Domestic Violence
Find your local domestic violence program
Statistics
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On average, more than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the US will experience rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner. (www.thehotline.org)
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1 in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence from a partner in the last year alone. Statistics like these demand that we all commit ourselves to ending abuse for good. (www.thehotline.org)
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An average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States — more than 12 million women and men over the course of a single year. (Black, et. al., 2011)*
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1 in 4 women (24.3%) and 1 in 7 men (13.8%) aged 18 and older in the US have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. (Black, et. al., 2011)*
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Current or former intimate partners accounted for nearly 33% of women killed in US workplaces between 2003 and 2008. (http://www.annalsofepidemiology.org/)
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Intimate partner violence alone affects more than 12 million people every year. (Black, et. al., 2011)*
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Children witnessed violence in nearly 1 in 4 (22%) intimate partner violence cases filed in state courts. (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov)
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30% to 60% of intimate partner violence perpetrators also abuse children in the household. (https://www.ncjrs.gov)
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One study found that children exposed to violence in the home were 15 times more likely to be physically and/or sexually assaulted than the national average. (https://www.ojp.gov)
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Most female (69%) and male (53%) victims of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner had their first experience with intimate partner violence before the age of 25. (http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention)
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43% of dating college women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors including physical, sexual, digital, verbal, or other controlling abuse. (https://www.loveisrespect.org)
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Female intimate partners are more likely to be killed with a firearm than all other means combined. (https://vpc.org/)
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The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500%. More than half of women killed by gun violence are killed by family members or intimate partners. (http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
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43.8% of lesbian women and 61.1% of bisexual women have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime, as opposed to 35% of heterosexual women. (https://ncadv.org)
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In a study of male same sex relationships, only 26% of men called the police for assistance after experiencing near-lethal violence. (https://ncadv.org)
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Transgender victims are more likely to experience intimate partner violence in public, compared to those who do not identify as transgender. (https://ncadv.org)
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LGBTQ+ Black/African American victims are more likely to experience physical intimate partner violence, compared to those who do not identify as Black/African American. (https://ncadv.org)
Resources:
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Who Will Help Me? – A study conducted by the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the University of Kentucky.
* Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., & Stevens, M.R. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sexual Violence
Find your local sexual assault center
Sexual violence happens in our communities every day. Statistics show:
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1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually assaulted by age 18 (Finkelhor, et al., 1990)*
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In Cambria and Somerset Counties during fiscal year 2019-2020, Victim Services served 1223 people:
- 1006 were victims of sexual assault and their significant others
- 217 were victims of other violent crimes and their significant others
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VS provided 3178 hours of service and 317 accompaniments to police, medical, and justice proceedings
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Every 68 seconds another American is sexually assaulted. (https://www.rainn.org)
What is Sexual Violence?
According to the CDC, sexual violence is sexual activity when consent is not obtained or not freely given. It has profound impact on lifelong health, opportunity, and well-being. Sexual violence impacts every community and affects people of all genders, sexual orientations, and ages.
Who perpetrates sexual violence?
The perpetrator of sexual violence is usually someone the victim knows (a friend, current or former intimate partner, coworker, neighbor, family member, etc.). In cases of child sexual abuse, this is the case approximately 91% of the time. (Finkelhor & Shattuck, 2012)*
Forms of sexual violence:
Sexual violence can occur in many forms and can happen in person, online, or through technology, such as posting or sharing sexual pictures of someone without their consent, etc. According to PCAR, sexual violence is a term meant to include any type of unwanted sexual contact. This can include words and actions of a sexual nature including, but not limited to:
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Rape
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Sexual assault
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Incest
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Child sexual assault
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Date and acquaintance rape
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Grabbing or groping
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Sexting without permission
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Ritual abuse
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Commercial sexual exploitation (i.e. human trafficking/prostitution)
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Sexual harassment
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Sexual or anti-LGBTQ+ bullying
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Exposure and voyeurism
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Forced participation in the production of pornography
How common is sexual violence?
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More than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact during their lifetimes.
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Nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 38 men have experienced completed or attempted rape and 1 in 14 men was made to penetrate someone (completed or attempted) during his lifetime. (Smith, et al., 2018)*
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1 in 3 female rape victims experienced it for the first time between 11-17 years old and 1 in 8 reported that it occurred before age 10. Nearly 1 in 4 male rape victims experienced it for the first time between 11-17 years old and about 1 in 4 reported that it occurred before age 10.
Reporting sexual violence
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Only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police. That means more than 2 out of 3 go unreported. (www.rainn.org)
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According to PCAR, It is estimated that less than one in 12 children will tell someone that they are being sexually abused.
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The average age at the time of reporting child sexual abuse was 52. (Spröber, et al., 2014)*
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Although it’s often talked about, false reports of sexual assaults occur rarely. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) a review of research found that the prevalence of false reporting is between 2-8% of cases, which is similar to that of other crimes.
The cost of sexual violence
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Estimates put the cost of rape at $122,461 per victim, including medical costs, lost productivity, criminal justice activities, and other costs. (Peterson, DeGue, Florence, Lokey, 2017)*
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The total lifetime cost of child sexual abuse in the United States is $9.3 billion. (Letourneau, Brown, Fang, Hassan, & Mercy, 2018)*
Resources
Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape
National Sexual Violence Resource Center
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
* Resources
- Finkelhor, D., & Shattuck, A. (2012). Characteristics of crimes against juveniles. Durham, NH: Crimes Against Children Research Center. Retrieved from (https://scholars.unh.edu)
- Letourneau, E. J., Brown, D. S., Fang, X., Hassan, A., & Mercy, J. A. (2018). The economic burden of child sexual abuse in the United States. Child Abuse and Neglect, 79, 413-422. (https://doi.org)
- Smith SG, Zhang X, Basile KC, Merrick, MT, Wang J, Kresnow M, Chen J. (2018). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2015 Data Brief—Updated Release. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Spröber, N., Schneider, T., Rassenhofer, M. et al. Child sexual abuse in religiously affiliated and secular institutions: a retrospective descriptive analysis of data provided by victims in a government-sponsored reappraisal program in Germany. BMC Public Health 14, 282 (2014). (https://doi.org)
- Peterson C, DeGue S, Florence C, Lokey C. (2017). Lifetime Economic Burden of Rape in the United States. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 52(6): 691-701.