Sexual Assault and Stalking

Sexual assault, assault and stalking are all forms of domestic violence, and often happen at the hands of a current or past partner as opposed to a stranger. Data indicates these activities happen more often to female victims and often happen in an escalating pattern, where stalking leads to assault that then leads to murder.

One in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape. Source: U.S. Department of Justice, “Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women,” November 1998.

Approximately 1 in 6 women (16.9%) has experienced sexual violence other than rape by an intimate partner in her lifetime; this includes sexual coercion (9.8%), unwanted sexual contact (6.4%) and non-contact unwanted sexual experiences (7.8%). Source: National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2010 Summary Report. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, Atlanta, GA, and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 7.8 million women have been raped by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. Source: Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. 2003. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centers for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, GA.

Sexual assault or forced sex occurs in approximately 40-45% of battering relationships. Source: Campbell, et al. (2003). “Assessing Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide.” Intimate Partner Homicide, NIJ Journal, 250, 14-19. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.

More than one in 10 women (10.7%) and more than one in 47 men (2.1%) have been stalked by an intimate partner during their lifetime. Source: National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2010 Summary Report. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, Atlanta, GA, and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

81% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also physically assaulted by that partner; 31% are also sexually assaulted by that partner. Source: Tjaden, Patricia & Thoennes, Nancy. (1998). “Stalking in America.” National Institute for Justice.

More than three-quarters of the women who report being stalked by an intimate partner in their lifetime received unwanted phone calls or text messages (77.4%), unwanted visits at home, work or school (64.8%), and 37.4% report being watched or followed by a current or former intimate partner. Source: National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2010 Summary Report. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, Atlanta, GA, and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

76% of female homicide victims had been stalked by the person who killed them; 54% of the victims reported stalking to police before they were killed by their stalkers; and 89% of the victims who had been physically abused had also been stalked in the 12 months before the murder. Source: Stalking Resource Center, The Nat'l Ctr. for Victims of Crime, Stalking Fact Sheet, (citing Judith McFarlane et al., 3 Homicide Studies 300-316 (1999).