Gender-Based Hate Crimes
- Sexual assault continues to represent the most rapidly growing violent crime in America.
- Approximately 20% of sexual assaults against women are perpetrated by assailants unknown to the victim. The remainder are committed by friends, acquaintances, intimates, and family members.
- Male victims represent five percent of reported sexual assaults. Among female rape victims, 61% are under age 18. At least 20% of adult women and 12% of adolescent girls have experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault during their lifetimes.
- A survey of 6,159 college students enrolled at 32 institutions in the U.S. found:
- 54% of the women surveyed had been the victims of some form of sexual abuse; more than one in four college-aged women had been the victim of rape or attempted rape;
- 57% of the assaults occurred on dates;
- 42% of the victims told no one.
- In a survey of high school students, 56% of the girls and 76% of the boys believed forced sex was acceptable under some circumstances.
- A survey of 11-to-14 year-olds found:
- 51% of the boys and 41% of the girls said forced sex was acceptable if the boy, “spent a lot of money” on the girl;
- 31% of the boys and 32% of the girls said it was acceptable for a man to rape a woman with past sexual experience;
- 87% of boys and 79% of girls said sexual assault was acceptable if the man and the woman were married;
- 65% of the boys and 47% of the girls said it was acceptable for a boy to rape a girl if they had been dating for more than six months.
- In a survey of male college students:
- 35% anonymously admitted that, under certain circumstances, they would commit rape if they believed they could get away with it.
- One in 12 admitted to committing acts that met the legal definitions of rape, and 84% of men who committed rape did not label it as rape.
- Women with a history of rape or attempted rape during adolescence were almost twice as likely to experience a sexual assault during college, and were three times as likely to be victimized by a husband.
- 33% to 46% of women who are physically assaulted by their husbands report they are also being sexually assaulted.
(from the American Medical Association, which used various sources)
