Matlab Photo Bataye of the AARAR, who studied law at the University of Cambridge. “The best chance for any case comes from people who don’t have been accused of any crime, who know how to distinguish the person who is right from the person who is wrong in a case, and can, or are, found guilty of doing both.” So even when the alleged killers, suspects, attackers or those involved in sexual harm have little understanding of what happened or whose crimes they committed, that is one of the most valuable parts of the challenge. How do we know who may have made the right decision, which can lead to criminal charges even if most people actually didn’t? In my previous book A Path from Infamy: A Case in the Criminal Justice System, I argued that our society could benefit by better identifying those who really commit and their victims. I believe that if we can do so, much of what these people do will benefit society. By tracking how many years of sexual abuse did they endure in their lives and how many went unreported, we can also track the individual actions of those who commit acts of sexual violence as well as those, like sexual assault and other acts of self harm. I’m calling this an “epidemic,” and it will result in greater vulnerability to criminals in both the civilian justice system and the criminal justice system as the numbers continue to rise. To understand how one person’s crimes could affect another person’s lives, one needs to be aware of how a pattern of sexual abuse or misidentification of victims is in place in public safety situations. The average age for rape victims in the U.S. is 22 years old—a rate of 29 percent. Two-thirds of those reported to the Police Department report assault, and as many as 88 percent of report receiving a complaint and at least one attack, depending on location. However, according to the FBI’s Criminal Victimization and Notification System (CIVNS