And thus, like the little feminist troll that I am, I posted this. AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU POST THIS. EVERY FUCKING WHERE. Because you can debate an idea, but these are facts.
The following statistics are from RAINN:
1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).1
17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.1
9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003.2
While about 80% of all victims are white, minorities are somewhat more likely to be attacked.
Lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race:1
* All women: 17.6%
* White women: 17.7%
* Black women: 18.8%
* Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%
* American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
* Mixed race women: 24.4%
Men
About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.1
* In 2003, 1 in every ten rape victims were male.2
* 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape.1
Children
15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12.3
* 29% are age 12-17.
* 44% are under age 18.3
* 80% are under age 30.3
* 12-34 are the highest risk years.
* Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
7% of girls in grades 5-8 and 12% of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.4
* 3% of boys grades 5-8 and 5% of boys in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
In 1995, local child protection service agencies identified 126,000 children who were victims of either substantiated or indicated sexual abuse.5
* Of these, 75% were girls.
* Nearly 30% of child victims were between the age of 4 and 7.
93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker.6
* 34.2% of attackers were family members.
* 58.7% were acquaintances.
* Only 7% of the perpetrators were strangers to the victim.
Effects of Rape
Victims of sexual assault are:7
3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.
Pregnancies Resulting from Rape
In 2004-2005, 64,080 women were raped.8 According to medical reports, the incidence of pregnancy for one-time unprotected sexual intercourse is 5%. By applying the pregnancy rate to 64,080 women, RAINN estimates that there were 3,204 pregnancies as a result of rape during that period.
This calculation does not account for the following factors which could lower the actual number of pregnancies:
* Rape, as defined by the NCVS, is forced sexual intercourse. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, oral, or anal penetration by offender(s). This category includes incidents where the penetration is from a foreign object such as a bottle. Certain types of rape under this definition cannot cause pregnancy.
* Some victims of rape may be utilizing birth control methods, such as the pill, which will prevent pregnancy.
* Some rapists may wear condoms in an effort to avoid DNA detection.
* Vicims of rape may not be able to become pregnant for medical or age-related reasons.
This calculation does not account for the following factors which could raise the actual number of pregnancies:
* Medical estimates of a 5% pregnancy rate are for one-time, unprotected sexual intercourse. Some victimizations may include multiple incidents of intercourse.
* Because of methodology, NCVS does not measure the victimization of Americans age 12 or younger. Rapes of these young people could results in pregnancies not accounted for in RAINN's estimates.
References
1. National Institute of Justice & Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence Against Women Survey. 1998.
2. U.S. Department of Justice. 2003 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2003.
3. U.S. Department of Justice. 2004 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2004.
4. 1998 Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls. 1998.
5. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. 1995 Child Maltreatment Survey. 1995.
6. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000 Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement. 2000.
7. World Health Organization. 2002.
8. U.S. Department of Justice. 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey. 2005.
http://www.rainn.org/get-information...ssault-victims
From the Women's Center at Duke University:
Sexual assault and relationship violence is more common than we like to think. Studies show that 1 in 4 women and 3% of men will be survivors of sexual assault, and one in four women will experience relationship violence, in their lifetimes. http://wc.studentaffairs.duke.edu/sass/survivors.html
From the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault:
24% (1 in 4) of Colorado women and 6% (1 in 17) Colorado men have experienced a completed or attempted sexual assault in their lifetime. This equates to over 11,000 women and men each year experiencing a sexual assault in Colorado. (Sexual Assault in Colorado: Results of a 1998 Statewide Survey. 1998. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault) http://www.ccasa.org/statistics.cfm
V-Day Congo Director and acclaimed women's rights activist Christine Schuler Deschryver met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday, August 11 in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Among those also in the meeting were Dr. Denis Mukwege, Founder of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu and the V-Men's movement, and Chouchou Namegabe of AFEM Women's Media Association. Mrs. Clinton's trip to Congo was reported as extraordinary for a Secretary of State as she brought a sharp focus to the ongoing sexual atrocities against women in the DRC, as well as worldwide attention. We applaud Mrs. Clinton and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer for their commitment to the women and girls of the DRC, and thank them for hearing our call.
On Monday, Dr. Mukwege (Founder of the Panzi hospital), Chouchou Namegabe (AFEM - Women's Media Association) and I took the boat for a 3 hour ride across the lake from Bukavu to Goma to take part in a panel on sexual gender violence in the DRC with U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton....it's now the dry season here but it doesn't change anything on the beauty of our Kivu.
She then listened attentively to each one of us and many times I saw tears in her eyes, I didn't really feel I had the Secretary of State next to me but we all had the feeling we were just between women, she was so humble, so human, so sensitive, she paid so much attention that I sometimes felt she was swallowing our words, for the first time since a decade hope was permitted among all the atrocities...
Mrs. Clinton said that she doesn't have a magic wand but in spite of this we absolutely have to work together to ensure the meeting results in real change and that she delivers. Like she said, "I hope that we will see the changes from within and outside that will lead to the end of these problems so that our children will not even know what we were talking about."
Tell-a-friend!
V-Day's latest V-Moment comes to us from eight Congolese women who are working every day to end violence against women and girls in the DRC. We are honored to have Jeanine Gabrielle Ngungu, Justine Masika Bihamb, Kongosi Onia Mussanzi, Chantal Moboni, Drocele Mugomoka, Nounou Booto Meeti, Lydia Masimango and Kenneth Enim Ampi share their words of strength and determination with us. 
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