The Justice Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage has released the results of its examination of sexual assaults in Anchorage. The study, which was funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, looked at case data drawn from police files on 541 sexual assault cases from 2000 and 2001. André Rosay and Robert Langworthy were the principle investigators.
National figures assembled by the FBI reveal that sexual assault is much more common in Anchorage and Alaska as a whole than it is in the nation at large. The Justice Center report presents basic descriptive data on actual Anchorage cases. Among the major points to emerge from this examination are the following:
- Victims were most likely to be White (48%) or Native (45%).
- Suspects and victims were acquainted prior to the time of the assault in 56% of the cases. A stranger was the suspect in 44% of the cases.
- Both victims and suspects had typically been drinking alcohol prior to the assault.
- Close to 67% of victims were between 15 and 34 years old. Most suspects (67.4%) were older than their victim – on average five years older.
- Sexual assaults occurred more frequently from May to October, and they occurred more frequently at night and on the weekends.
- Private residences were the most common place for the “pick-up” before the assault and for the assault itself.
- Assaults were concentrated in five areas (community council): Downtown, Fairview, Spenard, Mountain View and, to a lesser extent, Northeast Anchorage.
The complete report, Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assaults in Anchorage, Alaska is available on the Justice Center web site (www.uaa.alaska.edu/just).
