Facts about Sexual Violence

The facts noted on this page are from data gathered from research on sexual violence and national crime statistics. Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes. It is estimated that less than half of the crimes involving sexual violence go reported. If the assailant is someone the survivor knows, it is even less likely to be reported.    

• Only 16 percent of rape victims will ever report their assault to the police. Survivors often may face post assault adversity and hostile reactions from law enforcement, family and friends.    

• 63 percent of completed rapes, 65 percent of attempted rapes, and 74 percent of completed and attempted sexual assaults against females were not reported to law enforcement.

Sexual assault is not a crime of passion. Sexual violence is a crime in which assailants seek to assert their power to dominate their victims.

• One in six women and one in 33 men will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime.

Victims can be assaulted against their will. Assailants use many strategies to manipulate and overpower victims including intentional incapaciation through substances, isolation, intimidation, coercion, threats of violence or actual violence.

• 75 percent of assaults involve drugs and/or alcohol.

Survivors can exhibit a range of emotional and physical responses to assault such as: calmness, tearfulness, laughter, anger, shock, depression, shame, guilt, anxiety, fear, confusion, denial, embarrassment, suicidal thoughts, paranoia, panic attacks, difficulty concentrating, difficulty trusting others, change in appetite, sleep problems, weight loss or gain, headaches, stomach aches or other aches and pains, increased use of alcohol and/or drugs, and loss of interest in normal activities and interactions.

Sexual violence is not an impulsive act. In nearly all cases, assailants plan the violence ahead of time looking for and targeting individuals who appear to be vulnerable. Assailants repeat the offense many times using the same pattern of behavior for victim identification. 

• Offenders commit an average of 17 assaults before being caught.

• One in ten reported assaults make it to court.

• Convicted assailants are listed on the Sex Offenders Registry.

Assailants are not generally strangers. An assailant often is someone the victim knows intimately and trusts.

• 80 percent of all assaults involve acquaintances.

• 84 percent of victims know their offenders.

Sexual assault victims range from infants to elderly persons and include victims with special needs.

• One in three women survivors were assaulted before age 18.

• One in five men survivors were assaulted before age 18.

• Over 55 percent of offenders are adolescents.

• 33 percent of high school and college students experience violence in an intimate relationship.

Women tell the truth when reporting sexual assault.   

• Only 4 to 6 percent of sexual assault reports are based on false accusations; a similar percentage to reports of other unsubstantiated cases for many other crimes.

Power-Based Violence
Power-based violence is a form of interpersonal violence that has as a primary motivator the assertion of power, control and/or intimidation in order to harm another. This includes partner violence, sexual assault‚ stalking‚ and other uses of force‚ threat‚ intimidation‚ or harassment of an individual. It also includes the use of alcohol or drugs to commit any of these acts. People of all genders, gender identities, and sexual orientations can experience power-based personal violence. 

Sexual violence: Any sexual contact that lacks consent and/or capacity to give consent.
Partner violence: Physical, sexual, or psychological harm, or threat of harm, by a current or former partner.
Stalking violence: Course of conduct targeted at an individual or group that would cause a reasonable person to feel afraid (following, Facebooking, texting, calling, unwanted letters, gifts, etc.)

Stalking violence and partner violence are at levels unacceptable to all of us. Though the challenge of effectively intervening and actually reducing violence can seem overwhelming and insurmountable, there are ways to bring attention to this issue and intervene.

References:

Chamberlin, Linda. 2006. Assessment for Lifetime Exposure to Violence as a Pathway to Prevention, National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women. Accessed  December 11, 2010. http://new.vawnet.org/category/Main_Doc.php?docid=301.

Kaukinen, Catherine, and Alfred DeMaris. 2009. “Sexual Assault and Current Mental Health: The Role of Help-Seeking and Police Responses.” Violence Against Women 15: 1331-1357.

Kilpatrick, Dean G., et. al. 2007. Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study, U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, NCJ 219181. 9 Kaukinen, Catherine, and Alfred DeMaris. 2009. “

Rennison, Callie M. 2002. Rape and Sexual Assault: Reporting to Police and Medical Attention, 1992–2000, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 194530.  

Sexual Violence in the United States: Summary of Round Table Proceedings 2010, Center for Violence Against Women, Washington, D.C.

Tjaden, Patricia, and Nancy Thoennes. 2006. Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Rape Victimization: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, NCJ 210346. 2.

Tjaden , Patricia, Nancy Thoennes, (2000),  Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey. November 2000 NCJ 183781