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"We need to wake people up to the attitudes and actions that continue to keep victims at risk and our cities, towns and cultural communities unsafe." ~ Paulo Pinto, MPA, Executive Director, MAPS - Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers
Research and Studies
- Though females of any age are at risk, women in college are particularly vulnerable: 20% to 25% of women in college reported experiencing an attempted or a completed rape.
- Males of any age can be victims of sexual assault, but 69.2% are raped before age 18.
- One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually assaulted before age 18.
- Sexual violence literally occurs across the life span. Young children are victims of sexual assault as are the elderly. In one study of victims over the age of 60 the mean age was 78.8 years with victimization across four decades.
These statements have been proven time and again by peer-reviewed research and are consistent with the experience of sexual and domestic violence programs around the country and here in Massachusetts.
There are many excellent online resources for data and statistics on sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. Here are some we find particularly useful:
2003 Domestic Homicide Report
Authored by Jane Doe Inc., in collaboration with Dr. Mary Gilfus, Simmons School of Social Work and Diane Rosenfeld, J.D., LLM, Harvard Law School. December, 2006.
Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study
Dean Kilpatrick, Heidi Resnick, Kenneth Ruggiero, Lauren M. Conoscenti, & Jenna McCauley, National Criminal Justice Reference Service. February, 2007.
Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Rape Victimization: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey
Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, National Institute of Justice. January, 2006.
Health Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence
Jacquelyn C. Campbell, Lancet 2002; 359: 1331–36. April, 2002.
Intimate Partner Violence Risk Assessment: Implications for Women’s Safety
Jacquelyn C. Campbell. 2004.
Longitudinal Effects of Domestic Violence on Employment and Welfare Outcomes
Taryn Lindhorst, Monica Oxford, and Mary Rogers Gillmore, J Interpers Violence. 22(7): 812–828. July, 2007.
Meeting Survivors' Needs: A Multi-State Study of Domestic Violence Shelter Experiences.
Eleanor Lyon, Shannon Lane, and Anne Menard, National Institute of Justice. October, 2008.
Rape in Massachusetts: A Report to the Commonwealth.
Dean G. Kilpatrick, Ph.D. and Kenneth J. Ruggiero, Ph.D. through the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center. April, 2003.
The Kentucky Civil Protective Order Study: A Rural and Urban Multiple Perspective Study of Protective Order Violation Consequences, Responses, and Cost.
TK Logan, Ph.D., Robert Walker, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., William Hoyt, Ph.D., Teri Faragher, M.S.W., University of Kentucky. September, 2009.
Why Do They Kill? Men who murder their intimate partners.
David Adams, Ph.D. August, 2007.
