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There was a time when most rape victims faced a stigma and hostile questioning by defense attorneys when they reported the crimes and followed through with prosecution.

But how much has changed?

Two years ago, Colleen Crinklaw was on her first date with a man she had just met.

The next morning, she woke up with no memory of what had happened, which she later surmised was due to a date rape drug.

"I woke up with a broken hand and bruises all over my face and my neck and my legs, but I didn't, I couldn't remember having actually been raped. And so I was hesitant to make the call because I didn't want to be the girl who says yes he raped me to find out that maybe he didn't."

She said her roommate urged her to call police that day. "I don't think I would have had the strength to make that call without somebody's encouragement."

Crinklaw's subsequent physical examination eventually confirmed that she had been raped.

The perpetrator has never been caught.

But she doesn't regret the decision.

"It's been really rewarding that sometimes being the voice that stands up and says this isn't right helps others stand up too."

Sexual predators are often repeat offenders, and so police encourage women to report to break the chain of victims. But victims and their advocates have a somewhat different take on this dilemma.

At the organization Standing Together Against Rape, lead advocate Erin Patterson says that victims are not pressured to report the crimes.

"It takes a long time to process a sex crime, and you know, some women just want to get over it and get their life back on track and don't want to be in the midst of a legal hearing for years."

While media organizations typically don't identify rape victims, and some limits have been placed on questions in court regarding their sexual history, Patterson says there is still fear of judgment.

"Based on the questioning that the detectives and forensic nurses have to do during the process of an investigation, that opens a lot of doors for defense attorneys to get in there and start asking some pretty, very personal questions."

Police are hopeful that the stigma of being a sexual assault victim has faded away.

"I think in the past there was a stigma with women afraid to report thinking that they in some way had caused the crime to happen or were at fault in some way,” said Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Anita Shell. "And in reality, that is quite the opposite. The crime of sexual assault is anger using sex as a tool. And it's really important to stop that behavior by reporting that, so that we can stop it from happening to somebody else."

Crinklaw says it's a personal choice, and she wouldn't tell anyone else what he or she should do.

And she says two years later she's doing all right.

"I'm a lot stronger now. Sometimes you have to go through something really terrible to find out what you're capable of. And i'm more cautious but i'm not any less fearless."

Conversely, her attacker, if he is ever found, has a lot to fear.