Sexual violence is any act (verbal and/or physical) which breaks a person's trust and/or safety and is sexual in nature. The term "sexual violence" includes: rape, incest, child sexual assault, ritual abuse, date and acquaintance rape, marital or partner rape, sexual contact, sexual harassment, exposure, and voyeurism. Sexual assaults are acts of violence where sex is used as a weapon. Assaults are motivated primarily out of anger and/or a need to feel powerful by controlling, dominating, or humiliating the victim. Victims/survivors of sexual assaults are forced, coerced, and/or manipulated to participate in unwanted sexual activity. Victims/survivors do not cause their assaults and are not to blame. Offenders are responsible for their assaults.
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Over 28.7 million women (18.3%) in the United States have been raped in their lifetime.[1]
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Over 2.1 million men (1.4%) in the United States have been raped in their lifetime.[2]
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In the state of Wisconsin, the number of reported sexual assaults increased 5% between 2009 and 2010.[3]
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In 2005 only 38.3% of total rapes were reported to police. 56.1% of stranger rapes and 28.3% of nonstranger rapes were reported to police.[4]
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More than half (51.1%) of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% reported being raped by an acquaintance.[5]
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Most female victims of completed rape (79.6%) experienced their first rape before the age of 25 years and 42.2% experienced their first rape before the age of 18 years.[6]
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More than ¼ of male sexual assault victims experienced their first rape when they were 10 years of age or younger.[7]
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The majority of sexual assaults (63.3%) are never reported to the police.[8]
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False reports of rape are extremely rare. In the state of Wisconsin, only 6% of reported sexual assaults were factually found to be false. In national surveys, the rates of false sexual assault reporting are consistent with false reporting of other violent crime.[9]
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94% of women who report sexual assault experience symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) within the two weeks following the assault. 30% of women continued to report this pattern nine months after the assault.[10]
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Nearly half of bi-sexual women (46.1%) have been raped in their lifetime.[11]
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Most perpetrators of sexual abuse against people in later life have special access to victims as family members, intimate partners, fellow residents, or care providers.[12]
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Studies have shown that between 50 and 85 percent of women experience sexual harassment during their academic or working lives. About 5 percent of these women will make formal complaints, and about 2 percent will seek outside action. [13]
[4] 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics. December 2006.)
[8] Rennison, C. A. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention, 1992-2000 [NCJ 194530]. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/ content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf
[12] Burgess, A., & Clements, P. (2006). Information processing of sexual abuse in elders. Journal of Forensic Nursing, 2, 113 – 120