Rape and Violence Against Women in the U.S.

Statistics Show Increases in Attacks

Dec 25, 2008

Government report shows huge increases in incidents of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault on women .

Studies conducted over the last two years indicated that rape, sexual assault and violence against women has increased dramatically. It is often called the "hidden" crime that effected at least hundreds of thousands of individuals during 2007 alone.

National Crime Victimization Survey

The National Crime Victimization Survey is conducted every two years, with data gathered in phone calls made to a sample of households across the United States (U.S.) There is some debate about whether the higher figures may reflect a new, more accurate methodology rather than an actual increase. However, the next survey may answer this question. Meanwhile, the 2007 survey replaced the computer -assisted telephones interviews conducted from two telephone centers nationwide by interviews conducted by field representatives either by telephone in person.

Survey Results

The Survey found that at least 248,300 women were raped or sexually assaulted in 2007, up from 190,600 in 2005, the last year that the survey was conducted. The survey included 73,600 individuals in 41,500 households. Violent crimes that increased included:

Except for simple assault, which increased by 3 percent, incidence of every other crime surveyed decreased.

Crimes committed by intimate partners against women increased from 389,000 in 2005 to 554,260 in 2007. Violent crimes against men by intimate partners went down.

Violence Against Women in the United States

The National Organization of Women (NOW) has laid out an explanation of violence against women to include:

NOW says that women are 10 times more likely than men to be targeted by an intimate partner. These include:

According to NOW, the impact on children of these women may produce violent juvenile offenders because children who have witnessed violence at home are more likely to commit or suffer violence when they become adults.

Human Rights Watch recommends U.S. government changes that can reduce the number of abused women including a special government adviser on violence against women; restoring full funding to the Office on Violence Against Women; and Congress to increase funding for sexual and domestic violence prevention, intervention, and treatment programs.

From the reports of the National Crime Victimization Survey, Human Rights Watch and NOW, unless some actions are taken, the incidence of battering and sexual assault of women will continue to increase each year in the United States.

The copyright of the article Rape and Violence Against Women in the U.S. in Crime is owned by Martha R. Gore. Permission to republish Rape and Violence Against Women in the U.S. in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.