Statistics

Variations in statistics result from differences in how different data sources define sexual violence and gather information about it. To learn more about how sexual assault statistics are generated and how to interpret them please read
Understanding National Rape Statistics.

A woman is sexually assaulted every 2 1/2 minutes.
- U.S. Department of Justice, 2003.

One in six men will experience a sexual assault in his lifetime.
- Intimate Partner Violence, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000.

Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.
- Heise, L., Ellsberg, M. and Gottemoeller, M. Ending Violence Against
Women. Population Reports, Series L, No. 11., December 1999.
- Vlachovà, Marie and Biason, Lea, Eds. (2004) Women in an Insecure World: Violence Against Women - Facts, Figures and Analysis. Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces.

Rapes/sexual assaults committed by strangers are more likely to be reported to the police than rapes/sexual assaults committed by “nonstrangers,” including intimate partners, other relatives and friends or acquaintances.
- Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Reporting Crime to the Police,
1992-2000, March 2003.

Of surveyed college women, about 90% of rape and sexual assault victims knew their attacker prior to the assault.
- Fisher, Bonnie S., Francis T. Cullen, and Michael G. Turner. "The Sexual
Victimization of College Women." Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S.
Department of Justice, 2000.

In 8 out of 10 rape cases, the victim knew the perpetrator.
- Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and
consequences of violence against women: findings from the national
violence against women survey. Washington (DC): National Institute of
Justice; 2000. Report NCJ 183781.

Approximately 73% of rape victims know their assailant.
- 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey.

In the National Violence Against Women Survey, 64% of women and 16% of men reported being raped, physically assaulted, or stalked by an intimate partner. This includes a current or former spouse, cohabitating partner, boyfriend/girlfriend, or date.
- Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and
consequences of violence against women: findings from the national
violence against women survey. Washington (DC): National Institute of
Justice; 2000. Report NCJ 183781.

A study conducted in the United States found that women raped before the age of 18 were twice as likely to be raped as adults, compared to those without a history of sexual abuse.
- Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and
consequences of violence against women: findings from the national
violence against women survey. Washington (DC): National Institute of
Justice; 2000. Report NCJ 183781.

The costs of intimate partner violence against women exceed an estimated $5.8 billion. These costs include nearly $4.1 billion in the direct costs of medical care and mental health care and nearly $1.8 billion in the indirect costs of lost productivity and present value of lifetime earnings.
-Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2003.

Online Resources

Costs of Sexual Violence in Minnesota, July 2007
Minnesota's first report on the estimated impact of rape and other forms of sexual assault, which reports costs of almost $8 billion in 2005. This report is useful for understanding the damaging monetary impacts sexual violence has on
the individual and larger society.