Knowing the widespread scope of gender- and power-based violence is the first step to addressing it – but it’s certainly not the last. After reviewing the statistics below, please refer to the bottom of the site for action items that we can all take to address the root of the issue.
*Note: We realize that many of these statistics use highly gendered/binary language, and note that the experiences of gender- & power-based violence are often much more nuanced when taking the spectrum of identities into account. The statistics below are merely reports from a national survey, using the data points the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey gathered.
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One in 4 women in the United States reported completed or attempted rape victimization at some point in her lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 1 in 26 men in the United States reported completed or attempted rape victimization at some point in his lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 1 in 9 men in the United States reported being made to penetrate someone in his lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Nearly 1 in 4 women in the United States reported sexual coercion victimization at some point in her lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 1 in 9 men in the United States reported sexual coercion victimization during his lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 1 in 4 men in the United States reported unwanted sexual contact victimization during his lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Nearly 1 in 2 women in the United States reported unwanted sexual contact victimization at some point in her lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 1 in 9 men in the United States reported sexual harassment in a public place at some point in his lifetime that made him feel uncomfortable (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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One in three women in the United States reported being harassed in a public place at some point in her lifetime in a way that made her feel uncomfortable (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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More than 1 in 4 non-Hispanic Black (29.0%) and non- Hispanic White (28.1%), 1 in 5 Hispanic (19.7%), and 1 in 6 non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander women (17.2%) in the United States were raped in their lifetime. More than 2 in 5 non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (43.7%) and non-Hispanic multiracial (48.0%) women were raped in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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In the United States, 2.9% of non-Hispanic Black, 3.9% of non-Hispanic White, 3.2% of Hispanic, and 6.3% of non-Hispanic multiracial men were raped in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Nearly 1 in 6 non-Hispanic Black (15.7%), 1 in 10 non-Hispanic White (9.6%), 1 in 9 Hispanic (10.8%), 1 in 12 non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (8.4%), 1 in 7 non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (14.4%), and 1 in 4 non-Hispanic multiracial men (22.8%) were made to penetrate someone in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 1 in 7 non-Hispanic Black (15.3%), 1 in 10 non- Hispanic White (10.3%) and Hispanic (10.6%), 1 in 13 non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (7.6%), and 1 in 6 non-Hispanic multiracial men (15.4%) in the United States reported sexual coercion victimization at some point in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 1 in 4 non-Hispanic Black (23.8%) and non- Hispanic White (25.0%), 1 in 6 Hispanic (16.8%) and non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (18.0%), about 1 in 3 non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (32.0%) and 2 in 5 non-Hispanic multiracial women (39.5%) in the United States reported sexual coercion victimization at some point in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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One in five non-Hispanic Black (20.8%) and non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (21.5%), 1 in 4 non- Hispanic White (23.8%) and Hispanic (22.5%), and 1 in 3 non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (29.2%) and non-Hispanic multiracial men (32.7%) reported unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime. In the previous 12 months, 3.7% of non-Hispanic Black, 2.3% of non-Hispanic White, and 4.5% of Hispanic men reported unwanted sexual contact (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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About 2 in 5 non-Hispanic Black (40.5%), about half of non-Hispanic White (51.5%), 1 in 3 Hispanic (34.8%), 2 in 5 non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (44.2%), more than half of non-Hispanic American Indian/ Alaska Native (58.1%), and more than two thirds of non-Hispanic multiracial women (67.3%) reported unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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One in four non-Hispanic Black (26.2%) and Hispanic women (23.3%), about 1 in 3 non-Hispanic White (31.8%) and non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander women (34.4%), 2 in 5 non-Hispanic American Indian/ Alaska Native (40.7%), and nearly half of non-Hispanic multiracial women (48.2%) reported being sexually harassed in a public place in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017)
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One in eight non-Hispanic Black (12.2%), 1 in 9 non- Hispanic White (10.7%), 1 in 10 Hispanic (9.7%), 1 in 9 non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (10.8%), 1 in 13 non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (8.0%), and 1 in 5 non-Hispanic multiracial men (22.9%) reported being sexually harassed in a public place in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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More than half (56.1%) of female victims were raped by an acquaintance, more than 1 in 3 (39.3%) by an intimate partner, about 1 in 6 (16.0%) by a family member, about 1 in 8 (12.1%) by a stranger, 1 in 10 (9.6%) by a brief encounter, and 1 in 25 (4.0%) by a person of authority (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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More than half of male victims were raped by an acquaintance (57.3%), about 1 in 6 (16.0%) by a family member, nearly 1 in 7 (13.7%) by a stranger, 1 in 8 (12.8%) by a brief encounter, 1 in 8 (12.5%) by an intimate partner, and 1 in 11 (9.2%) by a person of authority (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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More than 3 in 5 male victims were made to penetrate by an acquaintance (62.2%) followed by more than 1 in 4 (26.3%) by an intimate partner, 1 in 7 (14.3%) by a brief encounter, 1 in 10 (10.4%) by a stranger, and 1 in 17 (5.9%) by a person of authority and a family member (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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More than half (58.3%) of female victims of sexual coercion reported that their perpetrator was an intimate partner followed by 2 in 5 (41.8%) by an acquaintance, 1 in 10 (10.1%) by a person of authority, 1 in 11 (9.1%) by a family member, 1 in 21 (4.7%) by a stranger, and 1 in 22 (4.6%) by a brief encounter (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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In their lifetimes, nearly half (49.1%) of male victims of sexual coercion reported that their perpetrator was an acquaintance or an intimate partner (45.8%) followed by 1 in 10 (10.0%) who reported a person of authority, 1 in 15 (6.8%) a brief encounter, 1 in 19 (5.3%) a family member, and 1 in 25 (4.2%) a stranger. In the past 12 months, more than half (55.0%) of male sexual coercion victims reported an intimate partner perpetrator and 41.2% reported an acquaintance (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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During their lifetimes, more than half (59.9%) of female victims of unwanted sexual contact reported that their perpetrator was an acquaintance followed by 1 in 5 (22.9%) who reported a family member, 1 in 5 (22.4%) a stranger, nearly 1 in 6 (16.8%) an intimate partner, nearly 1 in 9 (11.7%) a brief encounter, and 1 in 11 (9.4%) a person of authority (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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In their lifetimes, more than 1 in 2 (62.4%) male victims of unwanted sexual contact reported that their perpetrator was an acquaintance followed by 1 in 5 (21.9%) reporting a stranger, 1 in 9 (11.1%) a brief encounter, 1 in 11 (9.2%) an intimate partner, 1 in 12 (8.3%) a family member, and 1 in 14 (7.2%) a person of authority (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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More than 4 in 5 female rape victims reported that they were first raped before age 25 and almost half were first raped as a minor (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Almost 8 in 10 male victims reported that they were first made to penetrate someone before age 25, and 4 in 10 were first made to penetrate as a minor (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Nearly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men were stalked during their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: Report on Stalking, 2017).
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Female stalking victims most often received unwanted phone calls and were approached, followed, and watched (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: Report on Stalking, 2017).
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Male stalking victims most often received unwanted phone calls, texts, photos, emails, and social media messages and were approached (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: Report on Stalking, 2017).
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For both female and male victims, the most common perpetrators were intimate partners or acquaintances (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: Report on Stalking, 2017).
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Most female victims (94.0%) reported having only male rape perpetrators in their lifetime—2.4% had both male and female perpetrators (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Regarding lifetime experiences of rape, more than three quarters (76.8%) of male victims reported having only male perpetrators, 10.4% had only female perpetrators, and 9.6% had both male and female perpetrators (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Most males made to penetrate victims (69.6%) reported only female perpetrators, 17.9% reported only male perpetrators, and 8.2% reported both male and female perpetrators during their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017).
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Most female victims (90.0%) of unwanted sexual contact reported that their perpetrators were male only; 4.8% had both male and female perpetrators, and 0.8% had only female perpetrators in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017)
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Nearly half of male victims (47.5%) of unwanted sexual contact reported that their perpetrators were female only, more than a third reported male only (34.4%), and 14.3% reported both male and female perpetrators in their lifetimes (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2017)
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A smaller share of intimate partner victimizations were reported to police in 2020 (41%) than in 2019 (58%) (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2020).
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About 40% of violent victimizations and 33% of property victimizations were reported to police in 2020 (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2020).
- The 2020 NCVS estimated 2.8 violent crimes, excluding simple assault, per 1,000 persons age 10 or older were reported to law enforcement (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2020).
Now that we are aware of these statistics, we must move beyond merely awareness. While awareness is the first piece to prevention, it is not the last – we must utilize this knowledge of gender- & power-based violence as a public health epidemic to energize us in the movement, and create actionable changes.
- Take related trainings and volunteer for survivor-led organizations (Safer Leadership Training, or Lumina Alliances's 65-hour sexual assault & domestic violence crisis counselor training).
- Initiate a conversation with your friends, family, classmates.
- Incorporate intersectionality into your framework of understanding for this topic.
- Practice intervening long before violence is imminent.
- Consume survivor-centered media.
- Unpack your own emotional work around boundary-setting, accepting rejection, and healthy communication styles.
