Statistics Resources About Sexual Assault Statistics

• Since 1993, rape/sexual assault has fallen by over 69%.
• Rape is the only crime in which the victim must prove their innocence.
• The rate of false reports of rape is approximately 2 - 3%, which is no different than that for other crimes.
• Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.
• Rape and sexual assault are not crimes that usually occur in dark alleys or in deserted areas at night. 6 out of 10 sexual assaults occur in the home of the victim or the home of a friend, neighbor or relative.
• In 8 out of 10 rape cases, the victim knows the perpetrator.
• In a survey of high school students, 56% of the girls and 76% of the boys believed forced sex was acceptable under some circumstances.
• Only 27% of the women whose sexual assault met the legal definition of rape thought of themselves as rape victims.
• 1 in 4 college women surveyed are victims of rape or attempted rape.
• 90% of all acquaintance rapes involve alcohol.
• Alcohol is a factor in 100% of gang rapes.
• Women in college who use drugs, attend a university with high drinking rates, belong in a sorority, and drank heavily in high school are at greater risk for rape while intoxicated.
• 84% of college men who committed rape said that what they did was definitely not rape.
• 42% of college women who are raped tell no one about their assault.
• 42% of the women who were raped said they had sex again with the men who assaulted them.
• Nearly one third of college men said they were likely to have sex with an unwilling partner if they thought they could get away with it.
• About 44% of rape victims are under age 18, and 80% are under age 30.
• 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually assaulted before age 18.
• Males are the least likely to report a sexual assault, though it is estimated they make up 10% of all victims.
• Young females are four times more likely than any other group to be a victim of sexual assault.
• A national survey found that 10% of women were victims of rape or attempted rape by a husband or intimate partner in their lifetime.
• Overall, rape has the highest annual victim cost of any crime. The annual victim costs are $127 billion (excluding child sex abuse cases). This is followed by assault at $93 billion per year, murder (excluding arson and drunk driving) at $61 billion and child abuse at $56 billion per year.

Please note: Statistics about sexual assault vary due to differences in how it is defined and how data is collected. Sexual assault data usually come from police, clinical settings, nongovernmental organizations, and survey research.

For more information and statistics, visit the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics or click here to check out some of the sources used to cite the statistics on this page.