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A D V I C E A N D I N F O R M A T I O N : J U S T T H E F A C T S
Sexual abuse
Facts about sexual abuse of young people
- Only 2 to 4 percent of sexual abuse is committed by a stranger. Family members or known and trusted adults and adolescents commit the majority of sexual abuse. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002)
- Fewer than half (48%) of all rapes and sexual assaults are ever reported to the police (Department of Justice, 2001).
- Nearly 40% of the offenders who sexually assaulted children under age 6 were juveniles (under the age of 18). (Department of Health and Human Services, 2003)
- A survey found of the women who reported being raped, 54% were under the age of 18 at the time of the first rape. (National Violence Against Women, 2000)
- Just over 40% of rapists are age 30 or older, while 1 in 8 is under age 18. In 9 out of 10 rapes in which the offender was under 18, so was the victim. (NIBRS)
- According to an early study in the 1990's, researchers found teens do not identify forcible sex as sexual assault. More than half of high school boys and two of every five high school girls believed that there are times when it is "acceptable for a male to hold a female down and physically force her to engage in intercourse." (Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, 1992)
- More than half of all rapes of women occur before age 18, and 22% occur before age 12 (CDC, 2000).
- Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders serving time in state prisons report that two-thirds of their victims were under the age of 18. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
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