Statistics
Below is a list of research findings on the incidence rates of sexual assault and intimate partner abuse among college students.
In a 2019 study that surveyed more than 181,752 students at 33 colleges and universities in the U.S. It was found that:
- 13% of respondents reported nonconsensual sexual contact by force or inability to consent
- 65.1% of women reported experiencing harassing behavior since first enrolling at the school
- 21.5% of women with partners reported intimate partner violence and 15.2% stalking
- 82% of university and college student assaults take place on campus
- 56% of university and college student assaults are reported
- 39.3% of respondents reported experiencing harassing behavior. Of these, 17.7% reported that the harassment interfered with their academic or professional performance, limited their ability to participate in an academic program, or created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive social, academic, or work environment
- The estimate for women undergraduates is nearly three times higher than for women graduate and professional students (25.9% vs. 9.7%)
- Undergraduate men are twice as likely to report sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent as men graduate/professional students (6.8% vs. 2.5%)
- Among LGBT students, 22.8% of undergraduates and 14.5% of graduate students reported this type of victimization.
- Undergraduate women are more likely to report nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent occurred since the beginning of the Fall 2018 term in their first year at school (16.1%) when compared to later years (13.8% in the second year, 11.5% in the third year, and 11.3% in the fourth year or higher)
RAINN releases statistics each year, utilizing the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which is an annual study conducted by the Justice Department. As of 2023:
- 1 in 4 women and 1 in 33 men across the USA have been victims of rape or attempted rape.
- 1 out of every 10 rape victims are male.
- 21% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted, compared to 18% of non-TGQN females, and 4% of non-TGQN males.
- 46.4% of lesbians, 74.9% of bisexual women and 43.3% of heterosexual women reported sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes.
- 40.2% of gay men, 47.4% of bisexual men and 20.8% of heterosexual men reported sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes.
- 70% of sexual assaults occur to people before the age of 34%
- Females ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
- Women ages 18-24 who are college students are 3 times more likely than women in general to experience sexual violence. Females of the same age who are not enrolled in college are 4 times more likely.
- 1 in 5 women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college