Rape and Sexual Assault

Reported rapes and sexual assaults totaled 247,730 in 2002. Of these cases, 87,010 were rapes, and 70,050 of those cases were attempted rapes. (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003. National Crime Victimization Survey: Crime Victimization, 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

There were .4 rapes among persons 12 or older per 1,000 people in 2002. In 52 percent of these victimizations, the offender was an intimate, another relative, a friend, or acquaintance of the victim. (Ibid.)

Twenty-seven thousand two hundred and seventy people (27,270) were arrested and charged for rape in the United States in 2001. (Federal Bureau of Investigations. 2002. Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

An average of 140,990 completed rapes, 109,230 attempted rapes, and 152,680 completed and attempted sexual assaults were committed against persons age 12 or older in the United States between the years 1992 and 2000. (Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2002. Rape and Sexual Assault: Reporting to Police and Medical Attention, 1992-2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

Ninety-four percent of all completed rapes, 91 percent of all attempted rapes, and 89 percent of all completed and attempted sexual assaults between 1992 and 2000 were against female victims aged 12 or older. (Ibid.)

Only 36 percent of completed rapes were reported to the police during the years 1992 to 2000. Thirty-four percent of the attempted rapes, and 26 percent of thecompleted and attempted sexual assaults were reported. (Ibid.)

All rapes, 39 percent of attempted rapes, and 17 percent of sexual assaults against females resulted in injured victims during the period surveyed between 1992 to 2000. When rapes were reported to the police, victims were treated for injuries in 59 percent of the cases. When rapes went unreported, only 17 percent of the victims received medical treatment for their injuries. (Ibid.)

A recently published eight-year study indicates that when perpetrators of rape are current or 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 54 percent of the time. (Ibid.)

Five percent of all middle schools 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. 2002. Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

The results of several surveys conducted since 1994 on rape and sexual assault inside prisons indicate that conservatively speaking, one in 10 of all male prisoners in the United States correctional system have been raped, sexually assaulted, or coerced into sexual activity by other inmates. (Human Rights Watch. 2001. No Escape, Male Rape in U.S. Prisons. New York, NY.)