For the latest statistics, please check out RAINN's Statistics page.
There were 261,000 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault in the year 2000 (does not include victims under the age of 12), of which 114,000 were victims of sexual assault, 55,000 were victims of attempted rape, and 92,000 were victims of completed rape.
One out of every six women in American has been a victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. About 62% of rape victims knew their assailant.
2.78 million men in American has been a victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.
Approximately 44% of rape victims are under the age of 18.
72% of rapes and sexual assaults are not reported to the police.
RAINN's Probability of Arrest Analysis
For UCR reporting purposes can a male be raped?
A24. No. Sexual attacks on males should be classified as Assaults or "Other Sex Offenses," depending on the nature of the crime and the extent of injury. An Assault is a Part I offense and would be reported on Return A. " Other Sex Offenses" qualify as Part II offenses and would be reported on the appropriate age, sex, race, and ethnic origin form. (UCR Handbook, Pg. 10)
*This is important because: 1) it is archaic and idiotic that the rape of a man is not considered a "real rape" and 2) The UCR statistics are inherently flawed because of this and because of the way in which crime statistics are calculated. The formula for any crime's rate is to first take the total number of crimes reported, divide that by the total population, and then multiply your answer by 100,000. The first problem with the UCR, then, is that a large number of rapes aren't included in the total number of crimes reported, and so that piece of the equation is lower than it should be. The second problem is that the total population still includes males -- it is the TOTAL population, even though the number of rapes included is drawn from only HALF the population. That piece of the equation is now twice as large as it should be if only the "carnal knowledge of a female" is included. The final number is ridiculously lower than the incidence of rape actually is.*
Older statistics...
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an estimated total of 93,103 forcible rapes (defined as carnal knowledge of a female forcibly against her will. Assaults or attempts to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape without force and other offenses are not included) were reported to law enforcement during 1998.
About one in three rape reports led to an arrest -- there were an estimated 31,070 arrests made for rape in the year.
The FBI report includes only those rapes actually reported to law enforcement. According to the US Department of Justice, about one in three rapes are reported, which means the FBI's estimate for forcible rapes in 1998 is 279,309.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a woman is raped every 2 minutes in America
In 1996, 307,000 women were the victim of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault (of which only 31% were reported to law enforcement officials - less than one in every three. and between 1995 and 1996, more than 670,000 women were the victim of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
Approximately 68% of rape victims knew their assailant.
One of every four rapes take place in a public area or in a parking garage.
68% of rapes occur between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Approximately one-third of all juvenile victims of sexual abuse cases are children younger than 6 years of age.
Teens 16 to 19 were three and one-half times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
In 1995, 32,130 males age 12 and older were victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.