Adolescents Who Have Ever Been Raped
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Headline

In 2005, more than one out of ten (11 percent) high school females reported having been raped at some point in her life. (See Figure 1)

Importance

Sexual assault and rape are crimes that disproportionately affect females and young adults between the ages of 12 and 24. Adolescents and young adults are two to three times more likely than adults ages 25 and older to be raped or sexually assaulted.¹

The consequences of rape are similar for males and females. Physical injuries and symptoms, such as fatigue and chronic headaches, and emotional problems, such as suicide attempt and sexual dysfunction, are common.² Many rape victims suffer from stress disorders, depression, and anxiety.³ Additionally, alcohol and drug abuse can become a problem for some rape victims.⁴ Youth who have been victims of sexual abuse are more likely to report sex with multiple partners in the past year, are less likely to report using contraception at last sexual intercourse, and are more likely to report ever having been pregnant or caused a pregnancy.⁵

Trends

In 2005, 8 percent of all students in grades 9 through 12 reported having been raped at some time in their lives. (See Figure 1) Since 1999, the first year in which data were collected, percentages have remained relatively constant between 8 and 9 percent. (See Table 1)

Reports of rape amongst non-Hispanic black students and Hispanic students decreased significantly from 2003 to 2005 (from 12 percent to 9 percent, and from 10 to 8 percent, respectively). (See Table 1)

Differences by Gender

Female high school students are more than twice as likely as their male peers to report being physically forced to have intercourse (11 percent compared with 4 percent, respectively, in 2005). (See Figure 1)

Differences by Race and Ethnicity

Non-Hispanic black students are more likely than non-Hispanic white students to report being raped (9 percent versus 7 percent in 2005). (See Figure 2) While no significant difference existed by race for females, non-Hispanic black males are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic white males to report being raped (7 percent versus 3 percent in 2005). (See Table 1)

Related Indicators

Physical Fighting by Youth, Child Maltreatment, Violent Victimization of Youth

State and Local Estimates

2005 state and city estimates are available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5505a1.htm#tab11

International Estimates

None Available

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National Goals

Through its Healthy People 2010 initiative, the federal government has set a national goal to reduce the rate of rape and attempted rape from a baseline rate of 0.8 for every 1,000 people ages 12 and older to a rate of 0.7. There are no specific goals for adolescents.

More information is available at: http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/document/html/objectives/15-35.htm

What Works: Programs and Interventions that May Influence this Indicator

None available at this time.

Research References

¹"Criminal Victimization in United States, 2002 Statistical Tables." National Crime Victimization Survey, August 2003: Table 3. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cv02.pdf

²"Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet." (2006). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/svfacts.htm

³Orsillo, S. "Sexual Assault Among Females: A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet" from the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Available online at: http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/specific/fs_female_sex_assault.html; Whealin, J. "Men and Sexual Trauma: A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet" from the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Available online at: http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/specific/fs_male_sexual_assault.html

⁴"Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet" from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

⁵ For a brief review of the recent literature, see Manlove, J., Terry-Humen, E., Romano Papillo, A., Franzetta, K., Williams, S., and Ryan, S. (2002). "Background for Community -Level Work on Positive Reproductive Health in Adolescence: Reviewing the Literature on Contributing Factors." Report prepared for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. http://12.109.133.224/Files/KRepro.pdf

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Definition

This indicator reports the percentage of students in grades 9 through 12 who answered yes to the following question: "Have you ever been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when you did not want to?"

Data Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance Summaries:
Data for 1999: June 9, 2000. MMWR 2000; 49(No. SS-5): Table 8. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss4905a1.htm#tab8
Data for 2001: June 28, 2002. MMWR 2002; 51(No. SS-4): Table 8. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5104a1.htm#tab8
Data for 2003: May 21, 2004. MMWR 2004; 53(No. SS-2): Table 10. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5302a1.htm#tab10
Data for 2005: June 9, 2006. MMWR 2006: 55 (No.SS-5): Table 10. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5505a1.htm

Raw Data Source

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/index.htm

Approximate Date of Next Update

Summer 2008

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