Statistics About Sexual Assault

• 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed, 2.8% attempted)
• About 3% of American men—or 1 in 33—have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime
• From 2009-2013, Child Protective Services agencies substantiated, or found strong evidence to indicate that, 63,000 children a year were victims of sexual abuse
• The majority of rapes occur near a victim’s home.
• Most rapes (7 out of 10) are committed by someone the victim knows
• 45% committed by an acquaintance and 25% committed by a current or former intimate partner
• 57% of perpetrators are white
• Only 11% of perpetrators use a gun, knife, or other weapon. Most commonly they use their body weight and threats
• 4% lesbians, 74.9% bisexual women and 43.3% heterosexual women reported sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes, while 40.2% gay men, 47.4% bisexual men and 20.8% heterosexual men reported sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes
• 91% of the victims of rape and sexual assault are female, and 9% are male

       College Sexual Assault

• Among undergraduate students, 23.1% of females and 5.4% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation
• 21% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted, compared to 18% of non-TGQN females, and 4% of non-TGQN males
• Only 20% of female student victims, age 18-24, report to law enforcement
• The most commonly cited reason for not reporting is a belief that it was not serious enough
• August, September, October, and November are when the majority of college sexual assaults occur on campus
• The prevalence of false reporting is between 2% and 10%
  Sources: www.rainn.org and www.nsvrc.org 

        Abuse via the Internet

• Approximately 1 in 7 (13%) youth internet users received unwanted sexual solicitations. 
• 9% of youth Internet users had been exposed to distressing sexual material while online. 
• Predators seek youths vulnerable to seduction, including those with histories of sexual or physical abuse, those who post sexually provocative photos/videos online, and those who talk about sex with unknown people online.
• 1 in 25 youths received an online sexual solicitation in which the solicitor tried to make offline contact. 
• In more than one-quarter (27%) of incidents, solicitors asked youths for sexual photographs of themselves. 
• The most common first encounter of a predator with an Internet-initiated sex crimes victim took place in an online chat room (76%). 
• In nearly half (47%) of the cases involving an Internet-initiated sex crimes victim, the predator offered gifts or money during the relationship-building phase. 
• Internet-based predators used less deception to befriend their online victims than experts had thought.
• Only 5% of the predators told their victims that they were in the same age group as the victims. Most offenders told the victims that they were older males seeking sexual relations. 
• 15% of cell-owning teens (12–17) say they have received sexually suggestive nude/semi-nude images of someone they know via text. 
• Of respondents to a survey of juvenile victims of Internet-initiated sex crimes, the majority met the predator willingly face-to-face and 93% of those encounters had included sexual contact. 
• 72% of teenagers and young adults believe that digital abuse is something that should be addressed by society. 
• 11% of teenagers and young adults say they have shared naked pictures of themselves online or via text message. Of those, 26% do not think the person whom they sent the naked pictures to shared them with anyone else. 
• 26% of teenagers and young adults say they have participated in sexting (12 different forms of sexting were examined), a 6% decline since 2011. 
• Nearly 40% of young people in a relationship have experienced at least one form of abuse via technology. A large majority (81%) say they rarely or never feel their significant other uses technology to keep tabs on them too often. 

Sources: www.rainn.org; www.rainn.org/statistics; www.nsvrc.org; www.nsopw.gov