Low rates of reporting sexual assault to law enforcement have been attributed to a culture of rape myth acceptance. Yet, rape myth acceptance rates and specific barriers to reporting have not been examined by sexual assault and reporting histories. This study compared the rape myth acceptance levels of reporting survivors, non-reporting survivors, and individuals without sexual assault histories. The sample consisted of 579 undergraduate students (68.0% White, 72.5% women) at a public university in the southeastern U.S. Differences in non-reporting survivors’ experienced barriers to reporting and the perceived barriers of those without sexual assault histories were also examined. Results indicate differences in rape myth endorsement by sexual assault and reporting status, with the highest rape myth adherence rates endorsed by individuals without a sexual assault history and the lowest endorsed by reporting survivors. While non-reporting survivors and those without sexual assault histories shared two of the top three barriers to reporting (i.e., wanted to avoid thinking or talking about it, did not want family or friends to find out), non-reporting survivors were more likely to endorse personal reasons for not reporting, and those without sexual assault histories were more likely to endorse concerns about the law enforcement response to rape. Several barrier factors were identified among non-reporting survivors (i.e., fear of law enforcement involvement, personal reasons, ambiguity of the event, responsibility) and among individuals without sexual assault histories (i.e., risks outweigh benefits, victim blaming, ambiguity). Although both survivors and individuals without sexual assault histories acknowledge the personal, social, and legal risks of reporting a sexual assault to law enforcement, survivors’ experienced barriers differed in nuanced ways from the presumed barriers of individuals without sexual assault histories. Findings may enhance sexual assault prevention trainings and awareness campaigns by targeting both rape myth beliefs and specific barriers to reporting of those with and without sexual assault histories.

The City of Mobile Police Department’s (MPD) multidisciplinary Sexual Assault Kit Initiative team sought to identify and amend factors that theoretically contribute to high rates of sexual assault case attrition. First, the current study examined cross-sectional relations among officers’ rape myth endorsement, perceived understanding of trauma-informed sexual assault investigations, and burnout level. Second, using a cohort-based longitudinal design, this study assessed the effectiveness of MPD’s department-wide adoption of a professional development module in increasing self-reported understanding of trauma-informed investigations and reducing rape myth beliefs and burnout (T1, n = 331; T2, n = 229). Rape myth beliefs differed by burnout type and level. Officers with clinically high levels of emotional exhaustion or depersonalization reported greater rape myth acceptance and estimates of falsely reported rapes than those with average or low levels of emotional exhaustion or depersonalization. Officers with a high sense of personal accomplishment endorsed lower rape myth acceptance than but similar false reporting estimates to officers with average or clinically low levels of personal accomplishment. Months post-training, officers endorsed greater perceived understanding of trauma-informed sexual assault investigations. However, reductions in officers’ rape myth beliefs or burnout were not detected; on average, officers reported increased burnout at T2 regardless of whether training attendance was confirmed. Effective ways to achieve and sustain rape myth reductions while preventing and reducing burnout are needed.

The present study examined pornography viewing, rape myth acceptance, and sexist attitudes. Data came from 392 male and 903 female participants. Multigroup SEM indicated neither pornography viewing, nor hardcore pornography viewing, were related to rape myth acceptance when controlling for sexist attitudes among men. Wald tests indicated hostile sexism to be a significantly stronger predictor of all rape myths examined compared to pornography viewing or hardcore pornography viewing in men and women. Latent variable interaction analyses suggested hardcore pornography viewing as a significant exacerbating factor for the relationship between hostile sexism and “she asked for it” rape myths across genders.