Sexual Assault Statistics

[Concerned]

Prevalence:

- 53% of female and 31% of male children have experienced at least one unwanted sexual act. (Badgley Committee, 1984.)

- It is estimated that one in ten adult men have been sexually assaulted, the majority of perpetrators being heterosexual men. (Isely & Hehrenbech-Shim, 1997; Scarce, 1997.)

- One in six boys is sexually abused before age 17.
(Bagley, 1994.)

- 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted.

- Half of these assaults will be against women under 16 years of age. (Brickman & Briere, Winnipeg, 1984.)

- Young women between the ages of 16 and 21 are at the highest risk of sexual assault.
(Women's Safety Project, 1993.)

- Every 17 minutes, a woman is raped. (Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, 1985.)

- 51% of Canadian women report having experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of sixteen.

- Almost 60% of these women were the targets of more than one such incident.
(Statistics Canada, The Daily. (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, November 18, 1993.))

- Two out of three women have experienced sexual assault.
(Based on Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women, 1993.)

- A study in Toronto found that 20% of young women in high school had experienced at least one form of assault in a dating relationship. (Shirley Mercer, Not a Pretty Picture: An Exploratory Study of Violence Against Women in Dating Relationships, Toronto, 1987.)

Prevalence Amongst Disabled:

- One study indicates that 83% of women with disabilities will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime.
(Liz Stimpson and Margaret C. Best, Courage Above All: Sexual Assault Against Women with Disabilities, 1991.)

- Of women with disabilities, 63% were sexually assaulted by someone in the medical system.
(Doucette, J., Toronto, 1986.)

Sexual Assault by Known Perp:

- 29% of women who have ever been married or lived in a common-law relationship have been physically or sexually assaulted by a partner during the relationship

- 38% of sexually assaulted women were assaulted by their husbands, common-law partners or boyfriends.
(Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women, 1993.)

- 67% to 83% of women are sexually assaulted by someone they know. (Stermac, Toronto, 1991-93; D. Russell, USA, 1984.)

- Date rape accounts for 60% of reported rapes. (Vis-A-Vis, USA, 1992.)

- It is estimated that only 1% of all date rapes are reported to the police. (Diana Russell, Sexual Exploitation: Rape, Child Abuse and Workplace Harassment, California, 1984.)

- Four out of five female undergraduates surveyed at Canadian universities said they had been victims of violence in a dating relationship.

On Reporting Sexual Abuse:

- 29% reported incidents of sexual assault. (W. DeKeseredy and K.Kelly, The Incidence and Prevalence of Woman Abuse in Canadian University and College Dating Relationships: Results from a National Survey, 1993.)

- It is estimated that only 1% of all date rapes are reported to the police.
(Diana Russell, Sexual Exploitation: Rape, Child Abuse and Workplace Harassment, California, 1984.)

- 93% of sexual assault survivors do not report to the police.
(Statistics Canada, The Daily. (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, November 18, 1993.)

- Of sexual assault survivors who do not report to the police, 44% state that it was because they were concerned about the attitudes of the police or courts toward this crime. (Leaf Lines, Vol. 4, No. 1, November, 1990.)

- 87% of rape survivors consulted no professional help. (Brickman & Briere, Winnipeg, 1984.)

- 60% of women receiving treatment for drug & alcohol use were survivors of sexual violence. (Jean Tweed, Substance Treatment Centre, 1989-90.)

Where and When:

- 80% of sexual assault survivors were assaulted in their homes. (Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Ottawa, 1985.)

- 49% of women are sexually assaulted in broad daylight (Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Ottawa, 1985.)

By Whom:

- 98.5% of abusers were male. (Badgley Committee, 1984.)

- Of sexual assaults reported to police, 79% of female and 21% of male children were abused by family members.
(National Clearing House on Family Violence.)

- One in three women victims of sexual assault were assaulted by a friend or casual acquaintance; one in four by a family member including a spouse or ex-spouse.
(Tremblay, 1999.)

- A Toronto study showed that 83% of female psychiatric in-patients reported a history of physical or sexual abuse.

- Almost one-third reported either minor or severe physical or sexual abuse during their hospitalization.
(Temi Firsten, 1990.)

- 60% of Canadian college-aged males indicated they would commit sexual assault if they were certain they would not get caught.
(Lenskyj, 1992.)


Source:  http://www.sacha.ca/home.php?sec=17&sub=43