A new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan and Planned Parenthood of Montana has found racial and geographic disparities in the victim compensation approval process for adult survivors of sexual assault.
Using data from 18 states between 2015 and 2023, the study authors reviewed some 42,000 claims from adult sexual assault survivors who sought government assistant to cover expenses such as medical visits. Over 93 percent of these survivors were women, 42 percent were White, 21 percent were Latina, and 15 percent were Black.
Even after controlling for age, location, and application year, the authors found Black and Indigenous women’s claims were significantly less likely to be approved than White women’s claims. Among the claims that were denied, over a third were due to the absence of police verification. Another third of the denied claims were a result of the survivor submitting an incomplete application or not providing enough documentation about their crime-related expenses.
“Paperwork burdens are especially harmful for Black and Indigenous women, who have well-documented reasons to distrust law enforcement and medical institutions,” said co-first author Jeremy Levine, associate professor of organizational studies at the University of Michigan. “What presents as a neutral administrative process may in fact perpetuate racial inequalities in access to critical support.”
In addition to racial disparities, the authors also found significant differences in approval rates based on survivors’ location. For example, in New Hampshire, nearly all claims (94 percent) were approved. Conversely, fewer than 3 out of every 10 applicants in Illinois had their claims approved.
“A survivor’s access to support shouldn’t be dictated by race, bureaucracy, or geography,” said Dr. Levine. “Until we remove these administrative gatekeepers — starting with police verification — the system will continue to fail the people it was built to protect.”