Anyone can experience sexual violence including: children, teens, adults and elders. Those who sexually abuse can be acquaintances, family members, trusted individuals or strangers. (NSVRC)
Women are disproportionally affected by sexual violence, intimate partner violence and stalking.
- 1.3 million women were raped during the year preceding the survey.
- Nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped in their lifetime while 1 in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime.
- 1 in 6 women have been stalked during their lifetime. 1 in 19 men have experienced stalking in their lifetime.
- 1 in 4 women have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner while 1 in 7 men experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
- 81% of women who experienced rape, stalking or physical violence by an intimate partner reported significant short or long term impacts related to the violence experienced in this relationship such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and injury while 35% of men report such impacts of their experiences.
- Women who had experienced rape or stalking by anyperpetrator or physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime were more likely than women who did not experience these forms of violence to report having asthma, diabetes, and irritable bowel syndrome.
- Men and women who experienced these forms of violence were more likely to report frequent headaches, chronic pain, difficulty with sleeping, activity limitations, poor physical health and poor mental health than men and women who did not experience these forms of violence.
• Female victims of intimate partner violence experienced different patterns of violence than male victims.
• Female victims experienced multiple forms of these types of violence; male victims most often experienced physical violence.
Black et al. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary
Sexual Violence by any Perpetrator
- Bisexual women had significantly higher lifetime prevalence of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner when compared to both lesbian and heterosexual women.
- Lesbian women and gay men reported levels of intimate partner violence and sexual violence equal to or higher than those of heterosexuals.
- The lifetime prevalence of rape by any perpetrator was:
For women:
Lesbian – 13.1% | Bisexual – 46.1% | Heterosexual – 17.4%
For men:
Gay – numbers too small to estimate | Bisexual – numbers too small to estimate | Heterosexual – 0.7%
The lifetime prevalence of sexual violence other than rape (including being made to penetrate, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and non-contact unwanted sexual experiences) by any perpetrator was:
For women:
Lesbian – 46.4% | Bisexual – 74.9% | Heterosexual – 43.3%
For men:
Gay – 40.2% | Bisexual – 47.4% | Heterosexual – 20.8%
(National Sexual Violence Intimate Partner Survey: 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation)
- The average age of rapists at arrest is 31. 52% are white; 22% of imprisoned rapists report that they are married.
- Sex Offenses and Offenders, 1997
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice
