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While statistics can provide valuable information, they must be reviewed with a critical eye. Statistics are often taken out of a fuller context and may not provide the clearest picture. The statistics shared here are chosen to give you a sketch of the issue of sexual violence in Minnesota and in the US. Use them carefully and consult the links which will connect you to additional research and data about sexual violence.
- An American is sexually assaulted every two minutes.
(Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, RAINN website)
- There were 1.1 rapes or sexual assaults among persons 12 or older per 1,000 people in 2001. In 66 percent of these victimizations, the offender was an intimate, another relative, a friend or an acquaintance of the victim.
(Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002)
- 6,501 sexual assaults were reported to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in 2001.
(MNBCA, 2002)
- 1 in 4 girls is sexually assaulted before the age of 18.
(Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1999)
- 1 in 6 boys will have been sexually abused by age 18.
(Terryann Nielson, 1983, National Council for Prevention of Child Abuse, 1979)
- Only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police. Only 12% are reported within the first 24 hours.
(Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, National Center for Victims of Crime, 1992)
- Five percent of all middle school and 8 percent of all high schools reported at least one crime of rape or sexual battery to law enforcement in the 1996-1997 school year.
(Bureau of Justice Statistics. November 2002.)
- A recently published eight year study indicates that when perpetrators of rape are current of former husbands or boyfriends, the crimes go unreported to the police 77 percent of the time. When the perpetrators are friends or acquaintances, the rapes go unreported 61 percent of the time; and when the perpetrators are strangers, the rapes go unreported 54 percent of the time.
(Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002)
- 84% of sexual assault victims know the offender.
(National Victim Center, 1992. US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1991)
- The average age of entry into prostitution is 14 years old.
(Family and Children's Service, PRIDE)
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