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Domestic abuse, sexual assault rates in new Utah poll seem low, experts say

Figuring out the exact prevalence of sexual assault or domestic abuse is tough to do, but the rates reported in a new poll of Utah women seem low, according to experts.

According to the survey, 21% of women said they had been physically abused by an intimate partner, or former intimate partner, in their lifetime. And 26.5% said they had been sexually assaulted at some point in their life.

(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)

But the domestic violence rate in the Beehive State is probably closer to one in three women, according to Jenn Oxborrow, executive director of the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition.