• Victims choosing to report a sexual assault to the police will be required to provide a statement describing the assault and the assailant—which could be oral, written, or both. The police will then generate paperwork documenting the report. This paperwork will contain the victim’s identifying information.
• In some jurisdictions a victim may choose to report the sexual assault anonymously, or through the use of a pseudonym. Some jurisdictions require that information within police reports tending to reveal the identity of a sexual assault victim be kept confidential. Module 3 will expand on sexual assault victims’ privacy rights.
• If a third party reports a sexual assault, the victim may choose not to cooperate with the investigation. The police may investigate the assault even without the victim’s cooperation, but the victim’s choice not to cooperate will limit the evidence police are able to obtain. For example, police may not be able to obtain important physical evidence in the possession of the victim or may not learn critical identifying information about the perpetrator of which the victim is aware. It is unlikely that the prosecution will have sufficient admissible evidence to go forward with criminal charges without a sexual assault victim’s cooperation.
• Some law enforcement agencies have adopted emerging approaches to reporting options, such as the You Have Options Program (YHOP). YHOP provides sexual assault victims with three reporting options: an “information only” report with no investigation, a partial investigation or a complete investigation. Victims retain control throughout the process to change the report type.¹
• A victim may choose not to report a sexual assault to law enforcement at all.

Consult your agency’s state-specific supplemental guide for local law and practice regarding reporting options.