Get the Facts

º          In the US, 1.3 adult women are forcibly raped each minute.  That translates to 78 women per hour, or 1,871 women raped per day.  (National Center and Crime Victims research and Treatment Center, Rape In America, National Women’s Study, 1992)

º          84% of rape survivors surveyed were less than 25-years-old at the time of their assault.  (29% of those surveyed were less than 11-years-old;  32% were between 11 and 17-years-old, 22% occurred between ages 18 and 24.) (National Center and Crime Victims research and Treatment Center, Rape In America, National Women’s Study, 1992)

º          Half of all females who reported that they had been raped during 1992 were under 18 (Bureau of Justice statistics, 1994).

º          75% of women surveyed were raped by an acquaintance. (National Center and Crime Victims research and Treatment Center, Rape In America, National Women’s Study, 1992)

º          Non-stranger rape usually occurred in the victim’s home (48%) or in or near a friend’s home.  (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Female Victims of Violent Crime, NCJ-126826, 1991). 

º          45% of the women surveyed described being fearful of serious injury or death during the rape. (National Center and Crime Victims research and Treatment Center, Rape In America, National Women’s Study, 1992)

º          Rapists and their victims were likely to be of the same race.  (In rapes with one offender, about 7 of every 10 white victims were raped by a white offender and about 8 out of every 10 black victims were raped by a black offender.  In rapes with two or more offenders, victims and offender were of the same race 49% of the time for white victims and 72% of the time for black victims.)  (US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Female Victims of Violent Crime, NCJ-126826, 1991). 

º          39% of women who said they had been raped during their lifetime had been raped more than once.  ((National Center and Crime Victims research and Treatment Center, Rape In America, National Women’s Study, 1992)

º          The National Women’s Study (1992) findings show that 84% of rape survivors did not report their rape to the police. 

º          Rapes committed by strangers were more likely to be reported to the police than rapes by non-strangers (US Dept of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Female Victims of Violent Crime, NCJ-126826, 1991)

º          1/3 of rapes include oral or anal penetration in addition to vaginal contact.  (Archives of Family Medicine, Sept. 1, 1992).

º          1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused by age 18.  (Russel, 1983)

º          1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused by age 18 (Nielson, 1983)

º          1 in 5 adult women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.  (Koss, Woodruff & Koss. (1990)  A Criminological Study; Female Victims of Violent Crime, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1991.)

º          12 rapes occur every hour, 1 rape every 5 minutes.  (Uniform Crime Reports:  Crime in the United States, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1991)

º          Only 7 percent of sexually assaulted women report rape.  The actual number of rapes may be as high as 2 million women per year.  (Senate Judiciary Committee Report on Sexual Assault, 1991).

º          More than half of rape victims tell no one of their victimization.  (Koss, Woodruff & Koss (1990).  A Criminological Report.)

º          1 in 4 college women in one study had experienced rape or attempted rape.  Of these, 84% knew their attacker.  Only 1 in 20 notified the police.  (Koss, M.  Scope of rape.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1987.)

º          About 90% of campus rapes are alcohol related.  (National commission on Substance Abuse at Colleges and Universities, formed by Columbia University’s Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 1994, as reported by Brooke A. Masters, Washington Post.)

º          1 in 15 rape victims contracts a sexually transmitted disease as a result of being raped.  1 in 15 rape victims becomes pregnant as a result of being raped.  (Koss, Woodruff & Koss, 1990, A Criminological Study.)

º          There were almost half a million sexual attacks in the U.S. in 1993, including 160,000 rapes, 152,000 attempted rapes, and 173,000 other sexual crimes (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995).

 International

.            At least one in three women and girls has been beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime. (UN Report on the Commission on the Status of Women, February 2000)

.            A woman is raped every 26 seconds in South Africa. (UNISA, 1998)

.            More than 130 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to female genital cutting, and a further two million girls are at risk. (World Health Organization, 1997)

.            Over one million women and children are trafficked each year worldwide for forced labor, domestic servitude, or sexual exploitation. (Congressional Research Service, February, 2001)

.            (In the Philippines) there are an estimated 300,000 women in prostitution and 75,000 prostituted children. (The Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation, 1999)

.            The brothels of India hold between 100,000 and 160,000 Nepalese women and girls, 35% were taken on the false pretext of marriage or a good job. (Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Special Report on Violence Against Women, Gustavo Capdevila, IPS, April 2, 1997)

.            Every minute in the United Kingdom, police receive a call from the public for assistance for domestic violence. 81% of these are female victims attacked by male perpetrators. (Economic and Social Research CouncilÕs Programme on Violence, Royal Holloway, September 28, 2000)

.            At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations, mostly Asia, as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect. (United Nations Study on the Status of Women, 2000)

.            70% of the men and women interviewed in a Kenyan survey said they knew neighbors who beat their wives. Nearly 60% said women were to blame for the beatings. Just 51% said the men should be punished. (Kenyan Women Rights Awareness Program survey, 1997)

.            Almost half of all female victims of homicide in England and Wales are killed by their partner or ex-partner, compared with 6% of male victims. (Homicide Statistics 1990-1994, Women's Aid Federation of England)

.            In a study of more than 300 women in federal prisons in Canada, 68% of all women and 90% of Aboriginal women reported physical abuse at some time in their lives. (Shaw M. The survey of federally sentenced women, as cited in the Arbor Report, Correctional Services of Canada, 1996)

 United States - National

.            1 in 6 women in the United States has experienced an attempted or completed sexual assault. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

.            Somewhere in America a woman is battered, usually by her intimate partner, every 15 seconds. (United Nations Study on the Status of Women, 2000)

.            Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 90 seconds. (US Department of Justice, 2000)

.            1 in 3 murdered females are killed by a partner, versus 3.6% of males. (US Department of Justice, May 2000)

.            Approximately 1 million women are stalked annually in the United States. (US Department of Justice, November 1998)

.            According to the Justice Department, 1 in 2 rape victims is under 18; 1 in 6 is under 12. (Child rape victims, 1992)

.            Boys who witness their fathers' violence are 10 times more likely to engage in spouse abuse in later adulthood than boys from non-violent homes. (Family Violence Interventions for the Justice System, 1993)

.            Of the 1,977 high school girls aged 14-18 surveyed in 1997 study, about 20% reported that they had been hit, slapped, shoved or forced into sexual activity by a dating partner. (Journal of The American Medical Association, 1999)

.            Domestic violence often does not consist of a single incident; it is instead a continual state of victimization. ("Domestic and Sexual Violence Data Collection," National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics joint report, July 1996)

.            In 47% of rapes, the victim sustained injuries other than rape injuries. ("Violence Against Women," Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1994)

.            Battering is the leading cause of injury to women aged 15 to 44 in the United States. (US Surgeon General, 1992)

.            Approximately 50% of the homeless women and children in the United States are on the streets because of violence in their homes. ("A Report on the 1988 National Survey of Shelters for the Homeless," U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1989)

.            Domestic violence occurs in approximately 25-33% of same-sex relationships. (NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, October 1996)

.            Pregnant or recently pregnant women are more likely to be the victims of homicide than to die of any other cause. (Journal of the American Medical Association, March 2001)

 United States - College-related

º          Every 21 hours on each college campus in the U.S. there is a rape. (Campus Outreach Services)

º          From 1993-1998, women ages 16 to 24 experienced the highest per capita rates of intimate violence (19.6 per 1,000 women). ("Intimate Partner Violence," Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2000)

º          A woman is most likely to experience an assault during her first two months of college. (Campus Outreach Services)

º          Nearly 3% of college women experienced a completed or attempted rape during the college year. ("The Sexual Victimization of College Women," National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics, January 26, 2001)

º          For completed and attempted rapes, nearly 90% of the victims knew the offender, who was usually a classmate, friend, ex-boyfriend or acquaintance. ("The Sexual Victimization of College Women," National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics, January 26, 2001)