CDC Survey Reveals Sexual Violence Is Widespread, While Campuses Report More Sexual Assaults — How To Protect Your Family And Children

Last week the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control released the results of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. The report shows an alarmingly high rate of sexual violence and stalking against both men and women. It also cites the underreporting of sexual assaults, the vulnerability of child victims, and the impact that these crimes have on our health care system, which serves victims suffering from complications including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

These results appear to be consistent with earlier studies released by the CDC and other reports suggesting that the nation's campuses are experiencing an increased incidence of sexual assaults, and that such assaults are being reported more frequently. Colleges and universities are treating allegations of sexual misconduct with far greater seriousness than ever before, and making greater use of formal reporting processes, disciplinary procedures, and sanctions. All of these findings suggest that young adults going off to college must have a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities in terms of dating and encounters with others. Their future and well-being hinge upon it.

Selected Key Findings of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey Sexual Violence by Any Perpetrator Nearly one in five women (28.3%)1 in the United States report being raped at some point in their lives. More than half (51.1%) of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance; for male victims, more than half (52.4%) reported being raped by an acquaintance and 15.1% by a stranger. 13% of women and 6% of men have experienced sexual coercion in their lifetime, and 27.2% of women and 11.7% of men have experienced unwanted sexual contact. Most female rape victims (79.6%) experienced their first rape before the age of 25; 42.2% experienced their first rape before the age of 18. Violence by an Intimate Partner More than one in three women (35.6%) in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Nearly one in ten American women (9.4%) experienced rape by an intimate partner, and an estimated 16.9% of women and 8.0% of men have experienced sexual violence other than rape by an intimate partner. About one in four women (24.3%) and one in seven men (13.8%) have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate...