Trump administration removes sexual violence report from website

'Taking it down is really a discouragement from action,' says civil rights attorney

Donald Trump's administration has removed a report that aims to inform the government on sexual violence (AFP)

The Trump administration has reportedly removed an Obama-era sexual violence report from the White House website.

The 2014 report, titled Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action, was written by The White House Council on Women and Girls and former Vice President Joe Biden’s office.

It compiles and analyses data on rape and sexual violence, explains why responses to such crimes can often be inadequate, and offers suggestions for ways in which the US government can take further action to deal with the problem and help victims.

The removal of the report was noticed by Alexandra Brodsky, a civil rights attorney and co-founder of anti-sexual violence youth organization KnowYourIX.

“I went looking for it because I’m working on briefing for a client who’s a survivor and was looking for some literature about the impact of sexual violence and that’s been a really helpful resource for that kind of research,” Ms Brodsky told the Huffington Post.

“But it was no longer on the White House website. It’s not anywhere on the White House website.”

Ms Brodsky tweeted about the missing report on Wednesday, and linked to a saved version of the report on her organisation’s website.

She added: “The report is titled ‘A Renewed Call To Action’ and taking it down is really a discouragement from action.”

Ms Brodsky also said she believed the Trump administration was "undermining" efforts to help survivors of rape and sexual assault.

She said: “That’s particularly troublesome when we know that the administration is actively considering undermining important policies for survivors like those reaffirmed by the Obama administration regarding Title IX.”