National Sexual Violence Resource Center - Info & Stats for Journalists 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 (l) Child sexual abuse • One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old (e) • 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 age 18 also experience rape as an adult (a) • 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 (l) • It is estimated that 325,000 children per year are currently at risk of becoming victims of commercial child sexual exploitation (l) • 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 (l) • Only 12% of child sexual abuse is ever reported to the authorities (g) Statistics about sexual violence • 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 repeat 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 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 (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 © National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2012, 2013. All rights reserved.