Report: CDC Calls for More Work to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence

PHOTO:Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice sits on the sideline in the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Baltimore on Aug. 7, 2014. The Ravens cut Rice after the release of a video that appears to show Rice striking his then-fiancee in February. The team terminated his contract Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. NIKE also withdrew Rice's sponsorship contract. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

 A new report from The Centers for Disease Control on intimate partner violence and stalking says prevention efforts need to start early because many victims experience sexual violence before they are 18 years old. Read the full report here.

The report concluded many victims still do not receive needed help, such as medical care, victim advocacy and legal services.

"... nearly half of female victims and approximately two thirds of male victims who indicated a need for services did not receive any of the services needed as a result of intimate partner violence experienced during their lifetimes."

"Because a substantial proportion of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence is experienced at a young age, primary prevention of these forms of violence must begin early. Prevention efforts should take into consideration that female sexual violence and stalking victimization is perpetrated predominately by men and that a substantial proportion of male sexual violence and stalking victimization (including rape, unwanted sexual contact, noncontact unwanted sexual experiences, and stalking) also is perpetrated by men."

Rape

The report, based on statistics gathered in 2011, finds that 19.3 percent of women --23 million women -- and 1.7 percent of men--about 2 million men-- have been raped during their lifetimes. About 1.6 percent  of women reported they were raped in the 12 months preceding the survey. The number for men was too small to accurately report.

"Most notably, nearly 13.4 percent of women and 3.5 percent of men have been injured physically, and 9.1 percent of women and 4.8 percent of men have missed at least 1 day of work or school because of experiencing intimate partner violence."

Native American and multiracial women reported higher rates of rape and sexual assault than other groups. The report estimates the lifetime prevalence of rape for Native American and multiracial women at around one in three.  Multiracial men were more likely to victimized than other men.

Sexual Violence

The report found 43.9 percent of women and 23.4 percent of men experienced other forms of sexual violence during their lifetimes, including being made to penetrate, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences. It estimated that 5.5 percent of women and and 5.1 percent of men experienced these other forms of sexual violence victimization in the 12 months before the survey.

Stalking

An estimated 15.2 percent of women and 5.7 percent of men have been a victim of stalking during their lifetimes. An estimated 4.2 percent of women and 2.1 percent of men were stalked in the 12 months preceding the survey.

Female victims reported that the perpetrators were predominantly male. For male victims, the sex of the perpetrator varied by the specific form of violence examined. Male rape victims predominantly had male perpetrators, but other forms of sexual violence experienced by men were either perpetrated predominantly by women (i.e., being made to penetrate and sexual coercion) or split more evenly among male and female perpetrators. Male stalking victims also reported a more even mix of males and females who had perpetrated stalking against them.

Age of Victims

Many victims of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence were first victimized at a young age. Among female victims of completed rape, an estimated 78.7 percent were first raped before age 25 years with 40.4 percent reporting they were raped before the age of 18 years.

Around 71.0 percent of male victims who were made to penetrate a perpetrator, were victimized before age 25 years, with 21.3 percent victimized when they were under 18.

Physical Violence

For women, lifetime prevalence of physical violence by an intimate partner was an estimated 31.5 percent. In the 12 months before taking the survey, around 4.0 percent of women had experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. An estimated 22.3 percent of women -- more than one in five women --experience at least one act of severe physical violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes. In the 12 months before taking the survey, an estimated 2.3 percent of women experienced at least one form of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.

 For men, lifetime prevalence of physical violence by an intimate partner was an estimated 27.5 percent.  In the 12 months before taking the survey, an estimated 4.8 percent of men experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. An estimated 14.0 percent -- around one in seven -- men experienced at least one act of severe physical violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes. In the 12 months before taking the survey, an estimated 2.1 percent of men experienced at least one form of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.