Resource Centers


THIS SITE BEST VIEWED IN INTERNET EXPLORER 6.0 (free download ) OR HIGHER.
You are here: Home Library Document Viewer
SEXUAL VIOLENCE

  • In 2008, victims age 12 or older experienced a total of 203,830 rapes or sexual assaults.[1] 
  • Eighty-one percent of rape or sexual assault victims in 2008 were female.[2]
  • Of female rape or sexual assault victims, 32 percent were assaulted by a stranger. Forty-two percent of offenders were friends or acquaintances of their victims, and 18 percent were intimate partners.[3]
  • In 2008, 41 percent of all rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement.[4]
  • During fiscal year 2008, military criminal investigators received 2,908 allegations of sexual assault involving members of the armed forces worldwide, representing an 8 percent increase over 2007. Of these reports, 2,265 were "unrestricted," thus initiating an investigation process and opening access to support services, and 643 were "restricted," allowing access to care without a formal investigation. (The restricted reporting method was implemented in June 2005.)[5]
  • Victim compensation programs paid $29 million for forensic sexual assault exams in 2008.[6]
  • The rate of sexual victimization in 2007 for people ages 16 to 24 was at least double that of every other age group.[7]
  • Divorced or separated people had a higher rate of sexual victimization than those who were married.[8]
  • In 2007, 40 percent of reported forcible rapes were cleared (usually by arrest) by law enforcement.[9]
  • In 2007, 41 percent of all sexual assaults occurred at or in the victim's home.[10]
  • In a 2007 national survey, 4.5 percent of state and federal prison inmates reported experiencing sexual victimization. Ten facilities in the survey had victimization rates of 9.3 percent or higher, and six facilities had no reported incidents.[11]
  • A 2006 study determined that sexual assault cases that receive a SANE/SART response were 3.3 times more likely to result in the filing of charges than cases without a SANE/SART intervention, and SANE-only cases were 2.7 times more likely to result in charges being filed.[12]
  • In 2005, nearly half of female rape victims experienced either drug-facilitated or incapacitated rape.[13]
  • A meta-analysis of 61 studies found that 18.9 percent of rapists were convicted for a new sex offense within four to five years.[14]
  • A study of sexual assault of adult males found that more than 10 percent of male victims had cognitive disabilities.[15]
  • Factors associated with a positive legal outcome in sexual assault cases include being examined within 24 hours of the assault, having been assaulted by a partner or spouse, having been orally assaulted, and having anogenital trauma.[16]
  • Rape survivors who had the assistance of an advocate were significantly more likely to have police reports taken and were less likely to be treated negatively by police officers. These women also reported that they experienced less distress after their contact with the legal system.[17]
  • A study of North Carolina women found that women with disabilities were not significantly more likely than women without disabilities to have experienced physical assault alone within the past year. However, women with disabilities were more than four times as likely to have experienced sexual assault in the past year as women without disabilities.[18]
  • American Indian and Alaskan Native women are 2 times as likely to experience rape or sexual assault as white, African American, or Asian American women.[19]
  • From 2000 to 2003, fewer than 20 percent of sexual assault cases reported to the police in Anchorage, Alaska, were forwarded for prosecution.[20]

 

 

[1] Michael Rand, "Criminal Victimization, 2008," (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009), 1, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cv08.pdf (accessed September 1, 2009).

[2] Ibid., calculated from data on p. 5, Table 6.

[3] Ibid., 5.

[4] Ibid., 6.

[5] "Department of Defense FY08 Report on Sexual Assault in the Military," (Arlington, VA: Department of Defense, 2008), 33, http://www.sapr.mil/Contents/ResourcesReports/AnnualReports/DoD_FY08_Annual_Report.pdf (accessed September 2, 2009).

[6] National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards, "FY 2008: Crime Victim Compensation Helps Victims," (Alexandria, VA: NACVCB, 2009), http://www.nacvcb.org (accessed September 1, 2009).

[7] Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2007: Statistical Tables," (soon to be published), Table 3.

[8] Ibid., Table 11.

[9] Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Crime in the United States 2007, Clearances," (Washington, DC: GPO, 2008), http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/offenses/clearances/index.html (accessed September 1, 2009).

[10] Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2007: Statistical Tables," (soon to be published), Table 61.

[11] Allen J. Beck and Paige M. Harrison, "Sexual Violence in State and Federal Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2007," (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007), 1-2, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/svsfpri07.pdf (accessed September 2, 2009).

[12] M. Elaine Nugent-Borokove et al., "Testing the Efficacy of SANE/SART Programs: Do They Make a Difference in Sexual Assault Arrest & Prosecution Outcomes?" A Report to the National Institute of Justice, viii, http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/214252.pdf (accessed September 2, 2009).

[13] Dean G. Kilpatrick et al., "Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study," (Charleston, SC: Medical University of South Carolina, 2007), 23, http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/219181.pdf (accessed October 8, 2009).

[14] R. Karl Hanson and Monique T. Bussiere, "Predicting Relapse: A Meta-Analysis of Sexual Offender Recidivism Studies," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 66 (1998) no. 2: 9, http://home.wanadoo.nl/ipce/library_two/han/hanson_98_text.PDF (accessed September 23, 2009).

[15] Lana Stermac et al., "Stranger and Acquaintance Sexual Assault of Adult Males," Journal of Interpersonal Violence 19, no. 8 (2004): 907.

[16] Jennifer Wiley et al., "Legal Outcomes of Sexual Assault," American Journal of Obstetric Gynecology 188, no. 6 (2003): 1,638.

[17] Rebecca Campbell, "Rape Survivors' Experiences with the Legal and Medical Systems: Do Rape Victim Advocates Make a Difference?" Violence Against Women 12 (2006): 30.

[18] Martin et al., "Physical and Sexual Assault of Women with Disabilities," Violence Against Women 12 (2006): 823.

[19] S.W. Perry, "American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile, 1992-2002," (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics), Table 7, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/aic02.pdf (accessed October 8, 2009).

[20] G. Matthew Snodgrass, "Sexual Assault Case Processing: A Descriptive Model of Attrition and Decision Making," Alaska Justice Forum 23, no. 1: 1.
2010 © National Center for Victims of Crime. All Rights Reserved. Privacy statement. Legal disclaimer. Terms of Service. Accessibility issues.
Contacts: 2000 M Street NW, Suite 480, Washington, D.C. 20036 phone: 202-467-8700 fax: 202-467-8701, email: webmaster@ncvc.org. 
Site operated by Alfa XP Web Software Company, LLC .

Login >>