At a glance
This appendix provides different examples of how the sexual victimization data collection systems can be used. The examples highlight what each survey measures, and the circumstances for each survey.
Overview
It is necessary to use survey data, rather than police data, to understand the complete picture of both reported and unreported sexual victimization. However, the differences among the three federal surveys that measure sexual victimization necessitate some consideration of which survey data to use. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YBRSS) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) each have strengths and limitations in the types of information that can be provided.
When to use the surveys
- NISVS
- Not yet. NISVS will be able to provide trend data on adult (18+ years old) victimization starting in approximately 2020.
- NCVS
- Yes. NCVS can be used to measure changes over time in the number of rape and sexual assault victimizations and victims in a given year.
- Data are available annually from 1993 on.
- The NCVS shows that rates of intimate partner and sexual violence declined more dramatically in the 1990s and early 2000s than in the later 2000s; though the latter period also resulted in statistically significant declines in rates among certain age groups.
- YRBSS
- No. YRBSS has trend data but is limited to persons in 9th-12th grades.
- NISVS
- No. The NISVS is administered to persons 18 or older so it cannot follow trends over time in people under 18 years of age. In order to examine trends, data about respondents’ experiences within the last year, collected over multiple years, are needed.
- NCVS
- Yes. The NCVS is administered to persons aged 12 or older and can be used to measure changes in the number of rape and sexual assault victimizations and the percent of the population ages 12 to 17 who experienced rape and sexual assault in a given year.
- NCVS data are available annually from 1993 on.
- The NCVS shows that annual rates of rape and sexual assault victimization declined among people ages 12 to 17 from 1993 through 2015.
- YRBSS
- Yes. The YRBSS can be used to examine whether there has been a change in the rate of persons in 9th-12th grades who experienced forced sexual intercourse during their lifetime, and sexual violence or physical and sexual teen dating violence in the last 12 months.
- YRBSS data on forced sexual intercourse are available biennially starting in 2001.
- During 2001–2017, a significant decrease occurred overall in the prevalence of being physically forced to have sexual intercourse among high school students.
- YRBSS data on physical and sexual teen dating violence are available starting in 2013.
- During 2013-2017, a significant decrease occurred overall in the prevalence of last 12 month physical and sexual teen dating violence among high school students.
- YRBSS data on sexual violence by any perpetrator are available starting in 2017.
- NISVS
- Yes.
- For example, according to NISVS, approximately 1 in 5 women (aged 18 and older) have been raped and 1 in 14 men (aged 18 and older) have been made to penetrate someone during their lifetime.
- NCVS
- No. The NCVS does not measure lifetime prevalence.
- YRBSS
- No. The YRBSS does capture lifetime prevalence of forced sexual intercourse but is only administered to youth in 9th-12th grades.
- NISVS
- Yes. The NISVS is administered to persons 18 or older, but asks about the age of first victimization (including before the age of 18) so can produce prevalence estimates of rape by age group, including adolescents.
- According to NISVS, approximately 1 in 13 women in the U.S. report being raped (completed or attempted) when they were younger than 18.
- NCVS
- No. The NCVS does not measure lifetime prevalence.
- YRBSS
- Yes. The YRBSS is administered to persons in 9th-12th grades and asks about lifetime experiences of forced sexual intercourse.
- YRBSS data shows that more than 1 in 10 female high school students experienced forced sexual intercourse in their lifetime.
- NISVS
- No. The NISVS does not capture information on whether the respondent is enrolled in college.
- NCVS
- Yes. The NCVS collects information on whether the respondent is enrolled in college and whether he or she lives on a college campus.
- The offender was known to the victim in the majority of rape and sexual assault victimizations against college students.
- The majority of sexual victimizations against college students were not reported to police.
- YRBSS
- No. The YRBSS is administered to persons in 9th-12th grades.
- NISVS
- No. The NISVS does not collect incident level information.
- NCVS
- Yes. The NCVS asks whether the sexual victimization was reported to police. If the victimization was unreported, victims are asked why it was not reported.
- The majority of rape and sexual assault victimizations are not reported to police.
- Among the more common reasons for a sexual victimization to go unreported to police are fear of retaliation, the idea that the police would not do anything to help, and the personal nature of the victimization.
- YRBSS
- No. The YRBSS does not collect incident level information.
- NISVS
- No. The NISVS does not collect incident-level information. Information about the characteristics of victimization experiences cannot be tied to a particular incident.
- NCVS
- Yes. The NCVS is incident-based and attribute-based, meaning that it collects detailed information about the nature of each incident and uses that information to classify the type of crime that occurred.
- The majority of rape and sexual assault victimizations against females occurred at or near the victim’s home, did not involve a weapon, and did not result in the victim seeking medical treatment.
- YRBSS
- No. The YRBSS does not collect incident level information or information about the characteristics of experiences of forced sexual intercourse.
- NISVS
- Yes. The NISVS can be used to measure the prevalence of criminal sexual victimization such as rape and unwanted sexual contact.
- NISVS data reveal that 1 in 5 women have been raped and more than a third of women have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact (e.g., groping) in their lifetime
- NCVS
- Yes. The NCVS is a survey about criminal victimization. It measures the annual prevalence and incidence of threatened, attempted and completed rape and sexual assault.
- From 2011 to 2015, an annual average of over 320,000 rape and sexual assault victimizations occurred in the U.S.
- YRBSS
- Yes. The YRBSS asks specifically about forced sexual intercourse.
- More than 1 in 10 female and 1 in 33 male high school students have been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to at some point in their life.
- NISVS
- Yes. The NISVS includes not only completed and attempted rape and being made to penetrate, but also non-criminal acts such as sexual coercion (i.e., penetration that occurs after non-physical pressure or intimidation) and verbal sexual harassment.
- For example, about 1 in 6 women and 1 in 10 men experienced sexual coercion (i.e., non-physically forced pressure to have sex) in their lifetime.
- NCVS
- No. The NCVS focuses on criminal victimization.
- YRBSS
- No. The YRBSS measures criminal acts. It asks about lifetime experiences of forced sexual intercourse and also measures 12 months of experiences with unwanted sexual activity (being forced to do sexual things counting kissing, touching, or being physically forced to have sexual intercourse) by any perpetrator and by a dating partner.
- NISVS
- Yes. NISVS captures the sex, race/ethnicity, age, and relationship between the victim and perpetrator.
- NISVS finds that the majority of perpetrators of rape and other sexual victimization against women are male acquaintances or intimate partners.
- NCVS
- Yes. The NCVS captures the sex, race/Hispanic origin and age of the offender, as well as the relationship between the victim and offender and the victim’s perceptions that offender was using drugs or alcohol.
- Based on NCVS data, the majority of female victims of rape and sexual assault have male offenders who are acquaintances or intimate partners.
- YRBSS
- No. The YRBSS does not capture any information about the perpetrators of forced sexual intercourse, sexual violence by any perpetrator, or physical and sexual teen dating violence.
- NISVS
- Yes. NISVS captures sexual victimization by sex, race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, education, marital status, and income.
- Bisexual women are disproportionally impacted by sexual victimization. They experienced a significantly higher lifetime prevalence of rape and other sexual victimization than both lesbian and heterosexual women. Other characteristics of sexual victimization victims are that they are often female, under the age of 25, and a member of a racial/ethnic minority group.
- NCVS
- Yes. The NCVS can be used to examine the characteristics of victims of sexual victimization, including sex, race/Hispanic origin, age, education, marital status, and household income.
- Some of the characteristics associated with higher rates of sexual victimization include being female, ages 12- 34, living in a low income household, and either being never married or divorced or separated.
- YRBSS
- Yes. The YRBSS captures sexual victimization by sex, race/ethnicity, age, grade in school, and sexual orientation.
- YRBSS data show that lesbian/gay/bisexual students are more likely than heterosexual students to experience sexual dating violence.
- NISVS
- Yes. NISVS captures physical (e.g., injury) and psychological (e.g., fear, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms) impacts and need for services (e.g., legal, housing, victim’s advocate).
- About 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men reported short and long term impacts – most commonly fear, concern for safety, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and injury – as a result of intimate partner violence (including sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking).
- NCVS
- Yes. NCVS collects information on the economic, social, physical and emotional impacts of sexual victimization.
- The majority of victims of rape and sexual assault experienced socio-emotional problems, including emotional distress, problems with family and friends, or problems with school or work, as a result of the victimization.
- About half of victims of a sexual victimization suffered a physical injury.
- YRBSS
- No.
- NISVS
- Yes. NISVS captures numerous chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, asthma, chronic pain) as well as disability status.
- Men and women who experienced rape or stalking by any perpetrator, or physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in the life were more likely to report poor physical and mental health than those who did not experience these forms of violence.
- NCVS
- No. NCVS is a crime survey and does not measure long term health conditions.
- YRBSS
- Yes. The YRBSS captures numerous health risk behaviors associated with victimization such as alcohol and drug use, sexual risk behaviors, and suicide-related behaviors.
- High school students who experienced both physical and sexual teen dating violence were more likely than students who did not to report physical fighting, carrying a weapon, alcohol use, and attempted suicide.
- NISVS
- Yes. The NISVS is designed to provide national data as well as data for 50 states and the District of Columbia.
- For example, state lifetime prevalence estimates of rape victimization of women range from 1 in 4 to 1 in 8 women across 50 states in the US.
- NCVS
- Not yet. The NCVS redesigned the sample in 2016 to be able to produce estimates of victimization for the 22 largest states and large areas within those states. For subnational estimates of sexual victimization it will be necessary to aggregate three to five years of data to generate reliable and precise estimates.
- YRBSS
- Yes. The YRBSS is designed to provide national, state, territorial, tribal, and local data.
- Across 34 states, the prevalence of having been physically forced to have sexual intercourse at some point in life ranged from 1 in 5 to 1 in 20. Across 20 large urban school districts, the prevalence ranged from 1 in 9 to 1 in 15.
Content Source:
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
- This content was written by Kathleen C. Basile, PhD Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lynn Langton, PhD Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Leah K. Gilbert, MD Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Findings and conclusions presented are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).