The Justice Department’s latest annual National Crime Victimization Survey of the United States estimates that rapes and attempted rapes fell more than 80 percent in the last three decades from 1973 through 2004. . .

According to "the government’s most reliable crime survey" the "dramatic trend" was revealed in interviews of 74,520 people in 42,000 households and includes sexual violence that is not reported to police. The survey was conducted by women interviewers for the Census Department.

A second national survey done by the FBI tallies arrests reported by police nationwide, and it also found a substantial decline in forcible rape, attempted forcible rape, assault with intent to commit rape and statutory rape since 1991. The decline, of 13%, is seen by experts as indicative of a deeper trend because more women report such crimes today which would inflate the number of cases if not offset by actual declines.