Statistics
FROM CHILDHOOD
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually assaulted before age 18 (Finkelhor, 1992)
34% of people who sexually abuse a child are family members (NSVRC, 2011)
325,000 children are at risk of becoming victims of commercial child sexual exploitation each year
(National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, 2012)
TO ADOLESCENCE
A 2011 survey of high school students found that 11.8% of girls and 4.5% of boys from grades 9-12 reported that they were forced to have sexual intercourse at some time in their lives (CDC, 1991-2011)
93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002
TO ADULTHOOD
One in 5 women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college (Krebs, 2007)
Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted (US Dept of Justice)
In a study of elder female sexual abuse victims, 81 percent of the abuse was perpetrated by the victim’s primary caregiver, and 78 percent by family members of which 39 percent were sons
(Ramsey-Klawsnik, 1991
WOMEN AND MEN
Nearly 1 in 5 (18.3%) women and 1 in 71 men (1.4%) reported experiencing rape at some time in their lives (Black, 2011)
Approximately 1 in 20 women and men (5.6% and 5.3%, respectively) experienced sexual violence other than rape, such as being made to penetrate someone else, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, or non-contact unwanted sexual experiences, in the 12 months prior to the survey (Black, 2011)
91% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are female, and 9% are male (Rennison, 2002
OF ALL RACES, SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS, ABILITIES, AND CLASSES
Lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race (NIJ & CDC, 1998):
•All women: 17.6% •Black women: 18.8% •American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
•White women: 17.7% •Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8% •Mixed race women: 24.4%
46.4% lesbians, 74.9% bisexual women and 43.3% heterosexual women reported sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes, while 40.2% gay men, 47.4% bisexual men and 20.8% heterosexual men reported sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes (Walters, 2013)
Among developmentally disabled adults, as many as 83% of the females and 32% of the males are the victims of sexual assault (Stimson, 1991)
Women and children who live in poverty are at extremely high risk of physical and sexual victimization (Brown, 2004)
Intersections between systems of inequality and discrimination such as poverty, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, and racism impact rates of sexual violence.
VICTIMIZED BY THE PERPETRATOR AND THE SYSTEM OF RAPE CULTURE
1 in 12 male students surveyed had committed acts that met the legal definition of rape (Koss, 1987)
84% of college men who committed rape said that what they did was definitely not rape (Koss, 1987)
It is estimated that rape occurs in up to 70% of relationships where there is domestic violence (Standing Together Against Rape)
Rape is the most under-reported crime; 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police (o). Only 12% of child sexual abuse is reported to the authorities (Hanson, 1999)
Only 27% of the women whose sexual assault met the legal definition of rape thought of themselves as rape victims (Warshaw, 1988)
The prevalence of false reporting is between 2% and 10%, the same percentage as for other felonies (Heenan, 2006)
Only three out of every 100 rapists will ever spend even a single day in prison (Justice Department, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2008-2012)
SUFFERING LONGTERM EFFECTS IN SILENCE
Victimsof sexual assault are (WHO, 2002):
•3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
•6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
•13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
•26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
•4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.
81% of women and 35% of men report significant short-term or long-term impacts such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Black, 2011)
Annually, rape costs the U.S. more than any other crime ($127 billion), followed by assault ($93 billion), murder ($71 billion), and drunk driving ($61 billion) (Miller, 1996)
In eight out of 10 cases of rape, the victim knew the person who sexually assaulted them (Miller, 1996)
“The fact is, rape is utterly commonplace in all our cultures. It is part of the fabric of everyday life, yet we all act as if it’s something shocking and extraordinary whenever it hits the headlines. We remain silent, and so we condone it…Until rape, and the structures – sexism, inequality, tradition – that make it possible, are part of our dinner-table conversation with the next generation, it will continue. Is it polite and comfortable to talk about it? No. Must we anyway? Yes. To protect our children, we must talk to them about rape.” ― Desmond Tutu
References
U.S. Department of Justice. National Crime Victimization Survey. 2009-2013.
Finkelhor, David, et al. “Sexual Abuse in a National Survey of Adult Men and Women: Prevalence, Characteristics and
Risk Factors,” Child Abuse and Neglect, 1990.
Black, M. C., Basile, K. C., Breiding, M. J., Smith, S .G., Walters, M. L., Merrick, M. T., … Stevens, M. R. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 summary report. Retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf
Walters, M.L., Chen J., & Breiding, M.J. (2013). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation. Retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_SOfindings.pdf (Krebs, 2007)
Krebs, C. P., Lindquist, C., Warner, T., Fisher, B., & Martin, S. (2007). The campus sexual assault (CSA) study: Final report. Retrieved from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/221153.pdf
Rennison, C. A. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention, 1992-2000 [NCJ 194530]. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://bjs.ojp. usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1991-2011 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. Available at http://apps. nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline. Accessed on 8/24/2012.
Miller, T. R., Cohen, M. A., & Wiersema, B. (1996). Victim costs and consequences: A new look (NCJ 155282). Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/ victcost.pdf
Holmes MM, Resnick HS, Kilpatrick DG, Best CL. Rape-related pregnancy: estimates and descriptive characteristics from a national sample of women. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1996; 175:320-324.
National Institute of Justice & Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey. 1998.
World Health Organization. 2002.
National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (2011). Child sexual abuse prevention: Overview. Retrieved from http://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/Publications_ NSVRC_Overview_Child-sexual-abuse-prevention_0.pdf
National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. (2012). National Plan to Prevent the Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children. Retrieved from http://www.preventtogether.org/Resources/Documents/ NationalPlan2012FINAL.pdf
U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000 Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement. 2000.
Hanson, R. F., Resnick, H. S., Saunders, B. E., Kilpatrick, D. G., & Best, C. (1999). Factors related to the reporting of childhood rape. Child Abuse and Neglect, 23, 559–569. doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(99)00028-9
Heenan, M., & Murray, S. (2006). Study of reported rapes in Victoria 2000-2003: Summary research report. Retrieved from the State of Victoria (Australia), Department of Human Services: http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/ pdf_file/0004/644152/StudyofReportedRapes.pdf
Koss, M.P. (1988). Hidden Rape: Incidence, Prevalence and descriptive Characteristics of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of College Students. In Burgers, A.W. (ed.) Sexual Assault. Vol II. New York: Garland Publishing Co.
Robin Warshaw, I Never Called It Rape, Harper & Row, 1988
Stimson, L and Best MC. “Courage Above All,” Sexual Assault Against Women with Disabilities. Toronto Disabled Women’s Network, Canada, 1991.
Ramsey-Klawsnik, Holly. “Elder Sexual Abuse: Preliminary Findings.” Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 1991.
Widom, C. Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Later Criminal Consequences. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 1995.
Standing Together Against Rape (STAR) (http://www.staralaska.com/scripts/maritalrape.asp)
Browne, Salomon, Bassuk, Dawson, & Huntingdon, 2004