CDC Releases NISVS Findings

  

"On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States. Over the course of a year, that equals more than 12 million women and men. Those numbers only tell part of the story – more than 1 million women reported being raped, and over 6 million women and men were a victim of stalking."

On December 14, the Division for Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented the initial findings from the National Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS). 

NISVS is an on­going, nationally representative survey that assesses experiences of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence among adult women and men in the United States. It measures lifetime victimization for these types of violence as well as victimization in the 12 months prior to the survey.

The survey goes beyond counting acts of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence by assessing the range of violence experienced by victims and the impact of that victimization. The report also includes the first ever simultaneous national and state-level prevalence estimates of these forms of violence for all states.  

The findings show that, on average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States.  Over the course of a year, that equals more than 12 million women and men. Those numbers only tell part of the story – more than 1 million women reported being raped, and over 6 million women and men were a victim of stalking.

These findings emphasize that sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence are widespread and a major public health problem in the United States. The report underscores the heavy toll of this violence, particularly on women; the immediate impacts of victimization; and the lifelong health consequences of these forms of violence.  For example:

·         Nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime.

·         Approximately 80% of female victims were raped before the age of 25, and almost half before the age of 18. About 35% of women who were raped as minors were also raped as adults compared to 14% of women without an early rape history.

·         1 in 4 women have been the victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner while 1 in 7 men experienced severe violence by an intimate partner.

·         81% of women who experienced  rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner reported significant short and long term impacts related to the IPV experienced such as fear, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and injury, while 35% of men reported such impacts from the IPV experienced.

·         Women who experienced rape or stalking by any perpetrator or physical violence by an intimate partner were more likely than women who did not experience these forms of violence to report asthma, diabetes, and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as other health consequences. 

The full report and more resources are available here.