Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization — National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011
Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MMWR
Abstract
Sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence are public health problems known to have a negative
impact on millions of persons in the United States each year, not only by way of immediate harm but also through negative longterm
health impacts. Before implementation of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) in 2010, the
most recent detailed national data on the public health burden from these forms of violence were obtained from the National
Violence against Women Survey conducted during 1995–1996.
This report examines sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization using data from 2011. The report
describes the overall prevalence of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization; racial/ethnic variation
in prevalence; how types of perpetrators vary by violence type; and the age at which victimization typically begins. For intimate
partner violence, the report also examines a range of negative impacts experienced as a result of victimization, including the need
for services.
Reporting Period: January–December, 2011.
Description of System: NISVS is a national random-digit–dial telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized English- and Spanishspeaking
U.S. population aged ≥18 years. NISVS gathers data on experiences of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner
violence among adult women and men in the United States by using a dual-frame sampling strategy that includes both landline
and cellular telephones. The survey was conducted in 50 states and the District of Columbia; in 2011, the second year of NISVS
data collection, 12,727 interviews were completed, and 1,428 interviews were partially completed.
Results: In the United States, an estimated 19.3% of women and 1.7% of men have been raped during their lifetimes; an estimated
1.6% of women reported that they were raped in the 12 months preceding the survey. The case count for men reporting rape in
the preceding 12 months was too small to produce a statistically reliable prevalence estimate. An estimated 43.9% of women and
23.4% of men experienced other forms of sexual violence during their lifetimes, including being made to penetrate, sexual coercion,
unwanted sexual contact, and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences. The percentages of women and men who experienced these
other forms of sexual violence victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey were an estimated 5.5% and 5.1%, respectively.
An estimated 15.2% of women and 5.7% of men have been a victim of stalking during their lifetimes. An estimated 4.2% of
women and 2.1% of men were stalked in the 12 months preceding the survey.
With respect to sexual violence and stalking, female victims reported predominantly male perpetrators, whereas for male victims,
the sex of the perpetrator varied by the specific form of violence examined. Male rape victims predominantly had male perpetrators,
but other forms of sexual violence experienced by men were either perpetrated predominantly by women (i.e., being made to
penetrate and sexual coercion) or split more evenly among male and female perpetrators (i.e., unwanted sexual contact and
noncontact unwanted sexual experiences). In addition, male stalking victims also reported a more even mix of males and females
who had perpetrated stalking against them.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
statistics, Intimate partner violence, prevalence, sexual violence, stalking
Citation
Breiding, M. J., Smith, S. G., Basile, K.C., Walters, M.L., Chen, J., & Merrick, M. T. (2014). Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization — National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011. MMWR, 63(8), 1-24.