In 2015, Western Alaska had the highest rate of sexual assault in the state per capita. By far. That’s according to a first-of-its-kind study from the Alaska Department of Public Safety that compiles reports of sexual assault from all state law enforcement agencies.
Three-hundred seventy people out of every 100,000 were survivors of sexual assault in Western Alaska last year. Megan Peters is the spokesperson for the Alaska State Troopers, one of the agencies that responds to sexual assault cases.
“The average victim age is 15-years-old, and it would be a female. And for the suspect information, the most likely suspects are male 22-year-olds," said Peters.
In the majority of cases, the victim knew their offender. They were often an acquaintance, a friend, or a family member, and in most cases, the offender physically overpowered the victim. The majority of assaults occurred in the home of either the victim or the assailant.
In over half the cases, either the victim or the suspect was Alaska Native or American Indian. The most commonly reported charge was sexual assault in the first degree, which includes, among many things, penetration without consent.
Though Western Alaska had the most sexual assaults per capita last year, the Anchorage area had the highest number overall. There were 659, compared to Western Alaska’s nearly 275 cases. The Anchorage data only included the number of cases reported. It did not report other information, such as weapons used, type of sexual assault reported, location, and information on the victim or offender.
Peters, with the State Troopers, says future reports will allow for better comparison.
“The report was done this year for the first time because a couple years ago the legislature mandated that we study this a little more and put out what the findings were. This is the first year that we’ve had sufficient information to put it out," said Peters.
Also, Peters says the report only includes felony level cases that happened in the state, and it can't be compared with national statistics - or even Alaska’s statistics - in the FBI's Universal Crime Reporting system, because the numbers are calculated differently.
The over 1,300 felony-level sex offenses included in the study reflect only reported cases, not convictions. For more information on the studyclick here.