Who Are the Victims?

Gender

• 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Among all victims, about nine out of ten are female.

• 1 out of every 33 American men has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in his lifetime. About 10% of all victims are male.

Age

• Age of sexual assault victims:

  • 15% are under age 12.

  • 29% are age 12-17

  • 44% are under age 18

  • 80% are under age 30

  • Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years

  • Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of sexual assault.

Race

• Estimated persons raped in lifetime by gender and race:

  • Women

    • 17.7% of white women

    • 18.8% of African-American women

    • 6.8% of Asian / Pacific Islander women

    • 34.1% of American Indian / Alaskan Native women

    • 24.4% mixed race women

    • 14.6% of Hispanic women

  • Men

    • 2.8% of white men

    • 3.3% of African-American men

    • 4.4% of mixed race men

    • The sample size was too small to estimate for Asian/ Pacific Islander and American Indian / Alaskan Native men

Effects of Rape

Physical Injuries

100% of completed rapes, 39% of attempted rapes, and 17% sexual assaults against females result in injured victims.

• 33% of victims sustain minor (bruises and chipped teeth) physical injuries

• 5% of victims sustain major (broken bones and gunshot wounds) injuries

• 61% of victims sustain undetermined injuries

Only around 36% of injured victims receive medical care.

• 82% of those cared for use hospital services

• 55% use physician services

• 17% use dental services

• 19% use ambulatory / paramedic services

• 17% use physical therapy services

Mental Health

Victims of sexual assault are:

• 3 times more likely to suffer from depression.

• 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

• 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.

• 26 times more likely to abuse drugs.

• 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.

Economic

About 1 in 11 sexual assault victims reported that they suffered some economic loss as a consequence of the crime.

• The average economic loss (in 1997) was about $200

• Nearly 7% of victims reported losing time from work.

• An average 233,986 Americans age 12 and older are sexually assaulted each year.

• Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

• Learn more about where these statistics come from.

Occurrence of Sexual Assaults

• The number of rapes reported is spread fairly evenly throughout the year, with a slight increase in August (around 9%) and the fewest in December (around 7%).

• Time of day sexual assaults occur:

  • 43% between 6:00pm and midnight.

  • 33% between 6:00am and 6:00pm

  • 24% between midnight and 6:00am

• Nearly 6 out of 10 sexual assault incidents were reported by victims to have occurred in their own home or at the home of a friend, relative, or neighbor.

Reporting to Police

• There were 90,427 forcible rapes reported to police in 2007.

• Sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes, with an average of 39% being reported to the police each year.

• When victims of rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault did not report the crime to the police, the most often cited reasons were:

  • Rape:

    • personal matter (23.3%)

    • fear of reprisal (16.3%)

    • police biased (5.8%)

  • Attempted rape:

    • personal matter (16.8%);

    • fear of reprisal (11.3%);

    • protect offender (9.9%)

  • Completed and attempted sexual assault:

    • personal matter (25.3%);

    • reported to different official (12.4%);

    • fear of reprisal (11.3%)

• The closer the relationship between the female victim and the offender, the greater the likelihood that the incident will not be reported.

  • When the offender was a current or former husband or boyfriend, about 75% of all victimization's were not reported to police.

  • When the offender was a friend or acquaintance, an average 71% were not reported.

  • When the offender was a stranger, an average 44% were not reported.

The Offenders

• Almost 2/3 of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim.

  • 23% of rapists are an intimate

  • 3% are another relative

  • 38% are a friend or acquaintance

  • 31% are a stranger

  • 6% are unknown

• Only about 6% of rapists ever serve a day in jail.

• The average age of an arrested rapist is 31 years old.

  • 0.6% are 17 years old or younger

  • 54.6% are 18 to 29 years old

  • 28.6% are 30 to 39 years old

  • 8.9% are 40 to 49 years old

  • 7.3% are 50 years old or older

• Marital status of arrested rapists.

  • 22.1% are married

  • 1.2% are widowed

  • 28.5% are divorced

  • 6.2% are separated

  • 42% are never married

• An average 8% of sexual assaults each year involve the use of a weapon.

  • 2% use a firearm

  • 4% use a knife

  • 2% use another form of weapon

  • 6% are unsure

  • 87% of victims reported the use of physical force only

• Convicted rapists made up 1.2% of the 272,111 state prisoners released in 1994, and 46% of these released rapists were rearrested within three years for some type of felony or serious misdemeanor.

  • 2.5% were rearrested for another rape.

• In 1999, women accounted for 1 in 50 offenders committing a violent sex offense including rape and sexual assault.

  • Nearly 6 in 10 of these women serving time in state prisons have experienced physical or sexual abuse in the past.

• Offenders in sexual assault murders are about 6 years younger on average than other murderers.

  • Youth under 18 have accounted for about 10% of the sexual assault murders since 1976.