National Sexual Violence Resource Center
Statistics About Sexual Violence

Sexual Assault in the U.S.

• 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men will be raped at some point
in their lives (a)

• 51.1% of female victims of rape reported being raped by
an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance (a)

• 52.4% of male victims report being raped by an
acquaintance and 15.1% by a stranger (a)

• 91% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are
female, and 9% are male (n)

• In 8 out of 10 cases of rape, the victim knew the
perpetrator (k)

• 8% of rapes occur while the victim is at work (d)

Cost/Impact of Sexual Assault

• Each rape costs approximately $151,423 (c)

• Annually, rape costs the U.S. more than any other crime
($127 billion), followed by assault ($93 billion), murder
($71 billion), and drunk driving, including fatalities
($61 billion) (k)

• 81% of women and 35% of men report significant
short- or long-term impacts such as Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) (a)

•Health care is 16% higher for women who were sexually
abused as children and 36% higher for women who were
physically and sexually abused as children (I)

Child Sexual Abuse

• 30% of women were between the ages of 11 and 17
at the time of their first completed rape (a)

• 12.3% of women were age 10 or younger at the time
of their first completed rape victimization (a)

• 27.8% of men were age 10 or younger at the time
of their first completed rape victimization (a)

• More than one-third of women who report being
raped before ate 18 also experience rape as an adult (a)

• One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually
abused before they turn 18 years old (e)

• 96% of people who sexually abuse children are male
and 76.8% of people who sexually abuse children are
adults (m)

• 34% of people who sexually abuse a child are family
members of the child (m)

• In 2009, about one-third of arrests for internet sexual
offenses in which the victim was identified involved child
sexual abuse (I)

• It is estimated that 325,000 children per year are
currently at risk of becoming victims of commercial child
sexual exploitation (I)

• The average age at which girls first become victims
of prostitution is 12-14 years old and the average age at
which boys first become victims of prostitution is 11-13
years old (I)

• Only 12 % of child sexual abuse is ever reported to the
authorities (g)

Sexual Assault on Campus

• 20%-25% of college women and 15% of college men
are victims of forced sex during their time in college (b)

• A 2002 study revealed that 63.3% of men at one
university who self-reported acts qualifying as rape or
attempted rape admitted to committing repear rapes (i)

• More than 90% of sexual assault victims on college
campuses do not report the assault (b)

• 27% of college women have experienced some form
of unwanted sexual contact (f)

Crime Reports

• Rape is the most under-reported crime; 63% of sexual
assaults are not reported to police (n)

• The prevalence of false reporting is low between 2%
and 10%.  For example, a study of eight U.S. communities,
which included 2,059 cases of sexual assault, found a
7.1% rate of false reports (j).  A study of 136 sexual assault
cases in Boston found a 5.9% rate of false reports(i).
Researchers studied 812 reports of sexual assault from
2000-2003 and found a 2.1% rate of false reports (h).

 

 

References

(a) 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 (NISVS): 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

(b) Cullen, F., Fisher, B., & Turner, M., The sexual victimization of college
women (NCJ 182369). (2000). Retrieved from the U.S. Department
of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of
Justice: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf

(c) Delisi, M. (2010). Murder by numbers: Monetary costs imposed by a sample of
homicide offenders. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 21, 501-513.
doi:10.1080/14789940903564388

(d) Duhart, D. (2001).
Violence in the Workplace, 1993-99. Bureau of Justice
Statistics. Available at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/vw99.pdf

(e) Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G., Lewis, I. A., & Smith, C. (1990). Sexual abuse in a
national survey of adult men and women: Prevalence, characteristics and risk
factors. Child Abuse & Neglect 14, 19-28. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(90)90077-7

(f) Gross, A. M., Winslett, A., Roberts, M., & Gohm, C. L. (2006). An Examination of
Sexual Violence Against College Women. Violence Against Women, 12, 288-300.
doi: 10.1177/1077801205277358

(g) 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(6), 559–569.

(h) Heenan, M., & Murray, S. (2006). Study of reported rapes in Victoria 20002003:
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

(i) Lisak, D., Gardinier, L., Nicksa, S. C., & Cote, A. M. (2010). False allegations of
sexual assault: An analysis of ten years of reported cases. Violence Against
Women, 16, 1318-1334. doi:10.1177/1077801210387747

(j) Lonsway, K. A., Archambault, J., & Lisak, D. (2009). False reports: Moving beyond
the issue to successfully investigate and prosecute non-stranger sexual assault.
The Voice, 3(1), 1-11. Retrieved from the National District Attorneys Association:
http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/the_voice_vol_3_no_1_2009.pdf

(k) 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

(l) 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

(m) 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

(n) 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

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