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SEXUAL
VIOLENCE
In 2002, 247,730 people were raped/sexually assaulted in
the United States, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. This
represents a 24.6 percent drop over the last two years.78
According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 54
percent of all rape/sexual assault was reported to law enforcement agencies in
2002.79
Law enforcement agencies across the country received
95,136 reports of forcible rape in 2002, an increase of almost 5 percent since
2001.80
Forty-five percent of all reported forcible rape
offenses were cleared by law enforcement.*81
In 2002, 87 percent of rape/sexual assault victims were
female, and 13 percent male.82
Characteristics associated with a positive legal outcome
in sexual assault cases include being examined within 24 hours after assault,
partner/spouse as an assailant, oral assault, and anogenital trauma. Amnesia at
the time of assault and/or friend/acquaintance as assailant were associated with
a negative legal outcome.83
A review of sexual assault cases in an emergency
department from 1993-1999 found that 12 percent of cases were identified as
suspected drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA). Compared to other sexual
assaults, these cases had a longer delay time in presenting to the hospital,
were less likely to involve the police, and had a lower occurrence of genital
and extra-genital injury.84
78 See 1.
79 See 1.
80 See 6.
81 See 6.
82 See
1.
83 Wiley, J., Sugar, N. and L.O. Eckert. (2003). "Legal Outcomes of
Sexual Assault". American Journal of Obstet Gynecology 188 (6).
84
McGregor et al. (2003). "An Exploratory Analysis of Suspected Drug-Facilitated
Sexual Assault Seen in a Hospital Emergency Department." Women Health 37
(3).
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