Sexual Abuse Statistics

Sexual abuse statistics in the United States fluctuate every year, but they never really decreased significantly. It’s a sad fact. Sexual abuse is a constant threat but one that is difficult to battle due to its very nature. Most crimes are never reported because of the emotional toll it takes on its victims and the prevailing stereotype that the victim "must have been asking for it." Most people who do not have a personal understanding of what sexual abuse is and have a hard time feeling sympathy for victims who are not children. Sexual abuse statistics are published for common knowledge but most people don’t know more than what they see on television. Sexual abuse statistics are also frequently misunderstood because there are so many reports for so many different areas.

1. 44 percent of sexual abuse victims are under 18 while 80 percent of sexual abuse victims are under 30. On top of that, fifteen percent of juvenile sexual assault victims are under the age of twelve and 29 percent are between twelve and seventeen. Ages twelve to 34 are considered the highest risk years for being sexually assaulted and raped.
2. 60 percent of sexual assaults are not reported. To make matters worse, 38 percent of rapists are friends or acquaintances of the victim. This can include date rape and stalkers and means two out of three victims are attacked by someone they know.
3. Three percent of American men have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. Sexual assault and rape statistics are reported by men as often as they are by women for obvious reasons, but it does happen. Countries outside the United States have a higher percentage then we do.
4. 93 percent of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker. 34.2 percent of attackers were family members and 58.7 percent were acquaintances. This may not be as surprising a fact as some others. 
5. Every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted in the U.S. There are around 213,000 victims of sexual assault every year in the U.S. alone. In other countries these numbers double, even triple.
6. Fifteen of sixteen rapists never spend a day in jail. It's a maddening fact. The main reason for this is the lack of reported assaults and the difficulty in prosecuting the attackers.
7. One of six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. That's a total of 17.7 million American women who have been victims of attempted or completed rape. It's a terrifying thought and there are many programs dedicated to helping women protect themselves.
8. Victims of sexual abuse and rape are three times more likely to suffer from depression, six times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, thirteen times more likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse drugs, and four times more likely to contemplate suicide.