Women

• 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).¹
• 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.¹
• 9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003.²
• While about 80% of all victims are white, minorities are somewhat more likely to be attacked.
• Lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race:¹
  • All women: 17.6%
  • White women: 17.7%
  • Black women: 18.8%
  • Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%
  • American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
  • Mixed race women: 24.4%

Men

• About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.¹
• In 2003, 1 in every ten rape victims was male.²
• 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape.¹

Children

• 15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12.³
• 29% are age 12-17.
• 44% are under age 18.³
• 80% are under age 30.³
• Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years.
• Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
• 7% of girls in grades 5-8 and 12% of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.⁴
• 3% of boys grades 5-8 and 5% of boys in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
• In 1995, local child protection service agencies identified 126,000 children who were victims of either substantiated or indicated sexual abuse. Of these, 75% were girls.
• Nearly 30% of child victims were between the age of 4 and 7.
• 93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker.
• 34.2% of attackers were family members.
• 58.7% were acquaintances.
• Only 7% of the perpetrators were strangers to the victim.

References

1. National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey. 1998.
2. U.S. Department of Justice. 2003 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2003.
3. U.S. Department of Justice. 2004 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2004.
4. 1998 Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls. 1998.
5. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. 1995 Child Maltreatment Survey. 1995.
6. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000 Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement. 2000.
7. World Health Organization. 2002.
8. U.S. Department of Justice. 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2005.