- 8 percent of women and 2 percent of men have been stalked in their lifetimes.
(Tjaden, P. & Thoennes, N. [1998]. “Stalking in America: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey,” Washington, D.C.: NIJ.) - 80 percent of college stalking victims knew their stalker.
(Fisher et al. [2000]) - 94 percent of female survivors and 60 percent of male survivors identified their stalker as male.
(Tjaden, P. & Thoennes, N. [1998]) - 59 percent of female survivors were stalked by an intimate partner.
(Tjaden, P. & Thoennes, N. [1998]) - 78 percent of stalkers use more than one means of approach.
(Mohandie, K., Meloy, J.R., McGowan, M., & Williams, J. [2006]. “The RECON Typology of Stalking: Reliability and Validity Based on a Large Sample of North American Stalkers.” Journal of Forensic Sciences. v51(1), 147.) - 13 percent of college women were stalked during one 6-9 month period.
(Fisher et al. [2000]) - Three in 10 women reported emotional or psychological harm as a result of the stalking.
(Fisher et al. [2000])
Myths and Facts
These resources help students better understand the realities of sexual assault, helping them support victims and foster a safe campus culture.
Myths
Get the facts behind several false assertions surrounding sexual assault.
Fact: While sexual assaults and rapes are also committed by strangers, the vast majority of the time (80 percent), the survivor knows her assailant. This is especially true on college campuses.
(National Criminal Victimization Survey, 2003)
Fact: Unfortunately, false reports do happen for sexual assault and rape as they do for other violent crimes. In fact, the rate of false or unfounded reports for sexual assault is the same as is for any other violent crime: 8 percent. This means that approximately 92 percent of sexual assault reports are true.
(Acquaintance rape of college students, 2003)
Fact: Men can also be raped, in violent relationships or stalked. It is estimated that about 10 percent of acquaintance rape victims are male. These crimes are reported even less than when females are assaulted.
(Sexual Assault on Campus: the Problem, and the Solution, 1992)
Fact: Sexual violence is most often not the product of psychotic episodes. Incidences of sexual violence are controlled and premeditated to frighten, humiliate, or dominate another individual. The people who commit these crimes appear just as normal as anyone else. Their actions, however, set them apart.
Fact: Sexual violence happens everywhere, perhaps especially on college campuses. College women are four times more likely to experience sexual violence than nonstudents.
(Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, www.rainn.org)
Fact: Domestic violence, or relationship violence as it is sometimes called, can happen within any intimate relationship – and also among former partners. It happens when any one person within any relationship abuses the other.
Fact: Relationship violence takes place in a pattern or cycle of violence. There are often periods of apology and a relief from violence, but these give way to more tension and more violence. One instance of violence is never okay, and unfortunately it generally means that more violence will happen.
Fact: The average length of stalking is 1.8 years. Within intimate relationships, this increases to 2.2 years. Also, 81 percent of women stalked by a current or former husband or cohabitating partner were physically assaulted. 31 percent were also sexually assaulted. Stalking is dangerous and rarely goes away without intervention.
(Stalking in America: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Study, 1998)
Fact: As much as we all might wish to believe that is the case, unfortunately it’s not. Sexual violence happens to people of all ages, races, genders, socioeconomic statuses or religions. On college campuses, it is the second most prevalent violent crime.
(Final Report: Understanding Crime Victimization Among College Students: Implications for Crime Prevention, 1995)
Statistics
Learn more about the realities of sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.
- One in five women is assaulted during her college career.
(Fisher, Cullen, & Turner [2000]. “The sexual victimization of college women,” Washington: NIJ/BJS.) - Women ages 16-24 experience assault at four times the rate of all women.
(Humphrey, S. and Kahn, A. [2000]. “Fraternities, Athletic Teams and Rape: Importance of Identification with a Risky Group.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence. - Fewer than 5 percent of college women who are victims report it to the police.
(Fisher et al. [2000]) - College women are most vulnerable during the first few months of their freshman and sophomore years.
(Schwartz, M., and DeKeseredy, W. [1997]. Sexual Assault on the College Campus: the Role of Male Peer Support. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.) - One in four college women has been a victim of rape or attempted rape since the age of 16.
(Fisher et al. [2000])
- About one-third of survivors never tell anyone about the assault.
(Sampson, R. [2003]) - 32 percent of students report dating violence by a former partner, and 21 percent report dating violence by a current partner.
(Sellers, C. and Bromley, M. [1996]. “Violent behavior in current college dating relationships.” Journal of Contemporary Justice.) - In a national study, 29 percent of women and 22 percent of men had experienced physical, sexual or psychological abuse in their lifetimes.
(Coker AL et al. [2002]. “Physical and mental health effects of intimate partner violence for men and women.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23(4):260–8.) - Incidence of domestic violence is as underreported as other crimes where the victim knows the perpetrator.
(Felson, R. and Pare, P. [2005] The reporting of domestic violence and sexual assault by nonstrangers to the police. National Center on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.) - 40 percent of gay and bisexual men will experience abuse at the hands of an intimate partner.
(Greenwood, G. L. [2002]. “Battering and victimization among a probability-based sample of men who have sex with men.” American Journal of Public Health.)