at the University of Alaska Anchorage. The most recent numbers are for 2021.
The overall decline in crime is not limited to Alaska, he said. “The decline in crime is global, so it’s not just in the U.S.,” he said. Reasons are unclear; there is no consensus yet on the combination of factors that led to the decline, he said. “All of the evidence that we have suggests that rates of rape and sexual assault are dramatically higher in Alaska than in the rest of the country,” he said.
Alaska’s reported rape rate, shown from 2013 to 2021, has been between three and four times the national average. Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer UCR data, 1979-2020. Alaska data for 2021 from Crime in Alaska 2021, Alaska Department of Public Safety.