Referring

"In certain areas, such as violence against women, methodological shortcomings and lack of reporting, or under-reporting, led to inaccurate data collection, and such unreliable or misleading information could lead to poor policies."

"The first population-based survey on violence against women was conducted in the United States in 1975 and focused on intimate partner violence. Since then, numerous independent population-based surveys specifically focusing on one or more types of violence against women have been conducted in various countries, including Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, Nicaragua, Sweden and Zimbabwe. These surveys all show that the prevalence of violence perpetrated against women is greater than official crime or health data indicate."

Violence against women: a statistical overview, challenges and gaps in data collection and methodology and approaches for overcoming them (UN Division for the Advancement of Women)

"All rapes, 39% of attempted rapes, and 17% of sexual assaults against females resulted in injured victims."

"Most injured rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault victims did not receive treatment for their injuries."

"Most rapes and sexual assaults against females were not reported to the police. Thirty-six percent of rapes, 34% of attempted rapes, and 26% of sexual assaults were reported to police."

"Because of the small number of sample cases of rape and sexual assault against males, analysis in the remainder of this report relates to female victims only."

"When victims of rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault did not report the crime to the police, the most often cited reason was that the victimization was a personal matter."

"The closer the relationship between the female victim and the offender, the greater the likelihood that the police would not be told about the rape or sexual assault."

"When the offender was a current or former husband or boyfriend, about three-fourths of all victimizations were not reported to police (77% of completed rapes, 77% of attempted rapes, and 75% of sexual assaults not reported)"

Rape and Sexual Assault: Reporting to Police and Medical Attention (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics)