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Violence is a widespread public health threat in the U.S. Data from the National Violence Against Women Survey, conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1995-96, found that a significant proportion of U.S. women are victims of violence. In 1995-96, 18 percent of women reported having been raped, 52 percent reported having been physically assaulted, and 8 percent reported having been stalked in their lifetimes. Among women of different racial/ethnic groups, American Indian/Alaska Native women were most likely to have been raped, physically assaulted, and stalked, with women of mixed race reporting the second highest levels of violence.
The National Violence Against Women Survey also explored violence experienced by minors. Nine percent of surveyed women and 1.9 percent of surveyed men said they were raped before age 18. Women physically assaulted or raped as children were twice as likely to report experiencing the same crime as adults than women who were not victimized as children.
Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2000 found that women were most likely to experience a violent crime perpetrated by a friend or acquaintance, and men were most likely to be the victim of a crime committed by a stranger. However, female victims were seven times more likely than men to report being the victim of a crime where the offender was an intimate partner. Females were also more likely to be victims of homicide committed by intimate partners than were men.(1)
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance for Homicide Among Intimate Partners-United States, 1981-1998. MMWR, Vol.50, No. SS03;1.
