HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – The Harris County Sexual Assault Response Team released a report on Wednesday regarding sexual assault cases in the county and to make recommendations on how officials can improve how they respond to these incidents.
The Houston Police Department, Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) are part of the team as well as other organizations.
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The group recommended changes to improve the process of reporting sexual assaults.
“Sexual assault can be difficult to talk about and is surrounded with shame and blame. Just to have this group of people here genuinely committed to working together on behalf of survivors, I declare victory,” said Emily Whitehurst, the President and CEO of the Houston Women’s Center during a news conference.
She said survivors will often not report assaults because the process is complex or they think the offender will not be held accountable.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, 3,779 sexual assaults were reported in Harris County in 2021. HAWC said this number is not the best representation of how many cases there are because less than 10% of sexual assaults are reported to police.
HAWC also said they want to let survivors know the investigation of their cases matters and their healing matters.
The Sexual Assault Response Team wants to continue to add partners to its group. One recommendation from the report was that officials want to get feedback from survivors on how the team helped them.