National Rape Statistics
•
In the United States, over 70% of all rapes go unreported. (1)
• The United States has the highest rate of rape of any country that publishes such statistics; 13 times higher than
Great Britain and 20 times higher than Japan. (2)
• In 2000, there were 261,000 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. (1)
• Of these 261,000, 114,000 were victims of sexual assault, 55,000 were victims of attempted rape, and 92,000
were victims of completed rape. (1)
• Approximately 62% of female rape victims knew their assailant. (1)
• Approximately 43% of victims are raped by a friend or acquaintance; 34% by a stranger; 17% by an intimate; and
2% by another relative. (1)
• 61% of rape victims were sexually assaulted before the age of 18. (3)
• 21.6% of women who reported being raped during their lifetime were under age 12 at the time of their first rape.
32.4% of these women were 12-17 years of age. Therefore, over half of all female rape victim/survivors surveyed
in this study were under the age of 18 at the time of their first rape. (4)
• Age 12-34 are the highest risk years. Risk peaks in the late teens: girls 16 to 19 are four times more likely than
the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault (1).
• Among people 12 and older, about 83.5% of the US population is white, and 82.5% of rape victims are white;
13.3% of victims are black, compared to 12.3% of the population; and 4.2% of both victims and the population are
of other races. (1)
• Blacks are about 10% more likely to be attacked than whites. In 2000, there were 1.1 victimizations per 1,000
white people, and 1.2 victimizations per 1,000 black people. (1)
Sources:
1. 2000 National Crime Victimization Survey, Bureau of Justice Statistics
2. The National Women‘s Study conducted by the National Center for Victims of Crime
3. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Adolescence
4. Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings from the
National Violence Against Women Survey, (NCJRS) 2000