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Impact of Sexual Assault
Statistics
- An estimated one in 4 women and one in 6 men will experience a sexual assault. (National Institute of Justice, 2000.)
- 31% of all rape survivors develop Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sometime during their lifetimes. (Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. 1992. National Victim Center and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, University of South Carolina, Charleston.)
- Rape survivors are 13 times more likely than non-crime victims to attempt suicide and 6.4 times more likely to have used cocaine or other hard drugs. (Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. 1992. National Victim Center and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, University of South Carolina, Charleston.)
- 50-75% of women in substance abuse treatment programs are survivors of sexual violence. (The U.S. Public Health Service Office on Women’s Health)
- Child and adult histories of sexual and physical abuse appear frequently to be the first experience in a sequence that leads to homelessness for both women and men. (Homeless, Addictions and Mental Illness. 1997. Catherine M. Anderson and Katherine B. Chiocchio. In Sexual Abuse in the Lives of Women Diagnosed with Serious Mental Illness. Maxine Harris, (Ed.) P.p.21-37)
- Girls who are raped are about three times more likely to suffer from psychological disorders and over four times more likely to suffer from psychological disorders and over four times more likely to suffer from drug and alcohol abuse in adulthood. (Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University, 2000.)
Mental Health Issues of Victims
- 31% of rape victims develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during their lifetimes. Rape victims are 6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD than women who have never been victims of crime.
- Research indicates that 30% of all rape victims have experienced one major depressive episode in their lifetimes after the rape. Only 10% of women who have never experienced a violent crime have had a depressive episode.
- Rape victims are four times more likely to have contemplated suicide after the rape than non-crime victims and 13 times more likely than non-crime victims to have attempted suicide.
Source:
Schwartz, M. and Cohn, L (eds.). Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders . Taylor & Francis, Incorporated.1996.
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