Gender-Based Violence Statistics

Sexual Assault 

• 18.3% (1 in 5) of women and 1.4% (1 in 71) of men reported experiencing rape at some time in their lives (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 2012).
• 25% of women and 17% of men are sexually assaulted before they turn 18 (National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2015).
• 80% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone known to the survivor prior to the assault (National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2015).
• Most sexual assaults on college campuses are perpetrated by serial perpetrators. The average number of assaults per perpetrator varies from 6 to 11, based on different studies (Sexual Assault Report 2011, White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).
• The majority of perpetrators are male: 98% of female and 93% of male sexual assault survivors report that their assailants were male (White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).
• The red zone, or the first six weeks a student is at college their freshman year, is the most dangerous time for sexual assaults (American Journal of College Health 2008).
• 58% of incapacitated rapes and 28% of forced rapes take place at college parties (White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).

Stalking 

• 15.2% of women and 5.7% of men have been a victim of stalking during their lifetimes (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2011).
• 53.8% of female stalking victims and 47.7% of male stalking victims were first stalked before the age of 25 (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2011).
• 37% of bisexual women and 16% of straight women have experienced stalking in their lifetime (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010).
• 61% of female victims and 44% of male victims were stalking by a current or former intimate partner (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2011).
• Nearly 70% of stalking victims knew their offender in some capacity (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2012).

Dating & Intimate Partner Violence

• 43% of dating college women and 28% of dating college men report experiencing violent and/or abusive behaviors in their relationships, including physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and controlling abuse (College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll 2011).
• 29% of dating college women and 17% of dating college men report having been in an abusive dating relationship (College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll 2011).
• 57% of college students say it is difficult to identify dating abuse (College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll 2011).
• 60% of college students who experienced relationship abuse reported that nobody stepped in to help their situation (College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll 2011).
• 70% of college students in an abusive relationship were not aware of the abusive nature of the relationship at the time (College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll 2011).
• 58% of college students report not knowing how to help victims of relationship abuse (College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll 2011).
• 40% of college women and 58% of college men see dating violence and abuse as “not a problem” on their campus (College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll 2011).
• On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010).

Crime Statistics

• Only 2–10% of sexual assault reports are estimated to be false, a rate that does not exceed the false reporting rates of other crimes. Incorrect, exaggerated statistics are often used to invalidate survivors’ experiences (Violence Against Women 2010).
• 0.6% of rapists will be incarcerated for their crime; 99.4% of rapists will walk free (RAINN 2012).
• Only 12% of college survivors report the assault to law enforcement (White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).

Marginalized Groups

• 74.9% of bisexual women, 46.4% of lesbians, and 43.3% of straight women have reported sexual violence (other than rape) during their lifetimes; 47.4% of bisexual men, 40.2% of gay men, and 20.8% of straight men have reported sexual violence (other than rape) in their lifetimes (National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2015).
• 25% of transgender individuals have been sexually assaulted after the age of 13 (Effects of Violence on Transgender People 2012).
• 33.5% of multiracial women, 26.9% of Native American women, 22% of Black women, 18.8% of white women, 14.6% of Hispanic women, and 6.8% of Asian/Pacific Islander women have been sexually assaulted (White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).
  • These numbers for women of color are almost certainly underrepresenting sexual assault in these communities; women of color report at lower rates. Asian American women are the least likely to report out of any racial/ethnic group (Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence 2009).
• Individuals with a disability are three times more likely to be sexually assaulted than individuals without a disability (Crimes Against Persons with Disabilities 2011).
• Undocumented immigrant survivor statistics are difficult to estimate, as deportation can be used as a threat against reporting the crime. Immigrant survivors may also not be aware of their area’s resources and services (National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project 2013).
• 13% of homeless women had been sexually assaulted in the previous year, and approximately half of those women were assaulted at least twice; this compares to 1% of women nationally who have been sexually assaulted within the previous year. 43% of homeless women were abused as children (White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).
• 14% of females and 4% of males have been sexually assaulted in prison by another prisoner. 34% of bisexual males, 39% of gay males report having been sexually assaulted by another prisoner (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2008).

Impacts of Rape and Sexual Assault

• 81% of women and 35% of men report experiencing significant short-term or long-term impacts of sexual assaults such as PTSD (National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2015).  
• 58% of all female victims of sexual assault sustained an injury between 2005-2010 (National Crime Victimization Survey 2013).
• Over 50% of survivors who were raped under the influence of alcohol or drugs developed lifetime PTSD; these survivors were almost five times more likely to have major depressive episodes throughout their lifetime than non-victims (White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).
• Sexual assault survivors are more likely to engage in substance and alcohol abuse, develop eating disorders, and/or attempt or consider suicide (White House Council on Women and Girls 2014).

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/sexual_assault_report_1-21-14.pdf