SEXUAL VIOLENCE
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In 2008, victims age 12
or older experienced a total of 203,830 rapes or sexual assaults.
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Eighty-one percent of
rape or sexual assault victims in 2008 were female.
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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.
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In 2008, 41 percent of
all rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement.
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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.)
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Victim compensation programs paid $29 million for
forensic sexual assault exams in 2008.
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The rate of sexual
victimization in 2007 for people ages 16 to 24 was at least double that of
every other age group.
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Divorced or separated
people had a higher rate of sexual victimization than those who were
married.
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In 2007, 40 percent of
reported forcible rapes were cleared (usually by arrest) by law
enforcement.
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In 2007, 41 percent of
all sexual assaults occurred at or in the victim's home.
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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.
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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.
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In 2005, nearly half of
female rape victims experienced either drug-facilitated or incapacitated
rape.
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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.
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A study of sexual assault
of adult males found that more than 10 percent of male victims had cognitive
disabilities.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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From 2000 to 2003, fewer
than 20 percent of sexual assault cases reported to the police in Anchorage, Alaska, were forwarded for
prosecution.
Martin et
al., "Physical and Sexual Assault of Women with Disabilities," Violence Against Women 12 (2006):
823.
G. Matthew Snodgrass,
"Sexual Assault Case Processing: A Descriptive Model of Attrition and Decision
Making," Alaska Justice Forum 23, no.
1: 1.
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