for bias as part
of routine supervisor reviews of arrest decisions and data analysis.

To the extent that officers have discretion in how to respond to domestic or sexual violence,
they should consider victims’ preferences and concerns. Consistent with applicable laws and
policies, officers should evaluate how their response might align with the victim’s short- and
long-term safety and needs.  A victim may want police intervention to deescalate a dangerous
situation, but the victim could also have longer-range concerns about their personal safety and
well-being and/or that of their family if their abusive partner is arrested. Comprehensive
training on domestic violence, and engagement with community-based victim advocates, can
help officers determine the best course of action when responding to incidents.
76

Principle 7: Implement Policies to Prevent Officer-perpetrated Sexual Assault
and Domestic Violence and Hold Officers Who Commit These Offenses
Accountable
Address the prevention of, and response to, sexual assault and domestic violence
perpetrated by LEOs in clear, stand-alone policies.
77

LEAs strive to be seen by their communities as
credible and legitimate authorities in enforcing the
law and protecting public safety. If an LEA does not
fully investigate reports of sexual assault, sexual
misconduct, and domestic violence perpetrated by
its own officers, or if it fails to appropriately
discipline officers when those reports are
substantiated, the LEA’s legitimacy erodes. This, in
turn, may make victims more reluctant to report
sexual assault and domestic violence, which
undermines public safety by increasing the risk that
offenders—in the community at large and in the
LEA’s own ranks—who are not held accountable
will continue to cause harm.

Principle in Practice
Given the severe harm that can result from officer-perpetrated gender-based violence, LEAs
should screen potential hires for any behaviors that could contribute to such violence. The
hiring process should include reviewing candidates’ discipline history in past employment,
military service, and education, as well as any criminal history and history of civil protection
orders.
78
 In-depth personal interviews and psychological screenings should also be used to
identify any propensity for abuse in candidates’ backgrounds.
79

To ensure public safety and earn public confidence, LEAs should develop policies and practices
aimed at preventing and addressing on-duty and off-duty misconduct (which includes sexual
harassment, sexual assault and abuse, domestic violence, and related misconduct perpetrated
by LEOs). These policies should provide that, at a minimum, the agency will open separate,
concurrent internal administrative and criminal investigations whenever a report is made that
an officer has engaged in sexual misconduct or domestic violence, irrespective of whether the
officer was acting in their official capacity at the time.
80
 Criminal investigations may be handled
by the LEA’s unit responsible for investigating sex crimes; the internal affairs unit, in
consultation with the unit responsible for investigating sex crimes; or an outside agency.
81
 In
addition to opening internal investigations, LEAs should refer reports of officer misconduct
involving potential criminal activity to the local prosecutor’s office or to the FBI if the officer
was acting in his official capacity while engaging in such misconduct.
82
 LEAs should also have
separate policies designed to prevent officer-perpetrated sexual misconduct or domestic
violence, including the use of early warning systems to identify officers who show proclivities

End Violence Against Women
International’s Model Policy
Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual
Misconduct Prevention and
Accountability and pages 5-6 of
the International Association of
Chiefs of Police’s Domestic
Violence Model Policy are
resources LEAs can use to establish
policies for addressing sexual
assault and domestic violence
perpetrated by LEOs.

toward such behavior. LEAs can also use proactive strategies such as random audits of body-
worn or in-car camera footage to spot law enforcement patterns in locations specific to high-
risk populations (e.g., “lovers’ lanes,” areas where commercial sex is sold, and common
LGBTQI+ spaces). In addition to policies, LEAs should require personnel investigating reports of
sexual misconduct and domestic violence by LEOs to undergo specialized training on conducting
such investigations, including trauma-informed interviewing skills.
83

Finally, police leaders should actively work to ensure that the culture within their agency does
not promote, normalize, or minimize officer conduct that reflects gender bias (such as making
degrading and objectifying remarks about women or transgender people, or making victim-
blaming remarks). Officers should be encouraged to report fellow officers’ misconduct and
intervene when they see it happening,
84
 and they should be supported and protected from
retaliation when they do report such misconduct.
85

Bad Practice Example
A police officer uses routine traffic stops
as cover for ensnaring and sexually
assaulting women. He victimizes women
who are Black and poor, many of whom
have criminal histories and some of
whom are engaged in the commercial sex
trade, assuming he will be able to get
away with it. Indeed, women assaulted
by this police officer testify in court that
they did not report their victimization
because they assumed law enforcement
would not believe them, especially when
the person they would accuse was a
police officer.
Good Practice Example
In implementing a new performance management tool
called an early warning system, an LEA ensures that the
system is designed to flag potential indicators of
problematic behavior toward people who are especially
vulnerable to domestic and sexual violence. For instance,
if   an officer primary pulls over female motorists for traffic
stops, this may signal the need for a closer look at the
officer’s conduct.
The chief also makes clear that she will not defend
misconduct committed by officers. She issues—and
ensures her department adheres to—policies that specify
what is to happen when an officer is accused of   domestic
or sexual violence.
Bad Practice Example
A road patrol officer arrests a woman for drug
possession. Instead of taking her to jail, he takes
her to a dark parking lot and rapes her, and then
lets her go. She immediately tells her boyfriend,
who calls 911 while the woman cries in the
background. The woman obtains a medical
forensic examination, but the internal affairs
detectives never submit the kit for analysis, and
decide that she must have made up the rape as a
cover for cheating on her boyfriend. The subject
road patrol officer remains on the beat and
sexually assaults at least three more women
before an outside agency investigates his conduct
and he is ultimately charged.
Good Practice Example
As part of a no-tolerance policy regarding officer-
committed sexual misconduct and domestic
violence, an LEA mandates a Code of Conduct for
sworn and non-sworn staff that requires them to
report misconduct. During an undercover human
trafficking investigation, Officer X is listening to a
live feed of   Officer Y’s interaction with a    potential
victim. Officer X hears sounds consistent with
sexual activity. Officer X reports the conduct to
his supervisor and to the internal affairs unit, at
which time the LEA conducts a thorough
investigation. The LEA’s policy against retaliation
is made explicitly clear during and after the
investigation.

Principle 8: Maintain, Review, and Act Upon Data Regarding Sexual Assault and
Domestic Violence
Regularly examining data helps LEAs and their community partners get a clear picture of
strengths and gaps in the justice system’s response.
86

Some LEAs may be under-investigating sexual assault or domestic violence reports without
being aware of the pattern. For instance, in most jurisdictions, the reported rate of sexual
assaults typically exceeds the homicide rate.
87
 If homicides exceed sexual assaults in a
particular jurisdiction, this may be an indication that the agency is misclassifying or under-
investigating incidents of sexual assault. Similarly, studies indicate that almost two-thirds to
three-quarters of domestic violence incidents would be properly classified as “assaults” in law
enforcement incident reports.
88
 Therefore, if the ratio of arrest reports for lesser offenses (e.g.,
disorderly conduct) is significantly greater than for assaults, this may indicate that LEOs are
failing to correctly identify the behavior—i.e., they are classifying serious domestic violence
incidents as less serious infractions, such as disorderly conduct.
89
 Furthermore, data can reveal
patterns in sexual assault or domestic violence case attrition, meaning the points at which cases
stop moving through the justice process, and data can be used to determine how decisions
made within and outside the LEA (e.g., in prosecution offices and courts) are affecting the
administration of justice in these cases. For example, in one city, a district attorney’s office’s
case review found that only 30 percent of reported sexual assaults were referred by police to
prosecutors, and, of those, only 37 percent were accepted for prosecution.
90

Principle in Practice
LEAs should assess whether their jurisdictions are under-investigating sexual assault and
domestic violence reports by examining their own jurisdiction’s crime statistics, including case-
file and aggregate data on sexual assault, domestic violence, and other violent crimes in that
jurisdiction,
91
 as well as data on calls for service and other aspects of the LEA’s operations. LEAs
should evaluate the extent to which their current data collection practices are designed to
capture disparities in crime or police response based on race, geographic location, sex of victim
and perpetrator, and other characteristics that could reveal inequity. Routinely examining data
sets outside of the LEA’s own data can also help law enforcement and their community
partners develop a clear picture of sexual assault and domestic violence in the community, and
where there may be gaps in crime reporting, community engagement, or the criminal justice
system’s response. LEAs, prosecutors’ offices, and victim services providers can analyze their
respective data together to identify trends in the incidence of sexual assault and domestic
violence in their communities, assess the effectiveness of their responses to these crimes, and
make decisions about how to better investigate and prosecute these crimes to reveal
opportunities to improve community trust. For example, an LEA might rely on data on sexual
assault and domestic violence reports relative to victim services providers’ data to determine
whether it has an appropriate number of officers assigned to handle these crimes and the
appropriate level of specialized training about sexual assault and domestic violence for its
officers.

Collecting, analyzing, and acting upon data is key to ensuring that LEAs and their criminal justice
system partners are operating lawfully and effectively.

Bad Practice Example
A woman reports to police that she thinks a
man she met at a hotel bar drugged and
sexually assaulted her while she was
unconscious in her hotel room. Responding
officers ask her if she’s sure she didn’t just
have too much to drink. The officers decline
to collect any evidence in the hotel room,
like blood-stained bed sheets. She takes a
cab to the hospital to undergo a sexual
assault medical forensic examination.
A week later, she calls the detective
assigned to her case. The officer tells her
that the case is closed due to insufficient
evidence and the prosecutor’s unwillingness
to file charges.

The woman learns later that her case—like
more than half of sexual assaults reported
to this police department—was cleared by
exceptional means, with a note on the case
file saying “prosecution declined.” She
discovers that in all sexual assault cases (but
no other types of cases), detectives consult
a prosecutor right after a report is made. If
the prosecutor says they will not accept the
case, then no investigation is conducted to
determine if there is probable cause to
make an arrest.
Good Practice Example
A woman reports to police that, while waiting at a bus
stop after a night shift at her job, she was forced into a
wooded area by a young man who sexually assaulted
her at gunpoint. An officer drives the woman to a
hospital where she is met by a victim advocate and a
Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). The SANE
swabs in and around the victim’s mouth. The advocate
helps the woman arrange for a neighbor who watches
the woman’s children to stay with the children longer.
Per agency policy, the sexual assault kit is immediately
submitted to a crime lab. A detective conducts an
investigation while waiting for results from the kit, but
the few leads she has soon run dry.

When the crime lab obtains a DNA profile from the
oral swab and it is uploaded into CODIS, it hits to an
offender with a    history of   drug trafficking. The suspect
is charged with sexual assault, but he claims the
encounter was consensual—that he traded the
woman drugs for a sexual favor.
The trial ends in a hung jury because one juror
believes the defendant’s account and votes not guilty.
The woman tells the detective and prosecutor that,
although she is upset over the result, it matters to her
that the police, the prosecutor, and 11 jurors believed
her, and that she is willing to testify at the re-trial.

Relevant Federal Law
Gender bias in the law enforcement response to sexual assault and domestic violence can make
it more difficult to determine whether a crime occurred and to hold perpetrators accountable.
While many in law enforcement are effectively conducting such investigations, by identifying
practices that may reflect or contribute to gender bias in policing, and by describing a set of
basic principles that can help to prevent such bias, this guidance is intended to help LEAs
improve their ability to effectively address sexual assault and domestic violence. Moreover, as
laid out below, the U.S. Constitution and various federal laws prohibit LEAs from
discriminating–including on the basis of gender–in the discharge of their duties. The
Department outlines these legal principles to help LEAs further understand the source of their
duty to eliminate policing practices that may be biased. LEAs that integrate the basic principles
described in this guidance into their policies, trainings, and practices will be able to respond to

reports of sexual assault and domestic violence more effectively and will more readily fulfill
their own legal obligations.

U.S. Constitution
The Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits discriminatory enforcement of
the law.
92
 Discriminatory policing occurs when police officers and departments selectively
enforce the law—or fail to enforce the law—based on characteristics such as race, color,
national origin, sex, disability, or religion.
93
 Denying police services to some persons or
communities due to bias or stereotypes related to protected characteristics is a form of
discriminatory policing. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the 14
th
 Amendment “prohibits
the states from denying to all persons within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Denying includes inaction as well as action, and denying the equal protection of the laws
includes the omission to protect.”
94
 Many courts have extended this principle to include an
LEA’s under-enforcement of crimes that disproportionately affect women, where it is
established that the agency has a policy, practice, or custom of intentionally providing unequal
protection to community members on the basis of sex, in the form of failing to respond with
equal effort to victims of those crimes the same as it does with victims of other comparable
crimes.
95

The Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution also prohibits discriminatory policing. Due
Process violations occur when law enforcements’ affirmative conduct creates or increases the
risk of private violence, which increases the danger to the victim.
96

Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law – 18 U.S.C. § 242
Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of law to willfully
deprive a person of their Constitutional rights. To act under “color of law” means to use
government-sanctioned authority – at all levels of government - to facilitate one’s conduct,
regardless of whether on or off-duty.
97
 Those who act under color of law include police officers,
probation officers, corrections officers, and other prison employees. It also includes judges and
other public officials, tribal officers, private prisoner transport officers, private prison
employees,
98
 state employees like teachers and athletic trainers,
99
 medical professionals or
others who have government-contracted employment.
100

When someone acting under color of law commits sexual assault, they violate the
constitutional rights of their victims.
101
 It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by race,
color, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, or national
origin of the victim. Such conduct is a felony punishable by a range of penalties up to life in
prison, depending on the circumstances of the misconduct. The penalties are set forth under 18
U.S.C. § 250 (Penalties for Civil Rights Offenses involving Sexual Misconduct, enacted in March
2022).

Safe Streets Act — 42 U.S.C. § 3789d
Jurisdictions receiving federal financial assistance authorized by the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Safe Streets Act) are also prohibited from engaging in discriminatory
policing by the language of that statute. The Safe Streets Act provides that “[n]o person in any
State shall on the ground of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under or denied
employment in connection with any programs or activity funded in whole or in part with funds
made available under this chapter.”
1
 The implementing regulation of the Safe Streets Act
prohibits program recipients from “utiliz[ing] criteria or methods of administration which have
the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination.”
102
 When an LEA’s handling of sexual
assault or domestic violence cases has a disparate impact on a protected category, it violates
the Safe Streets Act and its implementing regulations, even where the discrimination is not
intentional, unless the agency can show that the discriminatory impact is necessitated by some
legitimate law enforcement or other purpose.

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 — 34 U.S.C. § 12601
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 prohibits law enforcement officers
from engaging in a pattern or practice of policing that violates either the U.S. Constitution or
federal laws. Under Section 12601, it is unlawful for LEAs, including prosecutorial offices, to
violate the U.S. Constitution or any other federal statute, including, for example, the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act — 34 U.S.C. § 12291(b)(13)
The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 prohibits discrimination in any
program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under VAWA, or other
funds administered by OVW, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national
origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Additional Resources
The Department has identified additional resources to further guide LEAs’ responses to reports
of sexual assault and domestic violence in the attached appendix and on its website at
www.justice.gov/ovw/identifying-and-preventing-gender-bias. These resources also contain
sources for training opportunities for law enforcement staff. LEAs that would like additional
technical assistance on how to eradicate gender bias in law enforcement should contact OVW
by phone at 202–307–6026 or email at [email protected].
An abbreviated version of this guidance highlighting the key points of each principle is available
at: https://www.justice.gov/ovw/policing-guidance.

1
42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c)(1) (2006).

*****

For dissemination purposes, this guidance is available at the following website link:
www.justice.gov/ovw/identifying-and-preventing-gender-bias.

1
This guidance, however, is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, trust, or responsibility, whether
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies,
instrumentalities, entities, officers, employees, or agents, or any person.
2
This document focuses on identifying and reducing the impact of gender bias and other biases on the law enforcement
response to sexual assault and domestic violence. Explicit and implicit biases, however, exist throughout society, and, as a
result, can arise in various aspects of the criminal justice system. Specifically, explicit and implicit gender bias can undermine
the effective handling of sexual assault and domestic violence cases at any point, from report to adjudication or closure. While
not the subject of this document, addressing gender bias on the part of prosecutors, judges, and juries in  their consideration of
sexual assault and domestic violence cases is critical to ensuring that justice is served. Additionally, LEAs must be mindful that
gender bias can occur alongside other types of unlawful discrimination, including racial bias, exacerbating any deficiencies in
the criminal justice system’s response to reports of sexual assault and domestic violence and further undermining victim safety.
3
See, for example, Garza, A. D., Franklin, C. A., & Goodson, A. (2021). Police response to Latina immigrant intimate partner
violence victims: a qualitative analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 08862605211037980.
4
For further guidance, see the interactive Police Reform Finder at https://www.justice.gov/crt/page/file/922456/download
(select “Reforming Specific Police Practices” and then select “Bias in Policing” to locate pertinent resources); the 2014 guidance
for federal LEAs regarding the use of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, at
www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1388381/download; and the 2001 Principles for Promoting Policing Integrity:
Examples of Promising Policing Practices and Policies at www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojp/186189.pdf (section VI speaks to non-
discriminatory policing and data collection.)
5
Justice Department data show that 91 percent of victims of completed rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault are female.
Source: Rennison, C. A. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention, 1992-2000 (NCJ 194530).
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf.
6
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) is  the
source for the these figures. Reports and other information about the NISVS are available at:
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nisvs/index.html.
7
Ibid.
8
This figure was included in a 2013 NISVS report about findings on victimization by sexual orientation: Division of Violence
Prevention. (2013). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 findings on victimization by sexual
orientation. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf.
9
Ibid.
10
Rosay, A.    B. (2016). Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women and men: 2010 findings from the National
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. NIJ Journal, 277, 38–45. http://nij.gov/journals/277/Pages/violence-
againstamerican-indians-alaska-natives.aspx.
11
Planty, M., Langton, L., Krebs, C., Berzofsky, M., & Smiley-McDonald, H. (2013). Female victims of sexual violence, 1994-2010
(NCJ 240655). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvsv9410.pdf.
12
Petrosky, E., Blair, J., Betz, C. et   al.  (2017). Racial and ethnic differences in homicides of adult women and the role of intimate
partner violence – United States, 2003-2014. MMWR, 66(28), 741–746.
13
See, for example, Zadnik, E., Sabina, C., & Cuevas, C. A.    (2014). Violence against Latinas: The effects of undocumented status
on rates of victimization and help-seeking. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31, 1141–1153.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514564062.
14
Harrell, E. (2017, July). Crime against persons with disabilities, 2009-2015. (NCJ 250632). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau
of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/capd0915st.pdf.
15
Shapiro, J.   (Host). (2018, January 8). The sexual assault epidemic no one talks about. [Radio broadcast]. NPR.
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/08/570224090/the-sexual-assault-epidemic-no-one-talks-about.
16
Lynch, S. M., Dehart, D. D., Belknap, J.   E., & Green, B. L.   (2012). Women’s pathways to jail: the roles and intersections of
serious mental illness and trauma. (NCJ 240558). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=262638.

17
See, for example, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NISVS: An
Overview of 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation, available at
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/cdc_nisvs_victimization_final-a.pdf;
 James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S.,
Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center
for Transgender Equity, available at
https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf; Brown,
T. N.    T., & Herman, J.   L.   (2015). Intimate partner violence and sexual abuse among LGBT people: a review of existing research.
Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute, available at: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/IPV-Sexual-
Abuse-Among-LGBT-Nov-2015.pdf; see also Stotzer, R. L.   (2009, May–June). Violence against transgender people: A review of
United States data. Aggression and Violent Behavior 14(3) 170–179.
18
Peitzmeier, S. M., Malik, M., Kattari, S. K., Marrow, E., Stephenson, R., Agénor, M., & Reisner, S. L.   (2020). Intimate partner
violence in  transgender populations: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and correlates. American Journal of
Public Health, 110(9), e1–e14.
19
Kivisto, A.    & Porter, M. (2019). Firearm use increases risk of multiple victims in domestic homicides. Journal of the American
Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 48(1). doi: 10.29158/JAAPL.003888-20. See also, Fox, J. A., & Zawitz, M. W. (2007).
Homicide trends in  the United States: Intimate homicide. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
20
Fridel, E. E., & Fox, J.   A.    (2019). Gender differences in  patterns and trends in  U.S. homicide, 1976–2017. Violence and Gender,
6(1), 27–36. https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2019.0005.
21
Morgan, R. E., & Thompson, A.    (2021). Criminal victimization, 2020. (NCJ 301775).
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/cv20.pdf.
22
See, for example, Rape in the United States: The Chronic Failure to Report and Investigate Rape Cases. (2010, September 14).
Hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 111th Congress, 6–7.
(statement of Carol E. Tracy, Executive Director, Women’s Law Project) [hereinafter 2010 Senate Committee Testimony].
http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/09-14-10%20Tracy%20Testimony.pdf (citing research); Fenton, Z. E. (1998).
Domestic violence in black and white: Racialized gender stereotypes in gender violence. Columbia Journal of Gender and the
Law, 8(1), 27.
23
See, for example, Sleath, E., & Bull, R. (2017). Police perceptions of rape victims and the impact on case decision making: A
systematic review. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 34, 102–112. 10.1016/j.avb.2017.02.003; Venema, R. M. (2019). Making
judgments: How blame mediates the influence of rape myth acceptance in police response to sexual assault. Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, 34(13), 2697–2722; Decker, M. R., Holliday, C. N., Hameeduddin, Z., Shah, R., Miller, J., Dantzler, J., &
Goodmark, L. (2019). “You do not think of me as a human being”: Race and gender inequities intersect to discourage police
reporting of violence against women. Journal of Urban Health, 96(5), 772–783; and Russell, B., & Sturgeon, J. A. D. (2019).
Police evaluations of intimate partner violence in heterosexual and same-sex relationships: Do experience and training play a
role? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 34(1), 34–44.
24
See, for example, Warnken, H., & Lauritsen, J.L. (2019). Who experiences violent victimization and who accesses services?
Findings from the national crime victimization survey for expanding our reach. Center for Victim Research.
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/who-experiences-violent-victimization-and-who-accesses-services;
Ragavan, M. I., Thomas, K. A., Fulambarker, A., Zaricor, J., Goodman, L.   A., & Bair-Merritt, M. H. (2020). Exploring the needs and
lived experiences of racial and ethnic minority domestic violence survivors through community-based participatory research: A
systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(5), 946–963. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018813204; and O’Neal, E. N.,
Beckman, L. O., & Spohn, C. (2019). The sexual stratification hypothesis: Is the decision to arrest influenced by the
victim/suspect racial/ethnic dyad? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(6), 1287–1310. See also Fenton, supra note 12, at 53–
54 (discussing how stereotypes can lead LEOs to take the claims of African-American victims less seriously than others);
Sokoloff, N. J., & Pratt, C. (Eds.) (2005) Domestic violence at the margins: Readings on race, class, gender, and culture; Sokoloff,
N. J., & Dupont, I. (2005, January). Domestic violence at the intersections of race, class, and gender: Challenges and
contributions to understanding violence against marginalized women in diverse communities. Violence Against Women, 11(1),
38–64.
25
For findings from research on the effectiveness of arresting domestic violence offenders, which is  one piece of a coordinated
community response to these crimes, see, for example, Rosay, A. B., Wood, D., Rivera, M., Postle, G., & TePas, K. (2010).
Investigation and prosecution of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of
Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236429.pdf; Buzawa, E. S., Buzawa, C. G., & Stark, E. D. (2017). Responding
to domestic violence: The integration of criminal justice and human services (5th ed.). SAGE Publishing; Maxwell, C., Garner, J., &
Fagan, J. (2001, July). The effects of arrest on intimate partner violence: New evidence from the Spouse Assault Replication
Program (NCJ 188199). U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188199.pdf;
Maxwell, C. D., Garner, J. H., & Fagan, J. A. (2002). The preventive effects of arrest on intimate partner violence: Research,
policy and theory. Criminology and Public Policy, 2(1).
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3574&context=faculty_scholarship; and Xie, M., & Lynch, J.

P. (2017). The effects of arrest, reporting to the police, and victim services on intimate partner violence. Journal of Research in
Crime and Delinquency, 54(3), 338–378.
26
See, for example, Campbell, R., Feeney, H., Pierce, S. J., Sharma, D. B., & Fehler-Cabral, G. (2018). Tested at last: How DNA
evidence in  untested rape kits can identify offenders and serial sexual assaults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(24), 3792–
3814; and Lovell, R., Huang, W., Overman, L., Flannery, D., & Klingenstein, J. (2020). Offending histories and typologies of
suspected sexual offenders identified via untested sexual assault kits. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(4), 470–486.
27
See, for example, BPD Consent Decree at 88; NOPD Consent Decree at 59.
28
See, for example, Holmes, S. C., Maxwell, C. D., Cattaneo, L. B., Bellucci, B. A., & Sullivan, T. P. (2021, June). Criminal
protection orders among women victims of intimate partner violence: Women’s experiences of court decisions, processes, and
their willingness to engage with the system in the future. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/08862605211021965; and Davis, R. C., & Maxwell, C. (2002). Preventing repeat
incidents of family violence: A reanalysis of data from three field tests. Report to the National Institute of Justice. Award
number 2000-WT-VX-0007. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/200608.pdf; and Friday, P. C. (2006). Evaluating the impact of a specialized domestic
violence police unit. Report to the National Institute of Justice. Award number 2004-WG-BX-0004. U.S. Department of Justice,
National Institute of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/215916.pdf.
29
See Buzawa, Buzawa, & Stark (2017). Also, for research on how law enforcement’s response can affect victims’ decisions to
stay engaged with the investigation, see, for example, Patterson, D. (2011). The impact of detectives’ manner of questioning on
rape victims’ disclosure. Violence Against Women, 17(11), 1349–1373. doi:10.1177/1077801211434725; Kaiser, K. A., O’Neal, E.
N., & Spohn, C. (2017). “Victim refuses to cooperate”: A focal concerns analysis of victim cooperation in sexual assault cases.
Victims & Offenders, 12(2), 297–322; and National Domestic Violence Hotline. (2015). Who will help me? Domestic violence
survivors speak out about law enforcement responses. http://www.thehotline.org/resources/law-enforcement-responses.
30
See, for example, Kafka, J.   M., Moracco, K. E., Young, B., et. al. (2021). Fatalities related to intimate partner violence: Towards
a comprehensive perspective. Injury Prevention, 27, 137–144; and Klein, A. R. (2009). Practical implications of current domestic
violence research: For law enforcement, prosecutors and judges (NCJ 225772). U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of
Justice. (citing FBI data and multiple state and local fatality reviews) https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225722.pdf.
31
Klein (2009)
32
Klein (2009)
33
“An analysis of 1,268 sexual assault police reports associated with [sexual assault kits] that had not been submitted for
testing revealed that most cases were closed after minimal investigational effort. In both the stakeholder interviews and in the
actual police reports, law enforcement personnel expressed negative, victim-blaming beliefs about sexual assault victims.”
Source: Campbell, R., Fehler-Cabral, G., Pierce, S., Sharma, D., Bybee, D., Shaw, J., Horsford, S., & Feeney, H. (2015). Detroit
sexual assault kit (SAK) action research project (ARP). Final report to the National Institute of Justice. Award number 2011-DN-
BX-0001. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248680.pdf.
34
Campbell, et. al. (2015), pp. iii-vi. For more research on the reasons some sexual assault kits were not submitted for testing,
see: Campbell, R., Feeney, H., Fehler-Cabral, G., Shaw, J., & Horsford, S. (2017). The national problem of untested sexual assault
kits (SAKs): Scope, causes, and future directions for research, policy, and practice. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(4), 363–376;
and Campbell, R., Feeney, H., Pierce, S. J., Sharma, D. B., & Fehler-Cabral, G. (2018). Tested at last: How DNA evidence in
untested rape kits can identify offenders and serial sexual assaults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(24), 3792–3814.
Finally, a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative brief, Case Connectivity Using DNA: How Testing Sexual Assault Kits Can Link Criminal
Cases, provides information on using CODIS to develop case connectivity: https://www.sakitta.org/toolkit/docs/Case-
Connectivity-Using-DNA-How-Testing-SAKs-Can-Link-Criminal-Cases.pdf.
35
It was reported in 2019 that testing all 11,000+ sexual assault kits in  Detroit “led to hundreds of investigations and the
identification of 824 suspected serial rapists. Altogether, 282 cases have been adjudicated, resulting in  197 convictions.”
Source: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2019/08/13/detroit-touts-success-rape-kits-
crisis/3770362002/.
36
See Lonsway, K. A., & Archambault, J. (2017). Untested evidence and the investigation of cold sexual assault cases. End
Violence Against Women International. https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/Module-14_Cold-Case.pdf; and Davis, R. C.,
Jurek, A., Wells, W., & Shadwick, J.   (2021). Investigative outcomes of CODIS matches in  previously untested sexual assault kits.
Criminal Justice Policy Review, 32(8), 841–864. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403421990723.
37
Investigation of the Baltimore Police Department, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division 122-123 (Aug. 10, 2016)
[hereinafter BPD FL], available at https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883296/download; Letter from Thomas Perez, Assistant
Attorney General of the United States, to Hon. John Engen, Mayor of Missoula, Montana, 8, 13 (May 15, 2013) [hereinafter
Missoula FL], available at https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/05/22/missoulapdfind_5-15-13.pdf;
Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division 43, 46 (Mar. 16, 2011)
[hereinafter NOPD FL], available at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/nopd_report.pdf; and Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police,
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at

https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults.
38
Note: Case examples are used throughout this document to illustrate how gender bias can have an impact on the law
enforcement response to sexual assault and domestic violence, and how aligning policies, practices, and training with the
principles can mitigate those impacts. Some of the examples are purely fictional and others draw on real cases.
39
See memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Department of Justice and City of Missoula Regarding the Missoula
Police Department’s Response to Sexual Assault 5 (May 15, 2013) [hereinafter Missoula MOU].
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/05/15/missoulapdsettle_5-15-13.pdf; International Association of
Chiefs of Police, Sexual Assault Incident Reports Investigative Strategies 5 (2005) [hereinafter IACP Sexual Assault Incident
Reports]. http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/pdfs/SexualAssaultGuidelines.pdf; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law
Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults;
and End Violence Against Women International, Training Bulletin: When to Conduct an Exam or Interview 3   (2013) [hereinafter
EVAWI Training Bulletin]. http://www.ncdsv.org/images/EVAW_When-to-conduct-an-exam-or-interview_6-2013.pdf.
40
Before making final credibility determinations, investigators should gather and assess objective evidence (statements,
medical evidence, camera footage) as available and appropriate. See infra, Principle 3, notes 42–45 for guidelines on
conducting a full investigation.
41
See generally, IACP’s Sexual Assault Incident Reports: Investigative Strategies (2018); Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law
Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults.
42
Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 8-  9, 13; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 43–44, 46–48.
43
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 87-90; Consent Decree Regarding the New Orleans Police Department, U.S. v.   City of
New Orleans, No. 2:12-cv-01924-SM-JCW, at 54 (Jan. 11, 2013) [hereinafter NOPD CD]. http://www.justice.gov-
/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/01/11/nopd_agreement_1-11-13.pdf; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29,
at 4-5; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content
Guidelines (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-
guidelines and IACP Model Policy: Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-
center-resource/sexual-assaults; EVAWI Training Bulletin, supra note 29, at 3-4.
44
Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5, 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 4; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police,
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults.
45
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 88-89; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5, 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports,
supra note 29, at 3; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training
Content Guidelines (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-
content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. See also The Nat’l Ctr. for Women and Policing,
Successfully Investigating Acquaintance Sexual Assault: A National Training Manual for Law Enforcement, Drug-Facilitated
Sexual Assault Module 9-10 (2001) [hereinafter Nat’l Ctr. For Women and Policing Training Manual].
http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/acquaintsa/participant/drugfacilitated.pdf.
46
See National Center for Women and Policing Training Manual, supra 35, at 9-  10.
47
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 90; Missoula MOU, supra note xxv, at 7.
48
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 88-89; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports,
supra note 29, at 3, 7.
49
Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 3; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police,
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training Guidelines (2018), available at:
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and
IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-
resource/domestic-violence.
; Joanne Archambault et   al., End Violence Against Women Int’l, Effective Report Writing: Using the Language of Non-Consensual
Sex 5-13 (2012) [hereinafter EVAWI Effective Report Writing].
http://www.evawintl.org/Library/DocumentLibraryHandler.ashx?id=43.
50
See, for example, DePrince, A.    P., Labus, J., Belknap, J., Buckingham, S., & Gover, A.    (2012). The impact of community-based
outreach on psychological distress and victim safety in women exposed to intimate partner abuse. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 80, 211–221; Sullivan, C. M., Bybee, D.I., & Allen, N.    E. (2002). Findings from a community-based program

for battered women and their children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 915–936; BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at
90; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 4.
51
BPD FL, supra xxiv, at 124-126; Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 7; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 47-50; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of
Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults.
52
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 87-89; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 4; NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54; IACP
Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 7; see generally Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy
Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults;
Police Executive Research Forum, Improving the Police Response to Sexual Assault 1-  2   (2012) [hereinafter PERF Improving the
Police Response], available at
http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/improving%20the%20police%20response%20to%20sexual%20
assault%202012.pdf.
53
Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5; NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54-55; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement
Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training Guidelines (2018), available at:
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and
IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-
resource/domestic-violence.
54
NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 7; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l
Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults.
55
See Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C §§ 2000d et seq.; Exec. Order No. 13166, 65 Fed. Reg. 50,121 (Aug. 16,
2000).
56
For information, see: Language Access Assessment and Planning Tool for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted
Programs at: https://www.lep.gov/sites/lep/files/resources/2011_Language_Access_Assessment_and_Planning_Tool.pdf.
57
See Common Language Access Questions, Technical Assistance, and Guidance for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted
Programs 8 & n.1 (August 2011). http://www.lep.gov/resources/081511_Language_Access_CAQ_TA_Guidance.pdf (citing
Department of Justice Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin
Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons, 67 Fed. Reg. 41,455, 41,461 (June 18, 2002)).
58
 See, for example: Klemko, R. (2022, March 26). This police chief is hiring female officers to fix ‘toxic’ policing. The Washington
Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/interactive/2022/women-police-nebraska/. Discussed in this article
is the 30x30 Initiative (30x30initiative.org), which addresses the underrepresentation of women in policing.
59
BPD FL, supra xxiv, at 126-127; Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 8; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 45-47.
60
See, for example, Morabito, M. S., Williams, L.   M., Pattavina, A.    (2019). Decision making in  sexual assault cases: Replication
research on sexual violence case attrition in the U.S. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/252689.pdf; and Spohn, C., & Tellis, K. (2019). Sexual assault case outcomes:
Disentangling the overlapping decisions of police and prosecutors. Justice Quarterly, 36(3), 383–411, doi:
10.1080/07418825.2018.1429645.
61
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 91.
62
NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54-56; End Violence Against Women Int’l, Reporting Methods for Sexual Assault Cases 8, 18
(2007) [hereinafter EVAWI Sexual Assault Cases]. https://www.evawintl.org/Library/DocumentLibraryHandler.ashx?id=35;
EVAWI Training Bulletin, supra note 29, at 4-5.
63
Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 2, 5; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police,
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy:
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults;
EVAWI Sexual Assault Cases, supra note 47, at 7; EVAWI Training Bulletin, supra note 29, at 3.
64
In conducting a full and thorough investigation, law enforcement officers should engage victims in a trauma-informed
manner: officers should be careful to avoid pursuing victims (some of whom may be reluctant to speak to law enforcement) in  a
way that might be retraumatizing. See supra note 33.
65
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 91.
66
For example, the Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance works collaboratively with the Department’s Office for Victims of
Crime (OVC) to develop training for law enforcement and communities to identify trafficking victims and to support anti-
trafficking task forces involving collaboration among state and local law enforcement, trafficking victim service providers,
federal law enforcement, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. More information about OVC anti-human trafficking efforts is available

here: http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/humantrafficking/lawenforcement.html. Information about OVC training and grant opportunities is
available at https://www.ovcttac.gov/views/Resources/dspResources_Org.cfm. The Department’s Civil Rights Division Human
Trafficking Prosecution Unit (HTPU) also provides advanced capacity-building and training programs on trauma-informed,
victim-centered best practices in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases and the stabilization of human
trafficking victims. These programs include intensive, week-long, interdisciplinary trainings for law enforcement agents,
prosecutors, law enforcement victim-witness coordinators, and nongovernmental victim advocates on stabilizing traumatized
victims, earning the trust of traumatized victims of labor trafficking and sex trafficking, and overcoming challenges to securing
the cooperation of reluctant victims and empowering them to become active participants in the criminal justice process. These
programs continue to enhance law enforcement capacity to empower victims of human trafficking—many of whom are women
and girls with histories of poverty, dislocation, physical and sexual abuse, and cultural isolation—to report their victimization
and play an active role in bringing human traffickers to justice. More information about HTPU is available at
http://www.justice.gov/crt/human-trafficking-prosecution-unit-htpu.

67
Additional information about the U non-immigrant status (also known as the “U visa”) is available at
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-
status/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status. Victims of human trafficking also may be eligible for T non-immigrant
status. See http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-human-trafficking-t-
nonimmigrant-status.
68
Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 10-11; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 43, 50-51.
69
IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 4-5; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr.,
Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-
assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available
at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults.
70
Culturally specific organizations are founded and operated by and for members of a particular cultural community.
71
NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 55.
72
NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 48.
73
NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 58.
74
Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training
Guidelines (2018), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-
training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at:
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence.
75
NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 58; IACP Domestic Violence Issues Paper, supra note 38, at 4; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l
Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training Guidelines (2018), available at:
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and
IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-
resource/domestic-violence; Barbara J. Hart, Arrest: What's the Big Deal, 3 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 207, 207-210 (1997)
(noting the importance of first responders being cognizant of the goals of domestic violence intervention because their
perspective will influence all major decisions, including whether to arrest one or both parties).
76
For examples of analogous LEA-community partnerships see Cleveland Consent Decree at 34 (requiring the Cleveland Police
Department and City to develop a Mental Health Response Advisory Committee to foster relationships and build support
between the police, the community, and mental health providers and to help identify problems and develop solutions designed
to improve outcomes for individuals in crisis.). Available at:
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2015/05/27/cleveland_agreement_5-26-15.pdf; Ferguson Consent
Decree at 6 (requiring the City to establish a Neighborhood Policing Steering Committee that will provide input to FPD and the
City on law enforcement issues). Available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/833431/download; Baltimore Consent Decree
at 8 (requiring Baltimore Police Department to solicit input from its advisory boards and councils representing particular
communities, such as the Youth Advisory Board and the LGBT Advisory Council, on policies, practices, training, engagement
programs, and enforcement strategies that affect the communities those advisory groups represent). Available at:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/925056/download.
77
Investigation of the Chicago Police Dep’t, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Civil Rights Division 67-70 (Jan. 13, 2017) [hereinafter CPD FL],
available at https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/925846/download; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 92; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police,
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at:
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence, and Addressing Sexual Offenses and Misconduct
by Law Enforcement: Executive Guide (2011), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide.
pdf.
78
End Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-

Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf; BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 152-153; Ferguson Consent Decree, 66-67 (Apr. 19,
2016). https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883846/download.
79
End Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-
Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf; BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 152-152; Ferguson Consent Decree, 66-67 (Apr. 19,
2016). https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883846/download.
80
Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at:
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence, Addressing Sexual Offenses and Misconduct by
Law Enforcement: Executive Guide (2011), available at
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide.
pdf, and Domestic Violence by Police Officers Concepts and Issues Paper 2, 6-7 (2003) [hereinafter IACP Domestic Violence by
Police Officers Issues Paper].
http://www.theiacp.org/Portals/0/documents/pdfs/MembersOnly/DomesticViolencebyPolicePaper.pdf; End Violence Against
Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Accountability (Feb. 2020),
available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-
Accountability.pdf.
81
See, for example, Policy 322, Member-Involved Sexual Misconduct, Baltimore Police Department 3 (Dec. 7, 2020); End
Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-
Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf; and IACP, Addressing Sexual Offenses and Misconduct By Law Enforcement: Executive
Guide 11 (June 2011).
82
18 U.S.C. § 242 criminalizes the willful deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law, and this includes sexual assault
and other non-consensual sexual contact. See “Investigating and Prosecuting Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Cases,” (Jan.
2018), https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/242SexualMisconduct-USABulletin.pdf. In conjunction with Section 242, 18
U.S.C. § 250 provides penalties for civil rights offenses, including involving sexual misconduct.
83
CPD FL, supra note lvii, at 155.
84
Some LEAs are training officers on their duty to intervene when witnessing wrongful acts or mistakes by their fellow officers.
See, for example, the Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC) training: https://epic.baltimorepolice.org/epic.
85
End Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-
Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf.
86
BPD FL, supra xxiv, at 127.
87
U.S. Department of Justice. (2011, March). Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department, p. 45.
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/03/17/nopd_report.pdf.
88
Klein (2009)
89
Klein (2009)
90
Minneapolis Star Tribune. (2018, January 25). When rape is  reported and nothing happens: How Minnesota’s criminal Justice
system has failed victims of sexual assault. https://www.startribune.com/denied-justice-series-when-rape-is-reported-and-
nothing-happens-minnesota-police-sexual-assault-investigations/487400761/#credits.
91
BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 92; NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54-60.
92
Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 813 (1996) (noting that the Equal Protection Clause is the constitutional basis for
objecting to intentionally discriminatory applications of the law); DeShaney v.   Winnebago County Dep't of Social Servs., 489
U.S. 189, 197 n. 3 (1989) (noting that, pursuant to the Equal Protection Clause, state executive and law enforcement officials
may not “selectively deny . . . protective services to certain disfavored minorities.); Elliot-Park v.   Manglona, 592 F.3d 1003, 1007
(9th Cir. 2010) (Equal Protection Clause prohibits law enforcement from intentionally discriminating in the provision of any
services to any degree) (9th Cir. 2010); Estate of Macias v. Ihde, 219 F.3d 1018, 1019, 1028 (9th Cir. 2000) (in case alleging
“inferior police protection on account of status as a woman, a Latina, and a victim of domestic violence,” holding that there is
an equal protection right to have law enforcement services administered in a nondiscriminatory manner); Pariseau v. City of
Brockton, 135 F. Supp. 2d 257, 262 (D. Mass. 2001) (“A]lthough there is no constitutional right to police protection, law
enforcement officials may not selectively deny protective services based on such invidious classifications as race, gender and
religion.”) (citing Hayden v. Grayson, 134 F.3d 449, 452, 453 n. 3 (1st Cir.1998)).
93
Id.
94
Bell v.   Maryland, 378 U.S. 266, 310 n. 31 (1964) (Goldberg, J., concurring) (internal citation omitted).
95
In evaluating equal protection claims regarding under-enforcement of crimes that disproportionately affect women, courts
consider whether (1) the jurisdiction has a policy or custom of providing less protection to victims of those crimes than they do
to other crimes; (2) whether gender discrimination was a motivating factor in providing less protection; and (3) whether the
policy or practice caused the plaintiff injury. See, e.g., Soto v. Flores, 103 F.3d 1056, 1066 (1st Cir. 1997); Watson v. City of
Kansas City, 857 F.2d 690 (10th Cir. 1988); Hynson v. City of Chester, 864 F.2d 1026, 1031 (3rd Cir. 1988). Importantly, a

discriminatory purpose need not be the only motivation for an agency’s policy or practice. Vill. Of Arlington Heights v. Metro
Hous. Dev. Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 265-66 (1977). Courts will consider the totality of the circumstances and consider factors that
indirectly indicate an intent to discriminate, including discriminatory impact. Id. Certain contemporaneous actions or
statements by police officers may be sufficient to establish discriminatory intent. See, e.g., Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t.,
901 F.2d 696, 701 (9th Cir. 1990) (finding officer’s alleged statement, that he did not blame plaintiff’s husband for hitting her
because she was “carrying on,” strongly suggested discriminatory intent and an animus towards abused women).
96
96
See, e.g., Okin v. Vill. of Cornwall-On-Hudson Police Dep’t, 577 F.3d 415, 429-430 (2d Cir. 2009) (finding that a reasonable
fact-finder could infer that the police affirmatively encouraged a man’s domestic violence when police engaged in casual,
friendly conversation with the alleged abuser during their response to the victim’s complaint, and otherwise communicated
that the alleged abuser’s conduct would go unpunished); Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 236-237 (3d Cir. 2008)
(police providing individual with confidential information that permits that individual to harm another may give rise to a due
process violation under the “state-harm” doctrine); Freeman v. Ferguson, 911 F.2d 52, 54-55 (8th Cir. 1990) (noting that there is
a “possibility that a constitutional duty to protect an individual against private violence may exist in a non-custodial setting if
the state has taken affirmative action which increases the individual's danger of, or vulnerability to, such violence beyond the
level it would have been at absent state action”).; Smith v. City of Elyria, 857 F. Supp. 1203, 1210 (N.D. Ohio 1994) (finding facts
sufficient to support a due process claim, where, among other things, police officers responding to domestic abuse call told the
alleged abuser to throw his clothing back inside the house if the alleged victim threw it out). Additionally, when a law
enforcement officer commits sexual harassment or abuse during the course of his or her official duties, this misconduct violates
the victim’s Due Process rights. See, e.g., Fontana v. Haskin, 262 F.3d 871, 882 (9th Cir. 2001) (“Sexual misconduct by a police
officer toward another generally is analyzed under the Fourteenth Amendment; sexual harassment by a police officer of a
criminal suspect during a continuing seizure is analyzed under the Fourth Amendment.”); Doe v. Claiborne Cty., 103 F.3d 495,
507 (6th Cir. 1996) (“If the ‘right to bodily integrity’ means anything, it certainly encompasses the right not to be sexually
assaulted under color of law.”); Haberthur v. City of Raymore, Mo., 119 F.3d 720, 723–24 (8th Cir.1997) (nonconsensual sexual
fondling by an on-duty, uniformed police officer violated the victim’s substantive due process right to bodily integrity); Jones v.
Wellham, 104 F.3d 620, 628 (4th Cir.1997) (police officer violated victim’s 14th Amendment due process rights by raping her
after a traffic stop).
97
See United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 326 (1941); Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91, 111 (1945).
98
See, e.g., Gwynn v. TransCor Am., Inc., 26 F. Supp. 2d 1256, 1265–66 (D. Colo. 1998) (privately-contracted transport officer
acted under color of law when he sexually assaulted an inmate in his custody).
99
See, e.g., Brentwood Acad. v. Tennessee Secondary Sch. Athletic Ass’n, 531 U.S. 288, 297 (2001) (state university is
“undoubtedly [a] state actor”); Jennings v. University of North Carolina, 482 F.3d 686, 701 (4th Cir. 2007) (en banc) (crediting
evidence that defendant acted “in his capacity as a coach” at state university was evidence that defendant was a state actor);
Hayut v. SUNY, 352 F.3d 733, 744 (2d Cir. 2003) (“We think it clear that a professor employed at a state university is a state
actor.”); Krynicky v. Univ. of Pittsburgh, 742 F.2d 94, 99 (3d Cir. 1984) (“[A]ctions of the University are actions taken under color
of state law for purposes of section 1983.”);
Popat v
. Levy, 328 F. Supp. 3d 106, 127 (W.D.N.Y. 2018) (“[A] professor employed at a state university is  a state actor.” (citation
omitted));
Watson v. Richmond Univ. Med. Ctr., 412 F. Supp. 3d 147, 165 (E.D.N.Y. 2017) (“[S]tate employment is  generally sufficient to
render a defendant a state actor under section 1983.” (internal citation omitted));
100
See, e.g., West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 54 (1988) (finding that a physician who was under contract with a state prison hospital
to provide medical services to inmates acted under color of law)
101
United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259 (1997).
102
28 C.F.R. § 42.203(e) (2012) (emphasis added). See also United States v. Virginia, 620 F.2d 1018, 1024 (4th
Cir. 1980) (Safe Streets Act requires showing that defendants’ discriminatory employment practices had an
adverse impact on female job applicants, not proof of intentional discrimination, before defendants must
demonstrate the challenged practices have a necessary relationship to the job.)

Page 1 of 36  

United States Department of Justice 

 
Improving Law Enforcement Response 

to Sexual Assault and Domestic 
Violence by Identifying and Preventing 

Gender Bias 
 

May 2022 
 

Statement of Purpose 
The Department of Justice (Department) is committed to assisting law enforcement agencies 
(LEA) in their efforts to combat sexual assault, domestic violence, and other forms of gender- 
based violence. Through the Department’s partnerships with state, local, tribal, territorial, and 
university LEAs, and the Department’s own law enforcement components, the Department 
recognizes that law enforcement officers (LEOs) at all 
ranks are striving to improve their response to reports 
of these crimes and seeking assistance and support for 
their efforts. 

Gender-based violence is violence and other harmful 
acts directed at an individual because of gender, which 
includes biological or perceived gender, sexual 
orientation, gender identity, and intersex traits. 
Gender-based violence is rooted in gender inequality, 
and perpetrators use violence to exert power and 
control over their victims. Examples include domestic 
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, sexual 
harassment, and gender-based hate crimes. 
While this guidance focuses on domestic violence and 
sexual assault, reducing gender bias in these areas will 
improve law enforcement responses to other forms of 
gender-based violence. 

Recognizing and mitigating instances of bias in the law 
enforcement response to sexual assault, domestic 
violence, and other forms of gender-based violence is 
critical to LEAs’ ability to protect and serve their 
communities and enhance public trust. Too often 
and for too long, gender bias within the justice system has thwarted investigations, caused 
further harm to victims, and allowed perpetrators to evade accountability and continue to 
commit crimes. For these reasons, this guidance provides LEAs with principles with which they 
can align their policies, practices, and training so that gender bias and other types of bias do not 

What is Gender-based 
Violence? 
According to the White House’s 
National Strategy on Gender Equity 
and Equality, “gender-based 
violence can take many forms, and 
it is rooted in structural gender 
inequalities and power imbalances. 
It includes the use or threat of 
physical violence and coercive 
control toward an intimate partner 
(including domestic and dating 
violence), sexual assault, and 
stalking. Gender-based violence 
also includes human trafficking, 
online abuse and harassment, and 
child sexual abuse.” 



Page 2 of 36  

undermine justice in cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault, including those 
perpetrated by LEOs. Additional resources accompanying this guidance can help LEAs put these 
principles into practice. 
 
This guidance is intended to reflect and advance the Department’s partnership with the police 
leaders, line officers, detectives, and other law enforcement personnel who work tirelessly to 
ensure that policing is bias-free, and to uphold the civil and human rights in the communities 
that they serve.1 The Department extends its appreciation to the many police leaders, victim and 
community advocates, and other experts 
who worked with us helped to develop the 
original guidance in 2015 and have 
provided insights to inform this updated 
edition.2 Furthermore, the Department 
recognizes that LEOs at all ranks, in 
communities across the country, work 
tirelessly to ensure safety and justice for 
victims of sexual assault and domestic 
violence. 
 
Addressing gender bias in policing is 
essential because LEOs frequently have the 
initial contact with victims, and LEAs 
generally conduct the investigations of 
sexual assault and domestic violence 
incidents. Gender bias, whether explicit or 
implicit, conscious or unconscious, may 
contribute to LEOs failing to conduct 
thorough investigations of reported crimes; 
misclassifying cases as unfounded or 
wrongly clearing them by exceptional 
means; failing to submit sexual assault kits 
for testing; interrogating rather than 
interviewing victims and witnesses; treating 
domestic violence as a family matter rather 
than a crime; failing to enforce protection 
orders; failing to treat same-sex domestic 
violence or violence against people 
engaged in sex trade as a crime; or treating 
people as criminals, rather than victims of 
abuse or sex trafficking. 
 
Gender bias in policing may also include engaging in, or failing to prevent, detect, and respond 
to, sexual or gender-based harassment, abuse, or assault of community members by members of 
law enforcement. Like employers and schools, LEAs have a responsibility to prevent, detect, and 
respond to these forms of misconduct and violence. Failing to do so may itself constitute gender 

What is Bias? 
A bias is a tendency, inclination, or prejudice 
toward or against people or groups, often 
based on stereotypes or assumptions. Biases 
are part of the human condition, and affect 
everyone. Bias can be implicit, meaning the 
person who holds the bias is not aware of it; 
or bias can be explicit, meaning it is expressed 
intentionally. 

Bias and discrimination in law enforcement 
responses to sexual assault and domestic 
violence may result in LEAs providing less 
protection to certain victims and failing to 
respond effectively to these crimes. 

Bias can affect how officers treat people and 
make decisions. It can also be reflected more 
broadly in the way agencies operate, 
manifesting in policies and procedures or lack 
thereof; and in resource allocation, such as 
when investigators who handle sexual assault 
cases manage significantly larger caseloads 
than investigators who handle narcotics or 
burglary cases. 



Page 3 of 36  

bias on the part of the agency. 
 
When bias compromises policing it is a form of discrimination. It may result in LEAs providing 
less protection to, and less access to services for, certain victims on the basis of sex, race, color, 
national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, familial status, pregnancy status, 
or other characteristics about the person or groups to which they belong. 

The response to sexual assault and domestic violence affects victim and community safety. 
If gender bias influences LEAs’ initial response to or investigation of an incident, it may result 
in LEAs providing less protection to certain victims on the basis of gender. It may also 
compromise law enforcement’s ability to ascertain facts, determine whether an incident was 
a crime, and develop a case that supports effective prosecution and holds the perpetrator(s) 
accountable. Sexual and domestic violence can co-occur with other crimes and may be 
committed by justice-involved people who—absent intervention or interruption—may 
continue to use violence. 

 

 
Bias based on gender can occur alongside other types of bias—including bias based on race, 
color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, familial status, pregnancy 
status, or religion—exacerbating any deficiencies in the criminal justice system’s response to 
reports of violence and further undermining access to safety for those victims. For example, 
racial and gender bias may occur when officers respond in an inappropriate and 
discriminatory manner toward domestic violence victims who are women of color, such as 
failing to treat them as victims in cases involving self-defense.3 Similarly, bias based on race 
and gender identity might manifest in officers assuming that Black transgender victims are 
engaged in criminal activity when they report sexual violence. Biases based on various 
identities can intersect to cause discriminatory treatment of particular subgroups of victims, 
causing variations in how victims of gender-based violence approach and view law 
enforcement, and can result in underreporting of crime. 

This guidance does not address all forms of gender bias, or other intersecting biases, that may 
arise in policing or in the justice system more broadly. Applicable civil rights laws prohibit 
discrimination based on a variety of protected classifications, much of which is outside the 
scope of this guidance. The Department has provided other guidance addressing some of 
these issues, and some of the principles and best practices identified in this guidance can and 
should be applied to other aspects of LEAs’ day-to-day processes.4 

 
The purpose of this guidance is to— 

• examine how bias can undermine LEAs’ response to sexual assault and domestic 
violence; and 

• provide a set of basic principles that—when integrated into LEAs’ policies, trainings, and 
practices—help agencies enhance public trust and confidence in law enforcement and 
ensure that agencies’ efforts to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable are 
not undermined by bias, either intentionally or unintentionally. 



Page 4 of 36  

The Department encourages LEAs to consider these principles and integrate them into— 

• clear, unequivocal stand-alone policies about the proper handling of sexual assault and 
domestic violence crimes, including when those offenses are perpetrated by LEOs; 

• training for officers about these policies and about effective responses to sexual assault 
and domestic violence, more generally; and 

• supervision protocols and systems of accountability to ensure that officers responding 
to reports of sexual assault and domestic violence act in accordance with these policies 
and trainings. 

 
Resulting policies, training, and supervision protocols should reflect a victim-centered and 
trauma-informed approach that strives to recognize and meet the needs of victims from all 
communities. 

Alongside the Department’s other work in this area, including the provision of funding and 
technical assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial LEAs, this document provides guidance 
to agencies as they develop more effective policies, practices, and trainings. The Department 
has additional resources to further assist LEAs in improving their response to victims of sexual 
assault and domestic violence. These resources are presented at: 
https://www.justice.gov/ovw/policing-guidance-resource-list. 
 
Background 
Gender-based violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence, are crimes that 
disproportionately harm women and girls,5 and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and 
intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals in the United States. Certain populations suffer higher rates of 
sexual assault and domestic violence than the general population and face greater barriers to 
safety and justice. For example: 

• Nearly one in five women in the United States has been the victim of a completed or 
attempted rape.6 

• Approximately one in four women and one in seven men in the United States have 
suffered severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner.7 

• Forty-four percent of lesbian women and 61 percent of bisexual women have suffered 
rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 35 percent 
of heterosexual women.8 Twenty-six percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men 
have suffered rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner.9 

• More than half of American Indian and Alaska Native women have suffered sexual 
violence at some point in their lives, and more than half have suffered physical violence 
by an intimate partner.10 

• Women and girls from lower income households and rural areas face some of the 
highest rates of sexual violence.11 

https://www.justice.gov/ovw/policing-guidance-resource-list


Page 5 of 36  

• Non-Hispanic Black and American Indian or Alaska Native women experience the highest 
rates of homicide, and more than half of these homicides are related to intimate partner 
violence.12 

• Women who are immigrants face greater barriers to seeking help when they are 
victimized by intimate partner violence.13 

• The rate of violent victimization against people with disabilities is at least 2.5 times the 
rate for people without disabilities.14 Additionally, people with intellectual disabilities 
are sexually assaulted at a rate seven times higher than that of people without 
disabilities, according to an analysis of Justice Department data.15 

• An estimated 86 percent of women who have served a jail sentence have suffered 
sexual violence at some point during their lives, and 77 percent have suffered violence 
by an intimate partner.16 

• While there is a lack of data on the violence suffered by transgender people, 
community-based studies indicate high levels of victimization,17 and research estimates 
that transgender people are 2.5 times more likely than cisgender people to suffer sexual 
violence during their lives.18 

 
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was 
passed in 1994 to improve how communities 
respond to domestic violence and sexual assault. 
In the over 25 years since VAWA’s passage, 
justice professionals, victim advocates, 
healthcare providers, and others have worked 
together to combat these crimes, establishing 
model approaches and proven strategies for 
assisting victims and holding offenders 
accountable. Yet, despite this progress, 
domestic violence still occurs at alarming rates 
and too often becomes lethal. One in four 
homicides in the United States is related to 
domestic violence, and the use of a gun in 
domestic violence incidents increases the risk of 
multiple fatalities.19 In addition, an analysis of 
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data found 
that fatal domestic violence shootings increased 
by 26 percent between 2010 and 2017.20 
Further, sexual assault remains the most 
underreported violent crime by a significant margin: in 2020, only about 23 percent of sexual 
assaults were reported to police.21 

To address these persistent problems, LEAs must investigate these crimes thoroughly and with 
the same vigor and skill as they do other crimes. By using thorough and effective investigative 

 
Over the past decade, the criminal justice 
community has considered the 
implications of social science research 
showing that “implicit biases are 
predilections held by all [people] that 
operate largely outside of one’s 
awareness,” but can influence behavior.a 
Research has identified risk factors that 
make implicit bias more likely to result in 
discriminatory policing.b 

 
a Gove, T. G. (2011). Implicit bias and law enforcement, The 
Police Chief, 44. Alexandria, VA: The International Association 
of Chiefs of Police. 
b Swencionis, J. K., & Goff, P. A. (2017). The psychological 
science of racial bias and policing. Psychology, Public Policy, 
and Law, 23(4), 398–409. 
https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000130. 

https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000130


Page 6 of 36  

techniques, LEAs can continue to improve their efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of these 
crimes are held accountable, victims receive meaningful access to justice, and communities 
experience greater safety. 

 
Improving the Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence by Preventing 
Gender Bias in Policing 
 
Identifying the Impact of Gender Bias on Policing 

Explicit and implicit biases—including stereotypes about gender roles, people or communities 
based on race, gender-based violence, and particular crime victims—are embedded in our 
society and affect everyone.22 With respect to policing, these biases may affect LEOs’ 
perceptions of sexual assault and domestic violence incidents and prevent them from 
effectively handling reports of these crimes.23 

 
The intersection of stereotypes and biases about gender, race, sexual orientation, national 
origin, age, disability, involvement in the sex trade, and other aspects of people’s lives and 
identities can also pose challenges when people seek law enforcement services after a sexual 
assault or domestic violence incident.24 Acting on stereotypes about why people are sexually 
assaulted, or about how a victim should look or behave, can constitute unlawful discrimination 
and profoundly undermine an effective response to these crimes. For example, if a male officer 
believes a sexual assault to be less severe because the victim was assaulted by an acquaintance 
or was intoxicated when the assault occurred, or because 
of stereotypical assumptions about victims who are gay or 
lesbian assaulted by their partners, or because the officer 
relates more to the perpetrator than the victim, that is 
gender bias and may lead to unlawful discrimination. 

 
Even where LEOs harbor no explicit biases or stereotypes, 
an officer’s unconscious bias towards these specific groups 
can undermine an effective response to sexual assault and 
domestic violence. It is important for law enforcement to 
recognize the prevalence of implicit bias and to consider 
how both explicit and implicit bias might impact the LEA 
response to crimes involving sexual assault and domestic 
violence. 

Preventing gender bias in policing practices is an integral 
part of combating sexual assault and domestic violence, 
and it can have a real and immediate effect on the safety of individual victims and communities 
at large. Appropriate criminal justice responses, including arresting offenders when probable 
cause exists that a crime has been committed, can prevent future victimization.25 Testing sexual 
assault kits—a key investigatory step—can identify serial offenders who will continue to 
victimize people until they are stopped.26 Patrol officers can also take measures short of arrest 

 
The Department of Justice’s 
2017 guide, Best Practices for 
Sexual Assault Kits: A 
Multidisciplinary Approach, 
contains recommendations for 
collecting evidence during a 
sexual assault medical forensic 
exam; investigating sexual 
assault; storing, maintaining, 
tracking, and processing 
evidence; and communicating 
with victims. 

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/250384.pdf
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/250384.pdf
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/250384.pdf


Page 7 of 36  

to help victims achieve safety, such as providing them with access to services through 
transportation and referrals to service providers.  Further, an appropriate justice system 
response can foster victims’ confidence in the justice system overall and may make victims 
more likely to report future incidents and crime in general.

27

28 

By contrast, if LEOs do not respond effectively to an incident of sexual assault or domestic 
violence, victims may be less likely to participate in the investigation and prosecution of their 
cases or seek law enforcement protection or assistance in the future.  This phenomenon may 
be intensified in communities that have disproportionately experienced inadequate police 
responses to domestic violence or sexual assault. 

29

 
Moreover, an effective police response to sexual assault and domestic violence can improve 
safety throughout communities. Reducing domestic violence-related homicides also reduces 
collateral homicides of children, other family members, and responding LEOs, while also 
reducing abuser suicides.  Because some people endure violence and abuse for a long time 
before reporting to police, a full investigation of a particular domestic violence incident may 
reveal additional and more serious prior incidents of abuse.

30

31 

 
Key Resources 
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) provides resources for LEAs on 
investigating sexual assault and domestic violence, such as Sexual Assault Incident 
Reports: Investigative Strategies, which contains guidelines for preparing sexual assault 
cases for prosecution: 
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/s/SexualAssaultGuidelines.pdf. 

 
IACP’s Police Response to Violence Against Women Library contains tools, resources, and 
policies to assist law enforcement in responding effectively to sexual assault, domestic 
violence, stalking, officer-perpetrated offenses, strangulation, and trafficking: 
https://www.theiacp.org/projects/police-response-to-violence-against-women-vaw. 

 
End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI) provides a resource library with 
training, tools, briefs, and other resources, including a training bulletin series on Gender 
Bias in Sexual Assault Response and Investigation: https://evawintl.org/wp- 
content/uploads/TB-Gender-Bias-1-4-Combined.pdf. 

 
The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) published the Executive Guidebook: Practical 
Approaches for Strengthening Law Enforcement’s Response to Sexual Assault in 2018 to 
identify concrete strategies for implementing the principles outlined in this guidance: 
https://www.policeforum.org/assets/SexualAssaultResponseExecutiveGuidebook.pdf. 

https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/s/SexualAssaultGuidelines.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/projects/police-response-to-violence-against-women-vaw
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/TB-Gender-Bias-1-4-Combined.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/TB-Gender-Bias-1-4-Combined.pdf
https://www.policeforum.org/assets/SexualAssaultResponseExecutiveGuidebook.pdf


Page 8 of 36  

Vigilant police investigation of sexual assault and domestic violence and the necessary 
resources to support these investigations may help prevent other violent crimes.32 Detroit’s 
experience of finding more than 11,000 untested sexual assault kits in 2009 and endeavoring to 
test them all illustrates the vital importance of fully investigating every reported sexual assault, 
regardless of how a victim’s credibility was first assessed by LEOs.33 When just 1,595 of 
Detroit’s kits were tested, they yielded 785 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligible 
profiles. And, in turn, over half of those profiles belonged to individuals already in CODIS, and 
28 percent yielded serial sexual assault hits (i.e., a DNA match across two or more sexual 
assault cases).34 In short, the DNA from these untested kits belonged to offenders who had 
committed other crimes, including multiple other sexual assaults.35 Efforts to test large volumes 
of previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits in other jurisdictions have also led to the 
identification of serial assailants.36 

 
Principles to Prevent Gender Bias in Policing 

Certain aspects of the law enforcement response to sexual assault and domestic violence 
appear particularly susceptible to explicit and implicit bias based on gender. Set forth below are 
basic principles that help to reduce the potential for discrimination. The Department 
encourages LEAs to consider these principles and integrate them into: (1) clear, unequivocal 
stand-alone policies about the proper handling of sexual assault and domestic violence crimes, 
including offenses perpetrated by LEOs; (2) training for officers about these policies and about 
effective responses to sexual assault and domestic violence more generally; and (3) supervision 
protocols and systems of accountability to ensure that officers responding to sexual assault and 
domestic violence act in accordance with these policies and trainings. 

 
In identifying these principles, the Department is not presenting an exhaustive list of ways that 
LEAs can reduce gender bias in their policing activities. Rather, adherence to these basic 
principles in developing policies, practices, and trainings related to sexual assault and domestic 
violence will help LEAs provide police services free from discrimination on the basis of gender, 
and therefore handle these cases more effectively. The Department encourages LEAs to 
develop practices that build on and go beyond the basic principles described here. As set forth 
in the conclusion of this document, the Department stands ready to assist and support these 
efforts through training, technical assistance, and dissemination of promising practices. 

 
Principle 1: Recognize and Address Biases, Assumptions, and Stereotypes about 
Victims 
 
When myths and misperceptions about sexual assault and domestic violence 
influence law enforcement’s response, LEOs can blame victims and fail to hold 



Page 9 of 36  

offenders accountable.37 

In responding to a report of sexual assault or domestic violence, LEOs should be careful to 
ensure they do not base their judgments about the credibility of a victim’s account on 
assumptions or stereotypes about the “types” of people who can be victims or how victims 
“should” respond or behave. Officers should be particularly vigilant about not responding 
differently to victims based on biases about particular subgroups of victims, such as victims of 
color, victims who have limited English proficiency, victims who are LGBTQI+, victims with 
criminal histories, or victims with disabilities. The following examples38 illustrate how 
assumptions or stereotypes can influence how an LEO gauges a victim’s credibility, thereby 
undermining an effective investigation and discouraging the victim from reporting and 
participating in an investigation: 

• A young white woman enters a police station and reports that, 2 weeks earlier, she was 
raped at a house party by a colleague from work. The woman reports that she and the 
person who she says raped her had been drinking that evening. The police officer on duty 
asks how often the woman drinks excessively at house parties, and what she was 
wearing that night. The officer then tells her that she should really watch how much 
alcohol she consumes when she goes out at night, especially if she is getting dressed up. 

• A tall Black man, in good physical condition and with no visible injuries, goes to the local 
police precinct and reports that his boyfriend, with whom he lives, has been sending him 
threatening texts and voice messages over the past several weeks. The man further 
reports that his boyfriend assaulted him the night before. The responding officer looks at 
the man skeptically and tells him that he’s not sure that he can take a report based on 
this information. The officer tells the man to think carefully about whether he has a 
crime to report and to come back another day if he still believes he needs assistance. 

• A woman who has been known to engage in the commercial sex trade flags down a 
police officer who frequently patrols her neighborhood. She reports to the officer that 
she was just raped. The police officer on duty writes down her statement, but when he 
returns to the police station, he immediately classifies the complaint as “unfounded,” 
and takes no further action, because of the woman’s criminal history. 

• A woman serving a prison sentence reports to law enforcement that a corrections 
officer sexually assaulted her while she was in isolation due to COVID-19. She saved the 
sheet on which the corrections officer ejaculated because she believes she will be 
discredited due to her custody status. The responding investigator tells the woman that 
her account makes no sense, and he does not know why she bothered saving the sheet. 

• A woman reports that, while being transported to jail for a DUI arrest, the officer pulled 



Page 10 of 36  

over and put his mouth on her breasts, fondled her, and took a picture of her bare 
breasts with his cell phone. During a recorded interview of the woman, the investigator 
(who was the supervisor of the subject officer) lied about the state of the evidence, 
threatened to charge her with “slander,” and accused her of ruining an officer’s career. 

 
Principle in Practice 

LEAs should review and revise their policies and procedures, as necessary, and provide training 
to ensure that responding officers and investigators gather all pertinent evidence in an 
unbiased manner. A victim’s nonconformity with behavioral stereotypes should not impact the 
way LEOs evaluate the complaint.39 Biases and stereotypes should also not prevent officers 
from taking a report or collecting potential evidence, or detectives from conducting a full 
investigation of all complaints received.40 Thus, the following factors, standing alone, are not 
dispositive in determining a victim’s credibility: delayed reporting; the victim’s history of 
making similar reports; the victim’s sexual history; the victim’s emotional state (e.g., whether a 
victim appears calm versus emotional or visibly upset); the victim’s lack of resistance; the 
victim’s criminal history or history of engaging in the commercial sex trade; knowledge or 
suspicion that the victim has a mental illness; evidence that the victim has a history of abusing 
alcohol or drugs; the victim’s race, ethnicity, or immigration status; what the victim was 
wearing at the time of the victimization; whether the victim is of comparable size or strength to 
the assailant; the lack of any visible signs of physical harm to the victim; the victim’s sexual 
orientation or gender identity; and whether the victim was attacked by a person of the same 
sex.41 

 
Bad Practice Example Good Practice Example 

A woman who has a protection order 
against her ex-boyfriend calls the police 
to report that the ex-boyfriend is stalking 
her and she is increasingly afraid of him. 
She reports that he recently texted her a 
picture of a firearm and she believes he 
broke into her home while she was at 
work and went through her belongings. 
An officer comes to the woman’s home 
and, guessing that the woman is 
transgender based on her appearance, 
asks her if she really needs the police to 
get involved in “breakup drama” and 
says, “Can’t you guys just work this out 
on your own?” 

When a self-identified transgender woman reports to 
police that her ex-boyfriend, against whom she has a 
protection order, has been stalking her, officers respond 
in accordance with their LEA’s policies and procedures for 
handling domestic violence and protection order 
violations. They gather evidence, including digital 
evidence from the woman’s cell phone. The police report 
quotes the woman’s account of what has happened and 
why she is afraid. The investigation establishes probable 
cause to arrest the woman’s ex-boyfriend. Officers 
provide the woman with the same referrals to victim 
services providers that they offer to other domestic 
violence victims, but—if available in the region—they 
also provide information about organizations that are 
operated by and specifically for members of the LGBTQI+ 
community. 



Page 11 of 36  

Bad Practice Example 

A young Black woman reports that 
she was sexually assaulted by her 
boyfriend two weeks ago. When 
interviewing her, the detective asks 
why she “waited so long” to come 
to the police. At the end of the 
interview, the detective asks the 
victim, “Why do you want to mess 
up this guy’s life”? 

Good Practice Example 
A young Black woman reports that she was sexually assaulted 
by her boyfriend two weeks ago. When interviewing her, the 
detective asks her to tell him what happened. He does not 
interrupt her while she recounts the assault, and instead waits 
until she has finished to ask follow-up questions, including 
what brought her in that day to report and whether she told 
anyone else about the assault after it happened. When the 
victim leaves, the detective opens an investigation and calls 
the witnesses the victim identified to determine if they can 
corroborate her account. 

Bad Practice Example 
A woman involved in sex work reports to 
patrol officers that she was sexually assaulted 
at gunpoint by a stranger in the parking lot of 
a liquor store. Detectives locate and interview 
the suspect, whose account is almost entirely 
consistent with that of the victim. Instead of 
trying to further corroborate the victim’s 
account by witness interviews or store 
surveillance footage, the detectives charge the 
suspect with gun possession and close the 
case by arrest. 

Good Practice Example 
A woman involved in the commercial sex trade 
reports to patrol officers that she was sexually 
assaulted at gunpoint by a stranger in the parking lot 
of a liquor store. Detectives ask the store for its 
surveillance footage and interview employees who 
were working at the time of the assault. After the 
footage and witness interviews, along with the 
interview of the suspect, confirm the victim’s 
account, the detectives charge him with gun 
possession and aggravated sexual assault and close 
the case by arrest. 

 
Principle 2: Treat All Victims with Respect 
Use interviewing strategies that are trauma-informed and support the victim’s disclosure 
of facts about the incident.42 

 
All victims deserve respect, compassion, and self-determination; receiving the appropriate 
response and services can help a victim begin to heal from the trauma of domestic or sexual 
violence. In addition, a victim who is treated with respect is more likely to continue 
participating in an investigation and prosecution than one who feels disbelieved, judged, or 
blamed for the harm they have suffered. LEAs should take affirmative steps to ensure that, 
throughout their investigations, officers treat victims with respect and dignity, and use 
appropriate, trauma-informed interviewing techniques to elicit information and build trust with 
the victim. 

 
Principle in Practice 

Although LEOs often must ask difficult questions to gather necessary information to investigate 
a complaint or prepare a case for prosecution, LEOs should consider how and when to ask those 
difficult questions. By taking affirmative steps to be kind, respectful, and fair to all 
complainants, LEOs may be able to increase the quality and quantity of the information they 
obtain. In addition, there are also some questions that are not appropriate to ask at any point 
during the investigation, no matter how they are phrased. These types of questions ignore the 



Page 12 of 36  

trauma that the victim has suffered and, whether intentional or not, suggest that blame should 
be placed on the victim or that the victim should not have reported the incident to the police at 
all. 

Understanding the impact of 
trauma may help explain many of 
the challenges that officers face in 
interviewing victims (e.g., gaps in 
memory, inconsistent accounts, the 
victim’s inability to recall details in 
sequential order, or delayed 
reporting) and prevent 
inappropriate questioning. LEAs 
should review and revise their 
policies and procedures, as 
necessary, and provide training so 
that officers know how to account 
for the emotional impact that 
victims may endure when assisting 
in an investigation after having 
suffered something traumatic, like 
sexual assault or domestic 
violence.43 For example, a victim 
may have flashbacks or intense 
psychological distress when asked 
to recall details about the incident. 
It is important that officers convey 
to a victim that the purpose of the 
interview is to understand and 
determine the facts, not to question 
the victim’s choices.44 Accordingly, officers should be trained to ask neutral, open-ended 
questions that elicit a narrative of the events from the victim, rather than leading questions or 
questions that may be perceived as assigning blame.45 

A trauma-informed approach to asking questions during a victim interview can also help the 
investigator with establishing trust, which in turn can help the victim feel more comfortable 
disclosing aspects of the assault that could be difficult or embarrassing to talk about, or which 
the victim might worry will damage their credibility. For example, a victim might be more 
willing to disclose any voluntary or involuntary alcohol or drug use around the time of the 
assault if the officer refrains from questioning why such an amount of alcohol or drugs was 
used (or that they were used at all) and demonstrates understanding that the victim has 
endured something traumatic. Although an investigator has to ask questions necessary to 
corroborate the victim's account, many victims may become upset and frustrated by questions 
regarding their actions or behavior around the time of the incident, including alcohol or drug 

Trauma-informed: What Is It? 

There is no single agreed-upon definition for “trauma- 
informed,” but the main goal of a trauma-informed 
approach is to avoid further traumatizing someone 
who has already suffered trauma. 

 
“The four Rs” of a trauma-informed approach are: 
realizing how trauma affects people and groups, 
recognizing the signs of trauma, having a system 
which can respond to trauma, and resisting re- 
traumatization.a 

 
Training on trauma-informed interviewing techniques 
can help law enforcement officers respond 
appropriately to victims and conduct investigations 
properly. But training alone is not enough. LEAs must 
ensure officers have sufficient resources, support, and 
supervision to effectively respond to sexual assault 
and domestic violence. 
a Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s Concept of 
Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-informed Approach: 
https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma14-4884.pdf. 



Page 13 of 36  

use. These questions, depending on how they are phrased, can come across as accusatory and 
can dissuade a victim from assisting with the investigation.  Therefore, training officers to 
explain why they are asking difficult questions, and to rephrase questions in a way that avoids 
victim-blaming language and adversarial tone, can help them earn victims’ trust and elicit 
information that facilitates investigations. 

46

 
What NOT to Say 

• “Have you considered talking to 
the man and letting him know 
that you are upset?” 

• “Have you thought about how 
this is going to affect his 
scholarship/career/reputation?” 

• “Wasn’t this just a trick gone 
bad?” 

• “Tell me what happened from 
start to finish.” 

• “I’m sorry but you are reporting 
an incident that occurred several 
months ago. There is nothing we 
can do at this point.” 

• “What did you think was going to 
happen after you went to his 
room alone?” 

• “Why didn’t you push him off you 
and leave?” 

• “I can’t take this to the 
prosecutor.” 

What to Say 
• “Can you tell me what happened?” 
• “What can you tell me about the person who did this?” 
• “What can you tell me about anything the person said 

before, during, or after the incident?” 
• “Can you tell me about any witnesses or people who might 

have seen the incident?” 
• “Did anything in particular cause you to come tell us about 

this incident today?” 
• “Have you received medical treatment? Would you like to go 

to the hospital?” 
• “I know that this question is difficult to answer and I want 

you to know I am only asking to get a clear picture of what 
you’ve experienced. I am very sorry about what happened to 
you and I do not think that you are responsible for it. Any 
questions I ask about alcohol or drug use by you or the 
offender I’m only asking to understand what happened.” 

• [If it would not compromise the evidentiary value of the 
interview:] “Would you like an advocate to be present?”47 

• “I’m sorry this happened, and I commend you for reporting 
it. Your health and safety are a priority. How can I support 
you?” 

Similarly, officers should not make statements or otherwise indicate to the victim that they 
doubt the victim’s credibility, or exhibit any bias towards the victim based on gender.  Such 
statements and judgments could include: stereotyped negative assumptions about the truth of 
a reported assault (e.g., that women are likely to report “regretted sex” as rape, that people 
who are transgender or gender nonconforming are unlikely to be raped, that people who work 
in the sex trade cannot be raped, or that people of certain ethnicities or races are more 
“promiscuous”); automatically believing the reported assailant’s claim that the sex was 
consensual because of a prior or current relationship; or subtly, or even blatantly, coercing the 
victim to recant the report by blaming the victim for the assault or for making unwise choices. 

48



Page 14 of 36  

Bad Practice Example 
A Black woman reports to police that she was 
accosted and sexually assaulted by a stranger 
while walking to work. She tells a white officer 
that the assailant was a young, slender, tall, 
light-skinned Black man. The officer suggests 
that the woman drive around with him to see if 
they can spot the assailant on the street. 
Several times the officer rolls up alongside 
Black men who do not at all match the 
description the woman gave, including an 
elderly, overweight Black man. Frustrated, the 
woman says, “I told you what he looked like 
and none of these guys look anything close.” 
The officer becomes defensive, replying, “Well, 
don’t you want us to catch the person who did 
this to you?” The interaction upsets the victim 
so much that she asks to stop the search for 
her assailant. 

Good Practice Example 
A Black woman reports to police that she was 
sexually assaulted by a stranger outside a club after 
she agreed to go outside with him to smoke a joint. 
A white detective who interviews her asks 
questions like, “Can you tell me what the person 
looked like?” He assures the woman that it’s alright 
that she can’t fully answer all the questions and 
remember everything. She tells the officer that the 
assailant was a young, slender, tall, light-skinned 
Black man. Officers are promptly dispatched to the 
club to speak to potential witnesses and collect any 
evidence that may be at the scene. Security camera 
reel from a nearby business shows two people who 
appear to be the victim and the described assailant 
leaving the club and walking into an alley. A 
bouncer at the club identifies the man by his first 
name and says that he has had problems with the 
man before. 

Bad Practice Example 
A review of complaints finds that young athletes 
were sexually abused by a physician under the 
guise of medical treatment. Despite the 
extraordinarily serious nature of the reports against 
the physician and the possibility that his conduct 
could be continuing, law enforcement officials 
failed to respond with seriousness and urgency, 
made numerous and fundamental errors when 
they did respond, and failed to take steps to 
mitigate the ongoing threat posed by the 
perpetrator. For some victims, their abuse began 
after law enforcement officials knew of the 
allegations against the physician. 

Good Practice Example 
A student-athlete who was abused by a 
university athletics trainer reports the trainer 
to authorities. An investigator and a prosecutor 
work together to interview other student 
athletes to determine whether there was a 
pattern of behavior, meet with initial disclosure 
witnesses to corroborate the allegations, and 
ultimately bring charges against the trainer. 
Once the charges are made public, a former 
student, who was abused earlier by the trainer 
but who had not come forward, comments that 
she feels vindicated by the prosecution. 

 
Further, LEAs should train officers to write reports of interviews or statements that incorporate 
the victim’s words, spontaneous statements, and narrative as much as possible, as opposed to 
providing the officer’s own summary. Such an approach will further the goal of presenting the 
victim’s account of the events from the victim’s perspective,49 and ensure that the officer’s 
notes are accurate. Moreover, this practice avoids recording statements that incorrectly appear 
to be made by the victim and may subject the victim to unfair cross-examination by defense 
counsel at trial. To ensure privacy and encourage candor, victim interviews should not be 
conducted in public waiting areas or in front of other witnesses. 

Additionally, ensuring a victim has access to a victim advocate during a criminal investigation 
can have a positive impact on the victim’s experience with law enforcement and the victim’s 
coping and recovery.50 A victim advocate can provide support in several ways, including by 



Page 15 of 36  

preparing a victim for law enforcement interviews—and for the criminal justice process 
overall—by helping the victim know what to expect. This preparation may allow the victim to 
feel at ease during the interview, as well as foster trust between the victim and the LEO. This 
simple step of encouraging the victim to seek support during the criminal investigation process 
may be critical to an effective victim interview, which in turn could prove important to the 
investigation, the prosecution of any crime, and the victim’s continued cooperation with law 
enforcement. LEAs can help ensure that victims have access to advocates by establishing 
partnerships with victim services organizations in the community. 

 
Principle 3: Ensure that Policies, Training, Supervision, and Resource Allocation 
Support Thorough and Effective Investigations 
Collect, preserve, and analyze evidence.51 

Unlike many other crimes, sexual assault and domestic violence frequently occur in more 
private settings, with few, if any, witnesses present. As a result, it is crucial that LEAs conduct 
thorough investigations of these crimes by promptly gathering, preserving, and analyzing 
evidence, particularly corroborative evidence that supports victim and witness statements. 

 
Bad Practice Example Good Practice Example 

A woman reports to the police that the 
previous day, her ex-boyfriend physically and 
sexually assaulted her. After disclosing to her 
roommate what had happened, the woman 
goes to the hospital for a forensic examination 
and the patrol officer who interviews her takes 
the kit to an evidence storage facility. A 
detective calls her a few days later and leaves a 
message. When he does not immediately hear 
back, he closes the case, noting that the victim 
cannot be located, is not cooperating, and that 
there were no witnesses. The kit is never 
submitted to the lab for testing and an arrest is 
never made. 

A woman reports to the police that the previous 
day, her ex-boyfriend physically and sexually 
assaulted her. After disclosing to her roommate 
what had happened, an officer drives the woman 
to the hospital for a forensic exam, and later takes 
the kit to an evidence storage facility. A detective 
calls her a few days later and leaves a message. 
When the detective does not immediately hear 
back, she makes additional attempts to reach the 
woman, as does an advocate who works for the 
LEA. The detective and advocate arrange a time to 
meet the victim for an interview, and the sexual 
assault kit is submitted for analysis soon after. 

 
Principle in Practice 

To ensure that investigations are thorough, LEAs should implement clear stand-alone policies, 
procedures, and training on how to conduct domestic and sexual violence investigations that 
are complete and bias-free.52 At a minimum, LEAs should have guidelines that address the 
following:53 collecting and preserving all relevant and corroborative evidence; ensuring that, for 
victims who undergo medical forensic exams, sexual assault kit evidence is submitted to a crime 
laboratory and tested in a timely manner; identifying and documenting victim injuries (including 
evidence of strangulation, such as pictures or use of a body diagram), both at the time of the 
incident and during subsequent interactions; identifying and documenting all psychological and 
sensory evidence; and separately interviewing all possible witnesses and suspects as soon as 



Page 16 of 36  

possible.54 Furthermore, while medical forensic examinations are valuable tools in sexual 
assault investigations, a victim’s willingness to undergo such an examination or the information 
gleaned from a particular exam are not substitutes or alternatives to conducting a thorough 
investigation using all tools at the LEA’s disposal. 

To ensure that all parties are able to communicate the relevant facts, it is important to ensure 
meaningful access for people who have limited English proficiency55 and people who have 
hearing or speech impairments. An LEA should have a language access plan56 that officers can 
follow. Absent exigent circumstances, LEAs should always use an independent qualified 
interpreter for interviews.57 To ensure independence and accuracy in investigations, LEOs 
should not use a victim’s family or friends as interpreters. Moreover, it is critical that children 
never be used as interpreters: this undermines effective language access for victims, can 
traumatize children and may inhibit a victim from sharing important details about an assault. 

 
The impact of properly investigating reports of sexual assault and domestic violence can go 
beyond individual cases and public safety at large; it also helps LEAs establish and maintain 
community trust. LEAs are encouraged to work in partnership with victim services providers, 
culturally specific organizations, and other entities in their communities to craft and review 
policies. Furthermore, recruiting and retaining LEOs from diverse backgrounds, including hiring 
more women, may help mitigate gender bias in the law enforcement response to these 
crimes.58 

 
Bad Practice Example 

A 911 caller reports that someone is screaming in a 
neighboring apartment and it sounds like she is being hurt. 
Officers arrive and find a woman who is crying and has visible 
injuries. She does not speak English. 

One officer says he “knows a little Spanish,” uses a louder 
voice when talking to the woman, and intersperses Spanish 
words into mostly English sentences, such as, “Quién? Who 
did this to you? Your boyfriend? Your novio? What’s his name? 
El nombre?”) One officer uses a translation app on her phone 
to try and ask the woman if she wants to go to the hospital, 
but the officer does not know how to pronounce Spanish 
words. Eventually the officers begin using the woman’s young 
son to translate their questions and her responses. 

 
The next morning, a detective reads the officers’ report and 
realizes he will need to find someone who speaks Spanish 
before calling the victim. This detective, who is managing a 
very high caseload, sets the report aside and intends to get 
back to it when he has time to track down a Spanish-speaking 
colleague. 

Good Practice Example 
An officer who just received training 
on his department’s language access 
plan responds to a domestic 
violence call. The victim doesn’t 
speak English, and she doesn’t 
understand his question when he 
asks her what language she speaks. 
He shows her Language Line’s 
language identification card and she 
points to Tagalog. The officer uses 
Language Line to communicate with 
the victim about her immediate 
safety needs and to arrange for her 
to be taken to the hospital for 
treatment. 

The next day, a detective—also 
familiar with the agency’s language 
access plan—arranges for a qualified 
interpreter to join him when he 
interviews the victim. 



Page 17 of 36  

Bad Practice Example 
A detective is interviewing a teenage boy 
whose mother reported that the boy was 
sexually assaulted by a rideshare driver. 
Instead of answering the detective, the boy 
begins repeating the detective’s questions. 
Thinking the boy is mocking him, the 
detective snaps, “Reporting rape isn’t a joke.” 
The boy’s mother interjects and explains that 
her son has autism spectrum disorder, and 
when he is under stress he may 
unintentionally repeat what is said to him. 
The detective apologizes for being brusque 
but says that since the boy cannot explain 
what happened, he doesn’t have anything on 
which to build a case. 

Good Practice Example 
A detective is interviewing a teenage boy whose 
mother reported that the boy was sexually assaulted 
by a rideshare driver. Instead of answering the 
detective, the boy begins repeating the detective’s 
questions. Thinking the boy is mocking him, the 
detective snaps, “Reporting rape isn’t a joke.” The 
boy’s mother interjects and explains that her son has 
autism spectrum disorder, and when he is under 
stress he may unintentionally repeat what is said to 
him. Upon learning that the boy has a disability, the 
officer arranges for him to be interviewed by a 
forensic interviewer who is trained on interacting 
with victims with developmental disabilities. The 
officer observes the interview from another room. 

Bad Practice Example 
A 12-year-old Black girl was out walking her puppy when three 
men abducted her. She was held captive for three days and 
repeatedly raped before she escaped. Police never followed up 
with the girl’s family. 

When the child victim grew up and was in her 20s, she is sexually 
assaulted again—this time by a coworker. She drives to a police 
station and tells an officer that she was raped. The officer says she 
is too busy to deal with the victim, and suggests she find her own 
way to the hospital. 

 
A decade later, news reports divulge that the police department to 
which this woman reported her sexual assaults has large volumes 
of unsubmitted sexual assault kits in its custody. As old cases are 
investigated for the first time, the woman learns that the sparse 
police report from her assaults when she was 12 years old wrongly 
identified her as a runaway, and the case was not investigated. 
The kit from the rape when she was in her 20s is tested, and DNA 
obtained from it is used to identify an offender who committed 
multiple sexual assaults before and after the woman’s assault. 

Other kits tested years and decades after they were first collected 
also link to known offenders, including a serial killer who preyed 
on Black women, and another assailant who murdered a police 
officer. 

Good Practice Example 
A police chief learns that 
hundreds of sexual assault kits 
that had been sitting in a police 
warehouse were ultimately 
destroyed by his agency. 

The police chief and a 
lieutenant, committed to 
improving how sexual assaults 
are handled, work with a rape 
crisis center to call and 
apologize to every victim whose 
kit was destroyed. City attorneys 
discourage these admissions of 
fault, but the chief insists on 
doing the “right thing.” 

 
New policies are written and 
enacted that require prompt 
submission of sexual assault kits 
to the crime laboratory and 
outline the steps for 
investigating sexual assault, 
including how to conduct 
trauma-informed interviews 
with victims. 



Page 18 of 36  

Principle 4: Appropriately Classify Reports of Sexual Assault or Domestic 
Violence 
And appropriately document and clear them after a complete investigation.59 

Complaints of sexual assault and domestic violence should be properly classified. Rates at 
which reported sexual assaults are cleared by arrest or exceptional means, and rates at which 
they are classified as unfounded, may reveal a pattern within an LEA of failing to conduct 
thorough investigations.60 

Furthermore, if a sexual assault or domestic violence 
complaint is given an improper or non-criminal 
classification, the case may be closed before an 
investigation has been conducted. Like any other 
report of a crime, a determination that a sexual 
assault or domestic violence complaint is 
unsubstantiated should be made only after a 
complete investigation, as discussed in Principle 3, 
and not presumptively at the classification stage. To 
ensure accurate classification of reports of sexual 
offenses, an LEA’s policies must describe the 
appropriate standards and protocols for case 
classification and incorporate supervisory review of 

 In addition, LEAs should train officers on their agency’s procedures for 
documenting such reports and the elements of sexual assault and domestic violence offenses, 
so that they can better identify incidents that meet those criteria. The examples that follow 
illustrate how misclassifying a sexual assault complaint can lead to the failure to properly 
investigate the complaint and thwart its potential prosecution. 

case classification.61

 
Bad Practice Example 

A friend brings a woman to a 
police station and tells the 
officer that her friend was 
raped while on a date the 
night before. While they are 
still sitting in the public 
waiting area, an officer asks 
the woman what happened, 
and the woman says she 
does not remember and does 
not know if she was raped. 
The LEO on duty fills out a 
report, but immediately 
classifies the incident as 
“unfounded.” 

Good Practice Example 
A friend brings a woman to a police station and tells the police that 
her friend was raped while on a date the night before. An officer 
brings the woman and her friend to a private area to ask the woman 
about what happened. The officer asks her open-ended questions 
and is unperturbed when she answers some of his questions with “I 
don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” The woman is able to explain 
that she can usually handle 2 drinks easily, but after a second drink 
the night before, she became very drowsy and does not recall what 
happened next. She says that she woke up in her date’s apartment 
and she feels bruised and raw in her genital area. The officer arranges 
for the woman to be driven to a hospital for a medical forensic 
examination, and he explains to the woman that if she consents to 
provide a urine sample that it will be transported immediately to a 
crime laboratory for toxicology testing in accordance with the 
jurisdiction’s drug-facilitated sexual assault policy. 

 
The International Association of 
Chiefs of Police created checklists to 
help first responders and supervisors 
ensure that necessary information 
about a sexual assault or domestic 
violence incident is documented in 
reports. Available at: 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/ 
document/report-review-checklists. 

https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/report-review-checklists
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/report-review-checklists


Page 19 of 36  

Principle in Practice 

LEAs should review and revise their policies and procedures regularly in keeping with a 
predetermined timeline, and provide training to officers to ensure that complaints are properly 
documented and only classified as non-criminal or unfounded after a complete investigation is 
conducted.62 All sexual assault or domestic violence complaints should be investigated, 
regardless of any of the following circumstances: the victim has gaps in memory; there are 
potential contradictions in the victim’s statements; the victim is reluctant to share their story; 
the victim expresses concern over having the alleged assailant charged with a crime; the victim 
expresses self-blame (e.g., suggests that they didn’t 
fight hard enough to stop the assault); the victim is 
emotionally distraught and unable to discuss the 
incident; the victim was under the influence of 
alcohol or drugs at the time of the incident; the 
victim is married to, in a relationship with, or 
casually dating the assailant; the victim delayed 
reporting; or the victim declines to participate in a 
medical forensic examination.63,64 Supervisors must 
provide oversight to ensure policies related to 
classifying and investigating sexual assault and 
domestic violence are followed.65 

Additionally, law enforcement should be aware that 
victims of domestic violence and sexual assault may 
also be victims of sex or labor trafficking, and 
officers should receive training on identifying and 
responding to trafficking victims. The Department 
offers training and grants to assist law enforcement 
and community partners in detecting trafficking and 
providing services to trafficking victims.66 LEAs 
should also develop policies and procedures 
regarding applying for Continued Presence for 
trafficking victims who may be witnesses, and for 
providing a certification or declaration for T and U 
visas, which are available for immigrant victims of 
certain crimes—including trafficking, sexual assault, 
and domestic violence—if they assist law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of 
criminal activity and meet other eligibility criteria.67 

 
Victims may disengage from the 
justice process for many reasons, 
including fear for their safety and fear 
of retaliation, wanting to move on, 
pressure from their family and friends, 
and/or because assisting law 
enforcement with an investigation 
demands more time and energy than 
the victim has to give. Some victims 
disengage because of inadequate and 
victim-blaming responses from law 
enforcement. 

 
Referring victims to advocacy and 
other services connects them with 
resources to help them cope, heal, and 
achieve safety and justice, no matter 
what happens with the case. Advocacy 
can also facilitate the victim’s 
continued assistance with the 
investigation, if the victim chooses. 



Page 20 of 36  

Principle 5: Refer Victims to Appropriate Services68 
Make timely and suitable referrals for healthcare, advocacy, shelter, legal, and other 
services. 

LEAs can enable effective referral-making by establishing and maintaining relationships with 
community partners. These partnerships can be nurtured in a variety of ways, including through 
cross-training, collaborative policy development and review, and Sexual Assault Response Team 
meetings. Officers should take steps to address the medical, emotional, safety, legal, and other 
needs of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence at the time they report an incident or 
make a complaint. Officers should connect victims with services that are available, whether 
they choose to assist law enforcement with an investigation or not and no matter the 
disposition of the case. For this reason, officers should be aware of the distinctions between 
community-based and system-based advocates, which the graphic on the next page explains, 
and be prepared to provide victims with meaningful referrals, depending on what services are 
available in the jurisdiction. 

 

Principle in Practice 

LEOs should make timely and appropriate referrals to healthcare providers for victims of sexual 
assault or domestic violence.69 Furthermore, policies and trainings should direct officers to—at 
the earliest point possible—offer to contact a victim advocate for the victim and refer victims to 
resources such as rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, legal services organizations, 
and/or community-based and culturally specific organizations.70 These organizations can 
support victims regardless of what happens with the case, or if the victim disengages from the 
criminal justice process. At a minimum, officers should ensure that victims are aware of these 
services.71Page 21 of 36  

It is important for law enforcement to know and have relationships with community-based 
victim advocacy organizations, including any local culturally specific organizations or other 
organizations that have established trust within underserved, marginalized, or non-English 
populations. LEAs seeking to identify victim service providers in their jurisdictions should 
contact their state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions. Contact information for 
these organizations is available on the website of the Department’s Office on Violence Against 
Women (OVW) at http://www.Justice.Gov/ovw/local-resources. 

Principle 6: Properly Identify the Predominant Aggressor in Domestic Violence 
Incidents 
Distinguish between an assailant’s violence and a victim’s self-defense actions. 72 

It is common in domestic violence incidents for both the abuser and the victim to have used 
physical force. Therefore, it is essential that officers are trained to identify the predominant 
aggressor when responding to these incidents, and to make arrests accordingly. LEOs should be 
aware of the potential for abusers to report domestic violence complaints preemptively, 
claiming that they themselves are the victims, or that a victim may feel safe to retaliate once 
law enforcement is present. The following examples illustrate why it is important to identify the 
predominant aggressor. 

 
Bad Practice Example 

A man calls 911 to report 
that his girlfriend assaulted 
him. When an officer arrives, 
he sees the man has a bite 
mark on his inner arm. The 
man’s girlfriend, while visibly 
shaken, appears to be 
physically unharmed, 
although she claims that her 
boyfriend tried to strangle 
her. Without further inquiry, 
the officer files a report, 
citing the woman as the 
predominant aggressor, and 
arrests her. 

Good Practice Example 
A man calls 911 to report that his girlfriend assaulted him. When an 
officer arrives, he sees the man has a bite mark on his inner arm. The 
man’s girlfriend, while visibly shaken, appears to be physically 
unharmed, although she says that her boyfriend tried to strangle her 
and she bit him while struggling to free herself. The officer observes 
that the man is much taller and more muscular than his girlfriend, 
and learns from talking with the woman that she had to go to the 
hospital to get treatment for her injuries the last time that she called 
police when her boyfriend was abusing her. A neighbor also tells the 
officer that the man “is always beating up on” the woman. The officer 
documents the bite mark on the man’s arm and the parties’ 
conflicting accounts of how it happened. The officer arrests the man 
and offers to transport the woman to a hospital. The officer also give 
the woman a brochure from a domestic violence victim services 
organization, explain that the organization has a 24-hour hotline, and 
offers to put the woman in touch with an advocate. 

 
Principle in Practice 

LEAs should review and revise their policies and procedures, as necessary, and provide 
specialized training to ensure that officers are capable of properly identifying the predominant 
aggressor.73 Specifically, officers should be trained to consider and balance the following 

http://www.justice.gov/ovw/local-resources


Page 22 of 36  

factors, among others, to determine whose account is corroborated by the evidence, but 
without relying on any one of these factors alone as determinative:74 

• A documented or undocumented history of domestic violence. 

• Whether a party to the incident may have a motivation to be untruthful. 

• Whether someone may have been injured as a result of the other person engaging in 
self-defense (i.e., injury analysis). 

• The existence of past or present protective orders. 

• Criminal histories involving violence to others. 

• Whether there were any witnesses to the criminal conduct. 

• Whether there is any corroboration to aspects of the accounting. 
 

LEAs also should discourage dual arrests in domestic violence cases, wherever feasible, as well 
as issue policies that clearly delineate the limited circumstances under which dual arrests are 
permissible.75 Training LEOs to understand and apply self-defense laws can help them avoid 
making dual arrests. When a victim is arrested for retaliating in self-defense against their 
abuser—or “hitting him first” in one instance even though the party who hit first is the victim of 
ongoing and more dangerous abuse—it leaves the victim vulnerable to further harm and less 
likely to call for police assistance next time. Arresting victims punitively subjects them to the 
legal system when they are, in fact, in urgent need of protection. LEOs should use discretion in 
making arrest decisions based on which party poses a threat to the other party or public safety. 
Such discretion, if permitted, must be done in a bias-free manner and reviewed for bias as part 
of routine supervisor reviews of arrest decisions and data analysis. 

 
To the extent that officers have discretion in how to respond to domestic or sexual violence, 
they should consider victims’ preferences and concerns. Consistent with applicable laws and 
policies, officers should evaluate how their response might align with the victim’s short- and 
long-term safety and needs. A victim may want police intervention to deescalate a dangerous 
situation, but the victim could also have longer-range concerns about their personal safety and 
well-being and/or that of their family if their abusive partner is arrested. Comprehensive 
training on domestic violence, and engagement with community-based victim advocates, can 
help officers determine the best course of action when responding to incidents.76 



Page 23 of 36  

Principle 7: Implement Policies to Prevent Officer-perpetrated Sexual Assault 
and Domestic Violence and Hold Officers Who Commit These Offenses 
Accountable 
Address the prevention of, and response to, sexual assault and domestic violence 
perpetrated by LEOs in clear, stand-alone policies.77 

LEAs strive to be seen by their communities as 
credible and legitimate authorities in enforcing the 
law and protecting public safety. If an LEA does not 
fully investigate reports of sexual assault, sexual 
misconduct, and domestic violence perpetrated by 
its own officers, or if it fails to appropriately 
discipline officers when those reports are 
substantiated, the LEA’s legitimacy erodes. This, in 
turn, may make victims more reluctant to report 
sexual assault and domestic violence, which 
undermines public safety by increasing the risk that 
offenders—in the community at large and in the 
LEA’s own ranks—who are not held accountable 
will continue to cause harm. 
 
Principle in Practice 

Given the severe harm that can result from officer-perpetrated gender-based violence, LEAs 
should screen potential hires for any behaviors that could contribute to such violence. The 
hiring process should include reviewing candidates’ discipline history in past employment, 
military service, and education, as well as any criminal history and history of civil protection 
orders.78 In-depth personal interviews and psychological screenings should also be used to 
identify any propensity for abuse in candidates’ backgrounds.79 

To ensure public safety and earn public confidence, LEAs should develop policies and practices 
aimed at preventing and addressing on-duty and off-duty misconduct (which includes sexual 
harassment, sexual assault and abuse, domestic violence, and related misconduct perpetrated 
by LEOs). These policies should provide that, at a minimum, the agency will open separate, 
concurrent internal administrative and criminal investigations whenever a report is made that 
an officer has engaged in sexual misconduct or domestic violence, irrespective of whether the 
officer was acting in their official capacity at the time.80 Criminal investigations may be handled 
by the LEA’s unit responsible for investigating sex crimes; the internal affairs unit, in 
consultation with the unit responsible for investigating sex crimes; or an outside agency.81 In 
addition to opening internal investigations, LEAs should refer reports of officer misconduct 
involving potential criminal activity to the local prosecutor’s office or to the FBI if the officer 
was acting in his official capacity while engaging in such misconduct.82 LEAs should also have 
separate policies designed to prevent officer-perpetrated sexual misconduct or domestic 
violence, including the use of early warning systems to identify officers who show proclivities 

 
End Violence Against Women 
International’s Model Policy 
Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual 
Misconduct Prevention and 
Accountability and pages 5-6 of 
the International Association of 
Chiefs of Police’s Domestic 
Violence Model Policy are 
resources LEAs can use to establish 
policies for addressing sexual 
assault and domestic violence 
perpetrated by LEOs. 

https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/Domestic%20Violence%20FULL%20-%2006292020.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/Domestic%20Violence%20FULL%20-%2006292020.pdf


Page 24 of 36  

toward such behavior. LEAs can also use proactive strategies such as random audits of body- 
worn or in-car camera footage to spot law enforcement patterns in locations specific to high- 
risk populations (e.g., “lovers’ lanes,” areas where commercial sex is sold, and common 
LGBTQI+ spaces). In addition to policies, LEAs should require personnel investigating reports of 
sexual misconduct and domestic violence by LEOs to undergo specialized training on conducting 
such investigations, including trauma-informed interviewing skills.83 

Finally, police leaders should actively work to ensure that the culture within their agency does 
not promote, normalize, or minimize officer conduct that reflects gender bias (such as making 
degrading and objectifying remarks about women or transgender people, or making victim- 
blaming remarks). Officers should be encouraged to report fellow officers’ misconduct and 
intervene when they see it happening,84 and they should be supported and protected from 
retaliation when they do report such misconduct.85 

 
Bad Practice Example 

A police officer uses routine traffic stops 
as cover for ensnaring and sexually 
assaulting women. He victimizes women 
who are Black and poor, many of whom 
have criminal histories and some of 
whom are engaged in the commercial sex 
trade, assuming he will be able to get 
away with it. Indeed, women assaulted 
by this police officer testify in court that 
they did not report their victimization 
because they assumed law enforcement 
would not believe them, especially when 
the person they would accuse was a 
police officer. 

Good Practice Example 
In implementing a new performance management tool 
called an early warning system, an LEA ensures that the 
system is designed to flag potential indicators of 
problematic behavior toward people who are especially 
vulnerable to domestic and sexual violence. For instance, 
if an officer primary pulls over female motorists for traffic 
stops, this may signal the need for a closer look at the 
officer’s conduct. 

The chief also makes clear that she will not defend 
misconduct committed by officers. She issues—and 
ensures her department adheres to—policies that specify 
what is to happen when an officer is accused of domestic 
or sexual violence. 

Bad Practice Example 
A road patrol officer arrests a woman for drug 
possession. Instead of taking her to jail, he takes 
her to a dark parking lot and rapes her, and then 
lets her go. She immediately tells her boyfriend, 
who calls 911 while the woman cries in the 
background. The woman obtains a medical 
forensic examination, but the internal affairs 
detectives never submit the kit for analysis, and 
decide that she must have made up the rape as a 
cover for cheating on her boyfriend. The subject 
road patrol officer remains on the beat and 
sexually assaults at least three more women 
before an outside agency investigates his conduct 
and he is ultimately charged. 

Good Practice Example 
As part of a no-tolerance policy regarding officer- 
committed sexual misconduct and domestic 
violence, an LEA mandates a Code of Conduct for 
sworn and non-sworn staff that requires them to 
report misconduct. During an undercover human 
trafficking investigation, Officer X is listening to a 
live feed of Officer Y’s interaction with a potential 
victim. Officer X hears sounds consistent with 
sexual activity. Officer X reports the conduct to 
his supervisor and to the internal affairs unit, at 
which time the LEA conducts a thorough 
investigation. The LEA’s policy against retaliation 
is made explicitly clear during and after the 
investigation. 



Page 25 of 36  

Principle 8: Maintain, Review, and Act Upon Data Regarding Sexual Assault and 
Domestic Violence 
Regularly examining data helps LEAs and their community partners get a clear picture of 
strengths and gaps in the justice system’s response.86 

Some LEAs may be under-investigating sexual assault or domestic violence reports without 
being aware of the pattern. For instance, in most jurisdictions, the reported rate of sexual 
assaults typically exceeds the homicide rate.87 If homicides exceed sexual assaults in a 
particular jurisdiction, this may be an indication that the agency is misclassifying or under- 
investigating incidents of sexual assault. Similarly, studies indicate that almost two-thirds to 
three-quarters of domestic violence incidents would be properly classified as “assaults” in law 
enforcement incident reports.88 Therefore, if the ratio of arrest reports for lesser offenses (e.g., 
disorderly conduct) is significantly greater than for assaults, this may indicate that LEOs are 
failing to correctly identify the behavior—i.e., they are classifying serious domestic violence 
incidents as less serious infractions, such as disorderly conduct.89 Furthermore, data can reveal 
patterns in sexual assault or domestic violence case attrition, meaning the points at which cases 
stop moving through the justice process, and data can be used to determine how decisions 
made within and outside the LEA (e.g., in prosecution offices and courts) are affecting the 
administration of justice in these cases. For example, in one city, a district attorney’s office’s 
case review found that only 30 percent of reported sexual assaults were referred by police to 
prosecutors, and, of those, only 37 percent were accepted for prosecution.90 

 
Principle in Practice 

LEAs should assess whether their jurisdictions are under-investigating sexual assault and 
domestic violence reports by examining their own jurisdiction’s crime statistics, including case- 
file and aggregate data on sexual assault, domestic violence, and other violent crimes in that 
jurisdiction,91 as well as data on calls for service and other aspects of the LEA’s operations. LEAs 
should evaluate the extent to which their current data collection practices are designed to 
capture disparities in crime or police response based on race, geographic location, sex of victim 
and perpetrator, and other characteristics that could reveal inequity. Routinely examining data 
sets outside of the LEA’s own data can also help law enforcement and their community 
partners develop a clear picture of sexual assault and domestic violence in the community, and 
where there may be gaps in crime reporting, community engagement, or the criminal justice 
system’s response. LEAs, prosecutors’ offices, and victim services providers can analyze their 
respective data together to identify trends in the incidence of sexual assault and domestic 
violence in their communities, assess the effectiveness of their responses to these crimes, and 
make decisions about how to better investigate and prosecute these crimes to reveal 
opportunities to improve community trust. For example, an LEA might rely on data on sexual 
assault and domestic violence reports relative to victim services providers’ data to determine 
whether it has an appropriate number of officers assigned to handle these crimes and the 
appropriate level of specialized training about sexual assault and domestic violence for its 
officers. 



Page 26 of 36  

Collecting, analyzing, and acting upon data is key to ensuring that LEAs and their criminal justice 
system partners are operating lawfully and effectively. 

 
Bad Practice Example 

A woman reports to police that she thinks a 
man she met at a hotel bar drugged and 
sexually assaulted her while she was 
unconscious in her hotel room. Responding 
officers ask her if she’s sure she didn’t just 
have too much to drink. The officers decline 
to collect any evidence in the hotel room, 
like blood-stained bed sheets. She takes a 
cab to the hospital to undergo a sexual 
assault medical forensic examination. 

A week later, she calls the detective 
assigned to her case. The officer tells her 
that the case is closed due to insufficient 
evidence and the prosecutor’s unwillingness 
to file charges. 

 
The woman learns later that her case—like 
more than half of sexual assaults reported 
to this police department—was cleared by 
exceptional means, with a note on the case 
file saying “prosecution declined.” She 
discovers that in all sexual assault cases (but 
no other types of cases), detectives consult 
a prosecutor right after a report is made. If 
the prosecutor says they will not accept the 
case, then no investigation is conducted to 
determine if there is probable cause to 
make an arrest. 

Good Practice Example 
A woman reports to police that, while waiting at a bus 
stop after a night shift at her job, she was forced into a 
wooded area by a young man who sexually assaulted 
her at gunpoint. An officer drives the woman to a 
hospital where she is met by a victim advocate and a 
Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). The SANE 
swabs in and around the victim’s mouth. The advocate 
helps the woman arrange for a neighbor who watches 
the woman’s children to stay with the children longer. 

Per agency policy, the sexual assault kit is immediately 
submitted to a crime lab. A detective conducts an 
investigation while waiting for results from the kit, but 
the few leads she has soon run dry. 

 
When the crime lab obtains a DNA profile from the 
oral swab and it is uploaded into CODIS, it hits to an 
offender with a history of drug trafficking. The suspect 
is charged with sexual assault, but he claims the 
encounter was consensual—that he traded the 
woman drugs for a sexual favor. 

The trial ends in a hung jury because one juror 
believes the defendant’s account and votes not guilty. 
The woman tells the detective and prosecutor that, 
although she is upset over the result, it matters to her 
that the police, the prosecutor, and 11 jurors believed 
her, and that she is willing to testify at the re-trial. 

 
Relevant Federal Law 
Gender bias in the law enforcement response to sexual assault and domestic violence can make 
it more difficult to determine whether a crime occurred and to hold perpetrators accountable. 
While many in law enforcement are effectively conducting such investigations, by identifying 
practices that may reflect or contribute to gender bias in policing, and by describing a set of 
basic principles that can help to prevent such bias, this guidance is intended to help LEAs 
improve their ability to effectively address sexual assault and domestic violence. Moreover, as 
laid out below, the U.S. Constitution and various federal laws prohibit LEAs from 
discriminating–including on the basis of gender–in the discharge of their duties. The 
Department outlines these legal principles to help LEAs further understand the source of their 
duty to eliminate policing practices that may be biased. LEAs that integrate the basic principles 
described in this guidance into their policies, trainings, and practices will be able to respond to 



Page 27 of 36  

reports of sexual assault and domestic violence more effectively and will more readily fulfill 
their own legal obligations. 
 
U.S. Constitution 

The Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits discriminatory enforcement of 
the law.92 Discriminatory policing occurs when police officers and departments selectively 
enforce the law—or fail to enforce the law—based on characteristics such as race, color, 
national origin, sex, disability, or religion.93 Denying police services to some persons or 
communities due to bias or stereotypes related to protected characteristics is a form of 
discriminatory policing. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the 14th Amendment “prohibits 
the states from denying to all persons within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 
Denying includes inaction as well as action, and denying the equal protection of the laws 
includes the omission to protect.”94 Many courts have extended this principle to include an 
LEA’s under-enforcement of crimes that disproportionately affect women, where it is 
established that the agency has a policy, practice, or custom of intentionally providing unequal 
protection to community members on the basis of sex, in the form of failing to respond with 
equal effort to victims of those crimes the same as it does with victims of other comparable 
crimes.95 

 
The Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution also prohibits discriminatory policing. Due 
Process violations occur when law enforcements’ affirmative conduct creates or increases the 
risk of private violence, which increases the danger to the victim.96 

 
Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law – 18 U.S.C. § 242 

Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of law to willfully 
deprive a person of their Constitutional rights. To act under “color of law” means to use 
government-sanctioned authority – at all levels of government - to facilitate one’s conduct, 
regardless of whether on or off-duty.97 Those who act under color of law include police officers, 
probation officers, corrections officers, and other prison employees. It also includes judges and 
other public officials, tribal officers, private prisoner transport officers, private prison 
employees,98 state employees like teachers and athletic trainers,99 medical professionals or 
others who have government-contracted employment.100 

When someone acting under color of law commits sexual assault, they violate the 
constitutional rights of their victims.101 It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by race, 
color, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, or national 
origin of the victim. Such conduct is a felony punishable by a range of penalties up to life in 
prison, depending on the circumstances of the misconduct. The penalties are set forth under 18 
U.S.C. § 250 (Penalties for Civil Rights Offenses involving Sexual Misconduct, enacted in March 
2022). 



Page 28 of 36  

Safe Streets Act — 42 U.S.C. § 3789d 

Jurisdictions receiving federal financial assistance authorized by the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Safe Streets Act) are also prohibited from engaging in discriminatory 
policing by the language of that statute. The Safe Streets Act provides that “[n]o person in any 
State shall on the ground of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex be excluded from 
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under or denied 
employment in connection with any programs or activity funded in whole or in part with funds 
made available under this chapter.”1 The implementing regulation of the Safe Streets Act 
prohibits program recipients from “utiliz[ing] criteria or methods of administration which have 
the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination.”102 When an LEA’s handling of sexual 
assault or domestic violence cases has a disparate impact on a protected category, it violates 
the Safe Streets Act and its implementing regulations, even where the discrimination is not 
intentional, unless the agency can show that the discriminatory impact is necessitated by some 
legitimate law enforcement or other purpose. 

 
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 — 34 U.S.C. § 12601 

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 prohibits law enforcement officers 
from engaging in a pattern or practice of policing that violates either the U.S. Constitution or 
federal laws. Under Section 12601, it is unlawful for LEAs, including prosecutorial offices, to 
violate the U.S. Constitution or any other federal statute, including, for example, the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

 
Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act — 34 U.S.C. § 12291(b)(13) 

The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 prohibits discrimination in any 
program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under VAWA, or other 
funds administered by OVW, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national 
origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. 

Additional Resources 
The Department has identified additional resources to further guide LEAs’ responses to reports 
of sexual assault and domestic violence in the attached appendix and on its website at 
www.justice.gov/ovw/identifying-and-preventing-gender-bias. These resources also contain 
sources for training opportunities for law enforcement staff. LEAs that would like additional 
technical assistance on how to eradicate gender bias in law enforcement should contact OVW 
by phone at 202–307–6026 or email at [email protected]. 

An abbreviated version of this guidance highlighting the key points of each principle is available 
at: https://www.justice.gov/ovw/policing-guidance. 

 
 

 

1 42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c)(1) (2006). 

http://www.justice.gov/ovw/identifying-and-preventing-gender-bias
mailto:[email protected]
https://www.justice.gov/ovw/policing-guidance


Page 29 of 36  

***** 
 

For dissemination purposes, this guidance is available at the following website link: 
www.justice.gov/ovw/identifying-and-preventing-gender-bias. 

 

 
1 This guidance, however, is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, trust, or responsibility, whether 
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, 
instrumentalities, entities, officers, employees, or agents, or any person. 
2 This document focuses on identifying and reducing the impact of gender bias and other biases on the law enforcement 
response to sexual assault and domestic violence. Explicit and implicit biases, however, exist throughout society, and, as a 
result, can arise in various aspects of the criminal justice system. Specifically, explicit and implicit gender bias can undermine 
the effective handling of sexual assault and domestic violence cases at any point, from report to adjudication or closure. While 
not the subject of this document, addressing gender bias on the part of prosecutors, judges, and juries in their consideration of 
sexual assault and domestic violence cases is critical to ensuring that justice is served. Additionally, LEAs must be mindful that 
gender bias can occur alongside other types of unlawful discrimination, including racial bias, exacerbating any deficiencies in 
the criminal justice system’s response to reports of sexual assault and domestic violence and further undermining victim safety. 
3 See, for example, Garza, A. D., Franklin, C. A., & Goodson, A. (2021). Police response to Latina immigrant intimate partner 
violence victims: a qualitative analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 08862605211037980. 
4 For further guidance, see the interactive Police Reform Finder at https://www.justice.gov/crt/page/file/922456/download 
(select “Reforming Specific Police Practices” and then select “Bias in Policing” to locate pertinent resources); the 2014 guidance 
for federal LEAs regarding the use of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, at 
www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1388381/download; and the 2001 Principles for Promoting Policing Integrity: 
Examples of Promising Policing Practices and Policies at www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojp/186189.pdf (section VI speaks to non- 
discriminatory policing and data collection.) 
5 Justice Department data show that 91 percent of victims of completed rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault are female. 
Source: Rennison, C. A. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention, 1992-2000 (NCJ 194530). 
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf. 
6 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) is the 
source for the these figures. Reports and other information about the NISVS are available at: 
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nisvs/index.html. 
7 Ibid. 
8This figure was included in a 2013 NISVS report about findings on victimization by sexual orientation: Division of Violence 
Prevention. (2013). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 findings on victimization by sexual 
orientation. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 
www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf. 
9 Ibid. 
10 Rosay, A. B. (2016). Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women and men: 2010 findings from the National 
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. NIJ Journal, 277, 38–45. http://nij.gov/journals/277/Pages/violence- 
againstamerican-indians-alaska-natives.aspx. 
11 Planty, M., Langton, L., Krebs, C., Berzofsky, M., & Smiley-McDonald, H. (2013). Female victims of sexual violence, 1994-2010 
(NCJ 240655). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvsv9410.pdf. 
12 Petrosky, E., Blair, J., Betz, C. et al. (2017). Racial and ethnic differences in homicides of adult women and the role of intimate 
partner violence – United States, 2003-2014. MMWR, 66(28), 741–746. 
13 See, for example, Zadnik, E., Sabina, C., & Cuevas, C. A. (2014). Violence against Latinas: The effects of undocumented status 
on rates of victimization and help-seeking. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31, 1141–1153. 
https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514564062. 
14 Harrell, E. (2017, July). Crime against persons with disabilities, 2009-2015. (NCJ 250632). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau 
of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/capd0915st.pdf. 
15 Shapiro, J. (Host). (2018, January 8). The sexual assault epidemic no one talks about. [Radio broadcast]. NPR. 
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/08/570224090/the-sexual-assault-epidemic-no-one-talks-about. 
16 Lynch, S. M., Dehart, D. D., Belknap, J. E., & Green, B. L. (2012). Women’s pathways to jail: the roles and intersections of 
serious mental illness and trauma. (NCJ 240558). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. 
https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=262638. 

http://www.justice.gov/ovw/identifying-and-preventing-gender-bias
https://www.justice.gov/crt/page/file/922456/download
https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1388381/download
http://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojp/186189.pdf
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nisvs/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf
http://nij.gov/journals/277/Pages/violence-
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvsv9410.pdf
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/capd0915st.pdf
http://www.npr.org/2018/01/08/570224090/the-sexual-assault-epidemic-no-one-talks-about
https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=262638


Page 30 of 36  

 

17 See, for example, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NISVS: An 
Overview of 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation, available at 
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/cdc_nisvs_victimization_final-a.pdf; James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., 
Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center 
for Transgender Equity, available at https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf; Brown, 
T. N. T., & Herman, J. L. (2015). Intimate partner violence and sexual abuse among LGBT people: a review of existing research. 
Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute, available at: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/IPV-Sexual- 
Abuse-Among-LGBT-Nov-2015.pdf; see also Stotzer, R. L. (2009, May–June). Violence against transgender people: A review of 
United States data. Aggression and Violent Behavior 14(3) 170–179. 
18 Peitzmeier, S. M., Malik, M., Kattari, S. K., Marrow, E., Stephenson, R., Agénor, M., & Reisner, S. L. (2020). Intimate partner 
violence in transgender populations: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and correlates. American Journal of 
Public Health, 110(9), e1–e14. 
19 Kivisto, A. & Porter, M. (2019). Firearm use increases risk of multiple victims in domestic homicides. Journal of the American 
Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 48(1). doi: 10.29158/JAAPL.003888-20. See also, Fox, J. A., & Zawitz, M. W. (2007). 
Homicide trends in the United States: Intimate homicide. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. 
20 Fridel, E. E., & Fox, J. A. (2019). Gender differences in patterns and trends in U.S. homicide, 1976–2017. Violence and Gender, 
6(1), 27–36. https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2019.0005. 
21 Morgan, R. E., & Thompson, A. (2021). Criminal victimization, 2020. (NCJ 301775). 
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. 
https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/cv20.pdf. 
22 See, for example, Rape in the United States: The Chronic Failure to Report and Investigate Rape Cases. (2010, September 14). 
Hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 111th Congress, 6–7. 
(statement of Carol E. Tracy, Executive Director, Women’s Law Project) [hereinafter 2010 Senate Committee Testimony]. 
http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/09-14-10%20Tracy%20Testimony.pdf (citing research); Fenton, Z. E. (1998). 
Domestic violence in black and white: Racialized gender stereotypes in gender violence. Columbia Journal of Gender and the 
Law, 8(1), 27. 
23 See, for example, Sleath, E., & Bull, R. (2017). Police perceptions of rape victims and the impact on case decision making: A 
systematic review. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 34, 102–112. 10.1016/j.avb.2017.02.003; Venema, R. M. (2019). Making 
judgments: How blame mediates the influence of rape myth acceptance in police response to sexual assault. Journal of 
Interpersonal Violence, 34(13), 2697–2722; Decker, M. R., Holliday, C. N., Hameeduddin, Z., Shah, R., Miller, J., Dantzler, J., & 
Goodmark, L. (2019). “You do not think of me as a human being”: Race and gender inequities intersect to discourage police 
reporting of violence against women. Journal of Urban Health, 96(5), 772–783; and Russell, B., & Sturgeon, J. A. D. (2019). 
Police evaluations of intimate partner violence in heterosexual and same-sex relationships: Do experience and training play a 
role? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 34(1), 34–44. 
24 See, for example, Warnken, H., & Lauritsen, J.L. (2019). Who experiences violent victimization and who accesses services? 
Findings from the national crime victimization survey for expanding our reach. Center for Victim Research. 
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/who-experiences-violent-victimization-and-who-accesses-services;  
Ragavan, M. I., Thomas, K. A., Fulambarker, A., Zaricor, J., Goodman, L. A., & Bair-Merritt, M. H. (2020). Exploring the needs and 
lived experiences of racial and ethnic minority domestic violence survivors through community-based participatory research: A 
systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(5), 946–963. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018813204; and O’Neal, E. N., 
Beckman, L. O., & Spohn, C. (2019). The sexual stratification hypothesis: Is the decision to arrest influenced by the 
victim/suspect racial/ethnic dyad? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(6), 1287–1310. See also Fenton, supra note 12, at 53– 
54 (discussing how stereotypes can lead LEOs to take the claims of African-American victims less seriously than others); 
Sokoloff, N. J., & Pratt, C. (Eds.) (2005) Domestic violence at the margins: Readings on race, class, gender, and culture; Sokoloff, 
N. J., & Dupont, I. (2005, January). Domestic violence at the intersections of race, class, and gender: Challenges and 
contributions to understanding violence against marginalized women in diverse communities. Violence Against Women, 11(1), 
38–64. 
25 For findings from research on the effectiveness of arresting domestic violence offenders, which is one piece of a coordinated 
community response to these crimes, see, for example, Rosay, A. B., Wood, D., Rivera, M., Postle, G., & TePas, K. (2010). 
Investigation and prosecution of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of 
Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236429.pdf; Buzawa, E. S., Buzawa, C. G., & Stark, E. D. (2017). Responding 
to domestic violence: The integration of criminal justice and human services (5th ed.). SAGE Publishing; Maxwell, C., Garner, J., & 
Fagan, J. (2001, July). The effects of arrest on intimate partner violence: New evidence from the Spouse Assault Replication 
Program (NCJ 188199). U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188199.pdf; 
Maxwell, C. D., Garner, J. H., & Fagan, J. A. (2002). The preventive effects of arrest on intimate partner violence: Research, 
policy and theory. Criminology and Public Policy, 2(1). 
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3574&context=faculty_scholarship; and Xie, M., & Lynch, J. 

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/cdc_nisvs_victimization_final-a.pdf
https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/IPV-Sexual-Abuse-Among-LGBT-Nov-2015.pdf
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/IPV-Sexual-Abuse-Among-LGBT-Nov-2015.pdf
https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/cv20.pdf
http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/09-14-10%20Tracy%20Testimony.pdf
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/who-experiences-violent-victimization-and-who-accesses-services
https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018813204
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236429.pdf
http://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188199.pdf%3B
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P. (2017). The effects of arrest, reporting to the police, and victim services on intimate partner violence. Journal of Research in 
Crime and Delinquency, 54(3), 338–378. 
26 See, for example, Campbell, R., Feeney, H., Pierce, S. J., Sharma, D. B., & Fehler-Cabral, G. (2018). Tested at last: How DNA 
evidence in untested rape kits can identify offenders and serial sexual assaults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(24), 3792– 
3814; and Lovell, R., Huang, W., Overman, L., Flannery, D., & Klingenstein, J. (2020). Offending histories and typologies of 
suspected sexual offenders identified via untested sexual assault kits. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(4), 470–486. 
27 See, for example, BPD Consent Decree at 88; NOPD Consent Decree at 59. 
28 See, for example, Holmes, S. C., Maxwell, C. D., Cattaneo, L. B., Bellucci, B. A., & Sullivan, T. P. (2021, June). Criminal 
protection orders among women victims of intimate partner violence: Women’s experiences of court decisions, processes, and 
their willingness to engage with the system in the future. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/08862605211021965; and Davis, R. C., & Maxwell, C. (2002). Preventing repeat 
incidents of family violence: A reanalysis of data from three field tests. Report to the National Institute of Justice. Award 
number 2000-WT-VX-0007. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. 
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/200608.pdf; and Friday, P. C. (2006). Evaluating the impact of a specialized domestic 
violence police unit. Report to the National Institute of Justice. Award number 2004-WG-BX-0004. U.S. Department of Justice, 
National Institute of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/215916.pdf. 
29 See Buzawa, Buzawa, & Stark (2017). Also, for research on how law enforcement’s response can affect victims’ decisions to 
stay engaged with the investigation, see, for example, Patterson, D. (2011). The impact of detectives’ manner of questioning on 
rape victims’ disclosure. Violence Against Women, 17(11), 1349–1373. doi:10.1177/1077801211434725; Kaiser, K. A., O’Neal, E. 
N., & Spohn, C. (2017). “Victim refuses to cooperate”: A focal concerns analysis of victim cooperation in sexual assault cases. 
Victims & Offenders, 12(2), 297–322; and National Domestic Violence Hotline. (2015). Who will help me? Domestic violence 
survivors speak out about law enforcement responses. http://www.thehotline.org/resources/law-enforcement-responses. 
30 See, for example, Kafka, J. M., Moracco, K. E., Young, B., et. al. (2021). Fatalities related to intimate partner violence: Towards 
a comprehensive perspective. Injury Prevention, 27, 137–144; and Klein, A. R. (2009). Practical implications of current domestic 
violence research: For law enforcement, prosecutors and judges (NCJ 225772). U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of 
Justice. (citing FBI data and multiple state and local fatality reviews) https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225722.pdf. 
31 Klein (2009) 
32 Klein (2009) 
33 “An analysis of 1,268 sexual assault police reports associated with [sexual assault kits] that had not been submitted for 
testing revealed that most cases were closed after minimal investigational effort. In both the stakeholder interviews and in the 
actual police reports, law enforcement personnel expressed negative, victim-blaming beliefs about sexual assault victims.” 
Source: Campbell, R., Fehler-Cabral, G., Pierce, S., Sharma, D., Bybee, D., Shaw, J., Horsford, S., & Feeney, H. (2015). Detroit 
sexual assault kit (SAK) action research project (ARP). Final report to the National Institute of Justice. Award number 2011-DN- 
BX-0001. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248680.pdf. 
34 Campbell, et. al. (2015), pp. iii-vi. For more research on the reasons some sexual assault kits were not submitted for testing, 
see: Campbell, R., Feeney, H., Fehler-Cabral, G., Shaw, J., & Horsford, S. (2017). The national problem of untested sexual assault 
kits (SAKs): Scope, causes, and future directions for research, policy, and practice. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(4), 363–376; 
and Campbell, R., Feeney, H., Pierce, S. J., Sharma, D. B., & Fehler-Cabral, G. (2018). Tested at last: How DNA evidence in 
untested rape kits can identify offenders and serial sexual assaults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(24), 3792–3814. 
Finally, a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative brief, Case Connectivity Using DNA: How Testing Sexual Assault Kits Can Link Criminal 
Cases, provides information on using CODIS to develop case connectivity: https://www.sakitta.org/toolkit/docs/Case- 
Connectivity-Using-DNA-How-Testing-SAKs-Can-Link-Criminal-Cases.pdf. 
35 It was reported in 2019 that testing all 11,000+ sexual assault kits in Detroit “led to hundreds of investigations and the 
identification of 824 suspected serial rapists. Altogether, 282 cases have been adjudicated, resulting in 197 convictions.” 
Source: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2019/08/13/detroit-touts-success-rape-kits- 
crisis/3770362002/. 
36 See Lonsway, K. A., & Archambault, J. (2017). Untested evidence and the investigation of cold sexual assault cases. End 
Violence Against Women International. https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/Module-14_Cold-Case.pdf; and Davis, R. C., 
Jurek, A., Wells, W., & Shadwick, J. (2021). Investigative outcomes of CODIS matches in previously untested sexual assault kits. 
Criminal Justice Policy Review, 32(8), 841–864. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403421990723. 
37 Investigation of the Baltimore Police Department, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division 122-123 (Aug. 10, 2016) 
[hereinafter BPD FL], available at https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883296/download; Letter from Thomas Perez, Assistant 
Attorney General of the United States, to Hon. John Engen, Mayor of Missoula, Montana, 8, 13 (May 15, 2013) [hereinafter 
Missoula FL], available at https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/05/22/missoulapdfind_5-15-13.pdf; 
Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division 43, 46 (Mar. 16, 2011) 
[hereinafter NOPD FL], available at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/nopd_report.pdf; and Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, 
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 

http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/200608.pdf%3B
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/215916.pdf
http://www.thehotline.org/resources/law-enforcement-responses
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225722.pdf
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248680.pdf
https://www.sakitta.org/toolkit/docs/Case-Connectivity-Using-DNA-How-Testing-SAKs-Can-Link-Criminal-Cases.pdf
https://www.sakitta.org/toolkit/docs/Case-Connectivity-Using-DNA-How-Testing-SAKs-Can-Link-Criminal-Cases.pdf
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2019/08/13/detroit-touts-success-rape-kits-crisis/3770362002/
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2019/08/13/detroit-touts-success-rape-kits-crisis/3770362002/
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/Module-14_Cold-Case.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403421990723
http://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883296/download%3B
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/05/22/missoulapdfind_5-15-13.pdf
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/nopd_report.pdf%3B


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https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. 
38 Note: Case examples are used throughout this document to illustrate how gender bias can have an impact on the law 
enforcement response to sexual assault and domestic violence, and how aligning policies, practices, and training with the 
principles can mitigate those impacts. Some of the examples are purely fictional and others draw on real cases. 
39 See memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Department of Justice and City of Missoula Regarding the Missoula 
Police Department’s Response to Sexual Assault 5 (May 15, 2013) [hereinafter Missoula MOU]. 
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/05/15/missoulapdsettle_5-15-13.pdf; International Association of 
Chiefs of Police, Sexual Assault Incident Reports Investigative Strategies 5 (2005) [hereinafter IACP Sexual Assault Incident 
Reports]. http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/pdfs/SexualAssaultGuidelines.pdf; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law 
Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults; 
and End Violence Against Women International, Training Bulletin: When to Conduct an Exam or Interview 3 (2013) [hereinafter 
EVAWI Training Bulletin]. http://www.ncdsv.org/images/EVAW_When-to-conduct-an-exam-or-interview_6-2013.pdf. 
40 Before making final credibility determinations, investigators should gather and assess objective evidence (statements, 
medical evidence, camera footage) as available and appropriate. See infra, Principle 3, notes 42–45 for guidelines on 
conducting a full investigation. 
41 See generally, IACP’s Sexual Assault Incident Reports: Investigative Strategies (2018); Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law 
Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. 
42 Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 8-9, 13; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 43–44, 46–48. 
43 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 87-90; Consent Decree Regarding the New Orleans Police Department, U.S. v. City of 
New Orleans, No. 2:12-cv-01924-SM-JCW, at 54 (Jan. 11, 2013) [hereinafter NOPD CD]. http://www.justice.gov- 
/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/01/11/nopd_agreement_1-11-13.pdf; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, 
at 4-5; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content 
Guidelines (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content- 
guidelines and IACP Model Policy: Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy- 
center-resource/sexual-assaults; EVAWI Training Bulletin, supra note 29, at 3-4. 
44 Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5, 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 4; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, 
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. 
45 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 88-89; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5, 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, 
supra note 29, at 3; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training 
Content Guidelines (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training- 
content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. See also The Nat’l Ctr. for Women and Policing, 
Successfully Investigating Acquaintance Sexual Assault: A National Training Manual for Law Enforcement, Drug-Facilitated 
Sexual Assault Module 9-10 (2001) [hereinafter Nat’l Ctr. For Women and Policing Training Manual]. 
http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/acquaintsa/participant/drugfacilitated.pdf. 
46 See National Center for Women and Policing Training Manual, supra 35, at 9-10. 
47 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 90; Missoula MOU, supra note xxv, at 7. 
48 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 88-89; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, 
supra note 29, at 3, 7. 
49 Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 3; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, 
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training Guidelines (2018), available at: 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and 
IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center- 
resource/domestic-violence. 
; Joanne Archambault et al., End Violence Against Women Int’l, Effective Report Writing: Using the Language of Non-Consensual 
Sex 5-13 (2012) [hereinafter EVAWI Effective Report Writing]. 
http://www.evawintl.org/Library/DocumentLibraryHandler.ashx?id=43. 
50 See, for example, DePrince, A. P., Labus, J., Belknap, J., Buckingham, S., & Gover, A. (2012). The impact of community-based 
outreach on psychological distress and victim safety in women exposed to intimate partner abuse. Journal of Consulting and 
Clinical Psychology, 80, 211–221; Sullivan, C. M., Bybee, D.I., & Allen, N. E. (2002). Findings from a community-based program 

https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2013/05/15/missoulapdsettle_5-15-13.pdf%3B
http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/pdfs/SexualAssaultGuidelines.pdf%3B
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
http://www.ncdsv.org/images/EVAW_When-to-conduct-an-exam-or-interview_6-2013.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
http://www.justice.gov/
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/acquaintsa/participant/drugfacilitated.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
http://www.evawintl.org/Library/DocumentLibraryHandler.ashx?id=43


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for battered women and their children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 915–936; BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 
90; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 4. 
51 BPD FL, supra xxiv, at 124-126; Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 7; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 47-50; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of 
Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. 
52 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 87-89; Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 4; NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54; IACP 
Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 7; see generally Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy 
Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults; 
Police Executive Research Forum, Improving the Police Response to Sexual Assault 1-2 (2012) [hereinafter PERF Improving the 
Police Response], available at 
http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/improving%20the%20police%20response%20to%20sexual%20 
assault%202012.pdf. 
53 Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 5; NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54-55; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement 
Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training Guidelines (2018), available at: 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and 
IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center- 
resource/domestic-violence. 
54 NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 7; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l 
Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. 
55 See Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C §§ 2000d et seq.; Exec. Order No. 13166, 65 Fed. Reg. 50,121 (Aug. 16, 
2000). 
56 For information, see: Language Access Assessment and Planning Tool for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted 
Programs at: https://www.lep.gov/sites/lep/files/resources/2011_Language_Access_Assessment_and_Planning_Tool.pdf. 
57 See Common Language Access Questions, Technical Assistance, and Guidance for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted 
Programs 8 & n.1 (August 2011). http://www.lep.gov/resources/081511_Language_Access_CAQ_TA_Guidance.pdf (citing 
Department of Justice Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin 
Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons, 67 Fed. Reg. 41,455, 41,461 (June 18, 2002)). 
58 See, for example: Klemko, R. (2022, March 26). This police chief is hiring female officers to fix ‘toxic’ policing. The Washington 
Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/interactive/2022/women-police-nebraska/. Discussed in this article 
is the 30x30 Initiative (30x30initiative.org), which addresses the underrepresentation of women in policing. 
59 BPD FL, supra xxiv, at 126-127; Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 8; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 45-47. 
60 See, for example, Morabito, M. S., Williams, L. M., Pattavina, A. (2019). Decision making in sexual assault cases: Replication 
research on sexual violence case attrition in the U.S. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. 
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/252689.pdf; and Spohn, C., & Tellis, K. (2019). Sexual assault case outcomes: 
Disentangling the overlapping decisions of police and prosecutors. Justice Quarterly, 36(3), 383–411, doi: 
10.1080/07418825.2018.1429645. 
61 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 91. 
62 NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54-56; End Violence Against Women Int’l, Reporting Methods for Sexual Assault Cases 8, 18 
(2007) [hereinafter EVAWI Sexual Assault Cases]. https://www.evawintl.org/Library/DocumentLibraryHandler.ashx?id=35; 
EVAWI Training Bulletin, supra note 29, at 4-5. 
63 Missoula MOU, supra note 29, at 7; IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 2, 5; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, 
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: 
Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults; 
EVAWI Sexual Assault Cases, supra note 47, at 7; EVAWI Training Bulletin, supra note 29, at 3. 
64 In conducting a full and thorough investigation, law enforcement officers should engage victims in a trauma-informed 
manner: officers should be careful to avoid pursuing victims (some of whom may be reluctant to speak to law enforcement) in a 
way that might be retraumatizing. See supra note 33. 
65 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 91. 
66 For example, the Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance works collaboratively with the Department’s Office for Victims of 
Crime (OVC) to develop training for law enforcement and communities to identify trafficking victims and to support anti- 
trafficking task forces involving collaboration among state and local law enforcement, trafficking victim service providers, 
federal law enforcement, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. More information about OVC anti-human trafficking efforts is available 

https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/improving%20the%20police%20response%20to%20sexual%20assault%202012.pdf
http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/improving%20the%20police%20response%20to%20sexual%20assault%202012.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
https://www.lep.gov/sites/lep/files/resources/2011_Language_Access_Assessment_and_Planning_Tool.pdf
http://www.lep.gov/resources/081511_Language_Access_CAQ_TA_Guidance.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/interactive/2022/women-police-nebraska/
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here: http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/humantrafficking/lawenforcement.html. Information about OVC training and grant opportunities is 
available at https://www.ovcttac.gov/views/Resources/dspResources_Org.cfm. The Department’s Civil Rights Division Human 
Trafficking Prosecution Unit (HTPU) also provides advanced capacity-building and training programs on trauma-informed, 
victim-centered best practices in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases and the stabilization of human 
trafficking victims. These programs include intensive, week-long, interdisciplinary trainings for law enforcement agents, 
prosecutors, law enforcement victim-witness coordinators, and nongovernmental victim advocates on stabilizing traumatized 
victims, earning the trust of traumatized victims of labor trafficking and sex trafficking, and overcoming challenges to securing 
the cooperation of reluctant victims and empowering them to become active participants in the criminal justice process. These 
programs continue to enhance law enforcement capacity to empower victims of human trafficking—many of whom are women 
and girls with histories of poverty, dislocation, physical and sexual abuse, and cultural isolation—to report their victimization 
and play an active role in bringing human traffickers to justice. More information about HTPU is available at 
http://www.justice.gov/crt/human-trafficking-prosecution-unit-htpu. 
67 Additional information about the U non-immigrant status (also known as the “U visa”) is available at 
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant- 
status/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status. Victims of human trafficking also may be eligible for T non-immigrant 
status. See http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-human-trafficking-t- 
nonimmigrant-status. 
68 Missoula FL, supra note 28, at 10-11; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 43, 50-51. 
69 IACP Sexual Assault Incident Reports, supra note 29, at 4-5; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., 
Sexual Assault Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines (2017), available at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual- 
assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: Investigating Sexual Assaults (2017), available 
at https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults. 
70 Culturally specific organizations are founded and operated by and for members of a particular cultural community. 
71 NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 55. 
72 NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 48. 
73 NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 58. 
74 Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training 
Guidelines (2018), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and- 
training-content-guidelines; and IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence. 
75 NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 58; IACP Domestic Violence Issues Paper, supra note 38, at 4; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l 
Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training Guidelines (2018), available at: 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines; and 
IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center- 
resource/domestic-violence; Barbara J. Hart, Arrest: What's the Big Deal, 3 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 207, 207-210 (1997) 
(noting the importance of first responders being cognizant of the goals of domestic violence intervention because their 
perspective will influence all major decisions, including whether to arrest one or both parties). 
76 For examples of analogous LEA-community partnerships see Cleveland Consent Decree at 34 (requiring the Cleveland Police 
Department and City to develop a Mental Health Response Advisory Committee to foster relationships and build support 
between the police, the community, and mental health providers and to help identify problems and develop solutions designed 
to improve outcomes for individuals in crisis.). Available at: 
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2015/05/27/cleveland_agreement_5-26-15.pdf; Ferguson Consent 
Decree at 6 (requiring the City to establish a Neighborhood Policing Steering Committee that will provide input to FPD and the 
City on law enforcement issues). Available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/833431/download; Baltimore Consent Decree 
at 8 (requiring Baltimore Police Department to solicit input from its advisory boards and councils representing particular 
communities, such as the Youth Advisory Board and the LGBT Advisory Council, on policies, practices, training, engagement 
programs, and enforcement strategies that affect the communities those advisory groups represent). Available at: 
https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/925056/download. 
77 Investigation of the Chicago Police Dep’t, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Civil Rights Division 67-70 (Jan. 13, 2017) [hereinafter CPD FL], 
available at https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/925846/download; NOPD FL, supra note 28, at 92; Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, 
Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence, and Addressing Sexual Offenses and Misconduct 
by Law Enforcement: Executive Guide (2011), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide. 
pdf. 
78 End Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and 
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM- 

http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/humantrafficking/lawenforcement.html
http://www.ovcttac.gov/views/Resources/dspResources_Org.cfm
http://www.justice.gov/crt/human-trafficking-prosecution-unit-htpu
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-human-trafficking-t-nonimmigrant-status
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-human-trafficking-t-nonimmigrant-status
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/sexual-assault-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/sexual-assaults
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/document/intimate-partner-violence-response-policy-and-training-content-guidelines
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2015/05/27/cleveland_agreement_5-26-15.pdf
https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/833431/download
https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/925056/download
http://www.justice.gov/opa/file/925846/download%3B
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide.pdf
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Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf; BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 152-153; Ferguson Consent Decree, 66-67 (Apr. 19, 
2016). https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883846/download. 
79 End Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and 
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM- 
Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf; BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 152-152; Ferguson Consent Decree, 66-67 (Apr. 19, 
2016). https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883846/download. 
80 Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police, Nat’l Law Enforcement Policy Ctr., IACP Model Policy: Domestic Violence (2019), available at: 
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence, Addressing Sexual Offenses and Misconduct by 
Law Enforcement: Executive Guide (2011), available at 
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide. 
pdf, and Domestic Violence by Police Officers Concepts and Issues Paper 2, 6-7 (2003) [hereinafter IACP Domestic Violence by 
Police Officers Issues Paper]. 
http://www.theiacp.org/Portals/0/documents/pdfs/MembersOnly/DomesticViolencebyPolicePaper.pdf; End Violence Against 
Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Accountability (Feb. 2020), 
available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and- 
Accountability.pdf. 
81 See, for example, Policy 322, Member-Involved Sexual Misconduct, Baltimore Police Department 3 (Dec. 7, 2020); End 
Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and 
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM- 
Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf; and IACP, Addressing Sexual Offenses and Misconduct By Law Enforcement: Executive 
Guide 11 (June 2011). 
82 18 U.S.C. § 242 criminalizes the willful deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law, and this includes sexual assault 
and other non-consensual sexual contact. See “Investigating and Prosecuting Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Cases,” (Jan. 
2018), https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/242SexualMisconduct-USABulletin.pdf. In conjunction with Section 242, 18 
U.S.C. § 250 provides penalties for civil rights offenses, including involving sexual misconduct. 
83 CPD FL, supra note lvii, at 155. 
84 Some LEAs are training officers on their duty to intervene when witnessing wrongful acts or mistakes by their fellow officers. 
See, for example, the Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC) training: https://epic.baltimorepolice.org/epic. 
85 End Violence Against Women International, Model Policy Resource: Law Enforcement Sexual Misconduct Prevention and 
Accountability (Feb. 2020), available at https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM- 
Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf. 
86 BPD FL, supra xxiv, at 127. 
87 U.S. Department of Justice. (2011, March). Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department, p. 45. 
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/03/17/nopd_report.pdf. 
88 Klein (2009) 
89 Klein (2009) 
90 Minneapolis Star Tribune. (2018, January 25). When rape is reported and nothing happens: How Minnesota’s criminal Justice 
system has failed victims of sexual assault. https://www.startribune.com/denied-justice-series-when-rape-is-reported-and- 
nothing-happens-minnesota-police-sexual-assault-investigations/487400761/#credits. 
91 BPD Consent Decree, supra note xxiv, at 92; NOPD CD, supra note 33, at 54-60. 
92 Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 813 (1996) (noting that the Equal Protection Clause is the constitutional basis for 
objecting to intentionally discriminatory applications of the law); DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dep't of Social Servs., 489 
U.S. 189, 197 n. 3 (1989) (noting that, pursuant to the Equal Protection Clause, state executive and law enforcement officials 
may not “selectively deny . . . protective services to certain disfavored minorities.); Elliot-Park v. Manglona, 592 F.3d 1003, 1007 
(9th Cir. 2010) (Equal Protection Clause prohibits law enforcement from intentionally discriminating in the provision of any 
services to any degree) (9th Cir. 2010); Estate of Macias v. Ihde, 219 F.3d 1018, 1019, 1028 (9th Cir. 2000) (in case alleging 
“inferior police protection on account of status as a woman, a Latina, and a victim of domestic violence,” holding that there is 
an equal protection right to have law enforcement services administered in a nondiscriminatory manner); Pariseau v. City of 
Brockton, 135 F. Supp. 2d 257, 262 (D. Mass. 2001) (“A]lthough there is no constitutional right to police protection, law 
enforcement officials may not selectively deny protective services based on such invidious classifications as race, gender and 
religion.”) (citing Hayden v. Grayson, 134 F.3d 449, 452, 453 n. 3 (1st Cir.1998)). 
93 Id. 
94 Bell v. Maryland, 378 U.S. 266, 310 n. 31 (1964) (Goldberg, J., concurring) (internal citation omitted). 
95 In evaluating equal protection claims regarding under-enforcement of crimes that disproportionately affect women, courts 
consider whether (1) the jurisdiction has a policy or custom of providing less protection to victims of those crimes than they do 
to other crimes; (2) whether gender discrimination was a motivating factor in providing less protection; and (3) whether the 
policy or practice caused the plaintiff injury. See, e.g., Soto v. Flores, 103 F.3d 1056, 1066 (1st Cir. 1997); Watson v. City of 
Kansas City, 857 F.2d 690 (10th Cir. 1988); Hynson v. City of Chester, 864 F.2d 1026, 1031 (3rd Cir. 1988). Importantly, a 

https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
http://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883846/download
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
http://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883846/download
https://www.theiacp.org/resources/policy-center-resource/domestic-violence
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide.pdf
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/a/AddressingSexualOffensesandMisconductbyLawEnforcementExecutiveGuide.pdf
http://www.theiacp.org/Portals/0/documents/pdfs/MembersOnly/DomesticViolencebyPolicePaper.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/242SexualMisconduct-USABulletin.pdf
https://epic.baltimorepolice.org/epic
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://evawintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-02_TB-Model-Policy-Resource-LESM-Prevention-and-Accountability.pdf
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/03/17/nopd_report.pdf
https://www.startribune.com/denied-justice-series-when-rape-is-reported-and-nothing-happens-minnesota-police-sexual-assault-investigations/487400761/#credits
https://www.startribune.com/denied-justice-series-when-rape-is-reported-and-nothing-happens-minnesota-police-sexual-assault-investigations/487400761/#credits


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discriminatory purpose need not be the only motivation for an agency’s policy or practice. Vill. Of Arlington Heights v. Metro 
Hous. Dev. Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 265-66 (1977). Courts will consider the totality of the circumstances and consider factors that 
indirectly indicate an intent to discriminate, including discriminatory impact. Id. Certain contemporaneous actions or 
statements by police officers may be sufficient to establish discriminatory intent. See, e.g., Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t., 
901 F.2d 696, 701 (9th Cir. 1990) (finding officer’s alleged statement, that he did not blame plaintiff’s husband for hitting her 
because she was “carrying on,” strongly suggested discriminatory intent and an animus towards abused women). 
9696 See, e.g., Okin v. Vill. of Cornwall-On-Hudson Police Dep’t, 577 F.3d 415, 429-430 (2d Cir. 2009) (finding that a reasonable 
fact-finder could infer that the police affirmatively encouraged a man’s domestic violence when police engaged in casual, 
friendly conversation with the alleged abuser during their response to the victim’s complaint, and otherwise communicated 
that the alleged abuser’s conduct would go unpunished); Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 236-237 (3d Cir. 2008) 
(police providing individual with confidential information that permits that individual to harm another may give rise to a due 
process violation under the “state-harm” doctrine); Freeman v. Ferguson, 911 F.2d 52, 54-55 (8th Cir. 1990) (noting that there is 
a “possibility that a constitutional duty to protect an individual against private violence may exist in a non-custodial setting if 
the state has taken affirmative action which increases the individual's danger of, or vulnerability to, such violence beyond the 
level it would have been at absent state action”).; Smith v. City of Elyria, 857 F. Supp. 1203, 1210 (N.D. Ohio 1994) (finding facts 
sufficient to support a due process claim, where, among other things, police officers responding to domestic abuse call told the 
alleged abuser to throw his clothing back inside the house if the alleged victim threw it out). Additionally, when a law 
enforcement officer commits sexual harassment or abuse during the course of his or her official duties, this misconduct violates 
the victim’s Due Process rights. See, e.g., Fontana v. Haskin, 262 F.3d 871, 882 (9th Cir. 2001) (“Sexual misconduct by a police 
officer toward another generally is analyzed under the Fourteenth Amendment; sexual harassment by a police officer of a 
criminal suspect during a continuing seizure is analyzed under the Fourth Amendment.”); Doe v. Claiborne Cty., 103 F.3d 495, 
507 (6th Cir. 1996) (“If the ‘right to bodily integrity’ means anything, it certainly encompasses the right not to be sexually 
assaulted under color of law.”); Haberthur v. City of Raymore, Mo., 119 F.3d 720, 723–24 (8th Cir.1997) (nonconsensual sexual 
fondling by an on-duty, uniformed police officer violated the victim’s substantive due process right to bodily integrity); Jones v. 
Wellham, 104 F.3d 620, 628 (4th Cir.1997) (police officer violated victim’s 14th Amendment due process rights by raping her 
after a traffic stop). 
97 See United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 326 (1941); Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91, 111 (1945). 
98 See, e.g., Gwynn v. TransCor Am., Inc., 26 F. Supp. 2d 1256, 1265–66 (D. Colo. 1998) (privately-contracted transport officer 
acted under color of law when he sexually assaulted an inmate in his custody). 
99 See, e.g., Brentwood Acad. v. Tennessee Secondary Sch. Athletic Ass’n, 531 U.S. 288, 297 (2001) (state university is 
“undoubtedly [a] state actor”); Jennings v. University of North Carolina, 482 F.3d 686, 701 (4th Cir. 2007) (en banc) (crediting 
evidence that defendant acted “in his capacity as a coach” at state university was evidence that defendant was a state actor); 
Hayut v. SUNY, 352 F.3d 733, 744 (2d Cir. 2003) (“We think it clear that a professor employed at a state university is a state 
actor.”); Krynicky v. Univ. of Pittsburgh, 742 F.2d 94, 99 (3d Cir. 1984) (“[A]ctions of the University are actions taken under color 
of state law for purposes of section 1983.”); 
Popat v. Levy, 328 F. Supp. 3d 106, 127 (W.D.N.Y. 2018) (“[A] professor employed at a state university is a state actor.” (citation 
omitted)); 
Watson v. Richmond Univ. Med. Ctr., 412 F. Supp. 3d 147, 165 (E.D.N.Y. 2017) (“[S]tate employment is generally sufficient to 
render a defendant a state actor under section 1983.” (internal citation omitted)); 
100 See, e.g., West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 54 (1988) (finding that a physician who was under contract with a state prison hospital 
to provide medical services to inmates acted under color of law) 
101 United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259 (1997). 
102 28 C.F.R. § 42.203(e) (2012) (emphasis added). See also United States v. Virginia, 620 F.2d 1018, 1024 (4th 
Cir. 1980) (Safe Streets Act requires showing that defendants’ discriminatory employment practices had an 
adverse impact on female job applicants, not proof of intentional discrimination, before defendants must 
demonstrate the challenged practices have a necessary relationship to the job.) 

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