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Facts

Facts are grouped into categories of information.  You can click on a category below to go directly to that information or use the scroll bar at the side of the screen to read everything.

Types of Abuse with Examples                       Statistics on Rape

Statistics on Child Abuse                                Statistics on Domestic Violence

Statistics on Stalking                                       Facts about You

Types of abuse with examples:

Rape - The legal definition of rape varies by each state, for the purposes here we use the Massachusetts definition:  penetration of any orifice by any object by force or threat of force against the will of the victim. 

This definition allows for a man to be raped by a woman (it doesn't specify who was penetrated), it accounts for rape with any object (including finger, tongue, penis or non-bodily object) and it accounts for forced oral and anal sex.  Rape also includes married couples and other couples who've previously been intimate.  The threat of force can be conveyed in words or actions, it does not mean that any physical beating or bruising needs to occur.

Sexual Assault - A broad term describing any sexual activity that is forced or coerced.  Some people use this term as an umbrella term to include all acts of rape and molestation too.

Sexual assault includes grouping breasts, fondling buttocks, masturbating in front of someone and so on.

Sexual Harassment - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when submission or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

This definition includes someone displaying naked photos at work, making lewd comments, jokes or other comments that you find offensive or interfere with your work environment.  This definitions can also be applied to school environments.

Stalking - is the willful, malicious and repeated following or harassing of an individual.

Stalking includes waiting for someone at their home repeatedly, continuing to call after being asked not to and following someone while they shop or run errands.

Physical Abuse - Any physical abusive behavior that undermines the will of the victim. 

Physical abuse includes:  hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing, shoving, strangling, burning, blocking doorways, throwing objects, destroying property, withholding food or medication, imprisonment in home, looming over, threatening gestures, displaying weapons and physical intimidation.

Sexual Abuse - Often a term used to describe sexual assaults and other sexual misconducts towards children.  Encompasses rape and molestation.

Sexual abuse includes:  any unwanted touching, any sexual touching of a child under the age of 16, being lewd, sexual objectification, forced into prostitution or to view pornography, raping of another person in front of the child, having sex in front of a young child, walking in on child in the bathroom, and lack of privacy when changing clothes.

Verbal Abuse - Any verbal behavior that undermines the will of victim that  the perpetrator says to achieve power over the victim.

Verbal abuse includes:  insults, humiliation, blackmail, yelling, swearing, blaming, mocking, spreading rumors, threats to harm self or others (including pets), using a threatening or insulting tone of voice, interrupting or talking over, accusations and never giving approval.

Psychological Abuse - Psychosocial abuse includes any tactics used to achieve and maintain power over the victim.  Psychological abuse often appears along with other forms of abuse, such as physical and psychological or verbal and psychological.

 Psychological abuse includes:  minimizing concerns, controlling and limiting victim's actions, lying, blaming victim for abuse, denying abuse took place, constant calling, paging or check-ins, jealous behavior, possessiveness, not showing any feelings other than anger, and isolation from family and friends.

Financial abuse - Using money as a means to gain power over the victim.

Financial abuse includes:  Creating economic dependence in spouse, spending all the money on self, sabotaging victim's job, refusing to pay child support, checking all receipts and counting change to the penny, not allowing victim to have say over finances and ruining victim's credit.

Statistics on Rape:

·    1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men will experience a sexual assault in their lifetime (National Institute of Justice, 2000).

·    80% of rapes occur in the home. (National Victims Center, US Department of Justice).   On college campuses, over 90% of completed rapes occurred in a residence (National Institute of Justice, 2002).

·    All 50 states now recognize marital rape as a crime (RAINN).

·    75% of all rapes are committed by someone the survivor knows (US DOJ, 1997).

·    Over 90% of rapes occur by someone of the same racial or ethnic background (US DOJ, 1994).

·    Reports of false accusations account for only 2% of all reported sexual assaults.  This rate is not higher than any other crime (FBI).

·    Weapons were used in only 6% of rapes and sexual assaults (NCVS, 2000).

·    90% of men who rape other men identify as heterosexual (National Victims Center).  This indicates that rape is about power and domination, not sexual attraction.

·    Fewer than 5% of completed and attempted rapes were reported to law enforcement officials (US DOJ).  About 66% of survivors tell someone else (a friend or family member) and almost 30% of survivors never tell anyone what happened to them.

·    Rape in America estimated that 683,000 women are raped in this country every year.  This means that the United States has the highest incidence of sexual assault of any industrialized nation in the world.

·    Of the few reported rape and sexual assaults to law enforcement, there is a 51% chance that an arrest will be made.  If arrested, an 80% chance of prosecution.  If prosecuted, a 58% chance of a felony conviction.  If a felony conviction, there is a 69% chance the convict will spend time in jail.  Factoring it all together, only 5% of rapists will spend a day in jail, 19 out of 20 will walk free (NCVS, 1999).

Statistics on Child Abuse:

·    29% of all rapes occur when the victim is less than 11 years old and 32% of all rapes occur when the victim is between 11 and 17 (Rape in America, 1992).

·    1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be assaulted before the age of 18 (NCVS, Bureau of Justice - different source from the rape statistic above).

·    98% of men who raped boys reported that they were heterosexual (Sexual Abuse of Boys, Journal of the American Medical Association 12/2/1998).

·    93% of juvenile sexual assault survivors knew their attacker:  34% were family members and 59% were acquaintances (Sexual Assault of Young Children as reported to Law Enforcement.  Bureau of Justice Statistics, US DOJ 2000).

·    A 1998 survey found that 62% of 9th grade boys and 58% of 9th grade girls said that a man has the right to sexual intercourse against his date's consent if they have dated for a long time (Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island 1998 Adolescent Dating Attitudes Survey Results).

·    With the exception of homicide, children and youths suffer more victimization than do adults in virtually every category, including physical abuse, sibling assault, bullying, sexual abuse, and rape (American Psychological Association Commission on Violence and Youth, 1993).

·    The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect collected information on children reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) and completed a study (NIS-3) in 1996 that found the following information occurred between 1986 and 1993:

·         The estimated number of children seriously injured by all forms of maltreatment quadrupled.

·         The estimated number of sexually abused children increased 83%.

·         The estimated number of physically neglected children rose 102%.

·         There was a 333% increase in the number of emotionally neglected children.

·         CPS investigated only 28% of children who met the Harm standard.

·    The typical child sex offender molests an average of 117 children (National Institute of Mental Health, 1988).

Statistics on Domestic Violence:

·    Around the world, at least 1 in every 3 women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused during her lifetime (Family Violence Prevention Fund).

·    Intimate partners kill approximately 1 out of every 3 female homicide victims (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 2001).

·    Approximately 1.5 million US Women and 834,700 US men are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year (NIJ/CDC, November 1998).

·    Women of all races are about equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate (FVPF).

·    Domestic Violence is primarily a crime against women.  In 2001, women accounted for 85% of domestic violence victims, while men accounted for 15% (FVPF).

·    In a national survey of more than 6,000 American families, 50% of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently assaulted their children (FVPF).

·    Slightly more than half of female victims of domestic violence live in households with children under age 12 (FVPF).

Statistics on Stalking:

·    78% of stalking victims are women.  Women are significantly more likely than men to be stalked by intimate partners (FVPF).

·    80% of women who are stalked by former husbands are physically assaulted by that partner and 30% are sexually assaulted by that partner (FVPF).

·    1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime (NCVC).

·    61% of stalkers made unwanted phone calls; 33% sent or left unwanted letters or items; 29% vandalized property; and 9% killed or threaten to kill a family pet (NCVC).

·    The average duration of stalking is 1.8 years (NCVC). 

Facts about You:

• You deserve a life free from abuse and its devastating aftermath.
• Self-worth is the foundation of a thriving life.
• There is no "right" way to heal.  Every healing journey is as unique as each individual.
• It's not your fault you have to learn how to take care of yourself or learn other life skills as an adult.
• No matter what "mistakes" you've made in the wake of your abuse you deserve to live a passionate, joyous life.
• You deserve to celebrate your healing, your strength and yourself.
• Peace, happiness, strength and confidence are developed by nurturing these qualities in yourself and others.
• You are a unique individual.  In the history of the world, there has never been anyone just like you, nor will there ever be anyone just like you. 
• You have unique gifts and talents to offer the world.  No one else can do what you do.  No one else can take your place in the universe.
• There is nothing that anyone (including yourself) can say or do to you that changes the essence of who you are.  Whether you call this essence your light, your soul, your spirit, or something else, it is never changed.  It may be in hiding during a self-destructive phase of your life, but it cannot be damaged.
• You are an innocent, gifted child whose greatness is immeasurable.
• You have the right to be respected.
• You have the right to healthy relationships.

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