Rate of sexual victimizations for females age 12 or older by persons other than an intimate partner per 1,000 population

Sub-categories

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Headline data

Rate of sexual victimization per 1,000 specified population
Year Value
2000 2.0
2001 2.1
2002 2.3
2003 1.4
2004 1.4
2005 0.9
2006
2007 1.2
2008 1.2
2009 1.8
2010 1.1
2011 1.2
2012 1.0
2013 1.2
2014 1.3
2015 1.6
2016 1.0
2017 1.6
2018 3.0
2019 1.6
2020 1.4
2021 1.5
2022 2.1

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Geographical Area:

Unit of Measurement:

Footnote:

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from United States statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from American statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other American-specific metadata information.

Indicator

Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence
Organisation

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Definition and concepts

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) measures the number and rate of violent victimizations involving females age 12 or older in the previous 12 months by victim-offender relationship. The following categories are available for victim-offender relationship in the National Crime Victimization Survey Data Dashboard: Intimate partners (i.e., current or former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends), Other relatives (i.e., parents, step-parents, children, step-children, brothers, sisters, and other relatives), Well-known/casual acquaintances (i.e., friends or former friends, roommates or boarders, schoolmates, neighbors, people at work, and other known nonrelatives), Strangers (i.e., anyone not previously known by the victim), Don’t know relationship, and Don’t know number of off enders. Data for this indicator includes crimes where the victim and offender were other relatives, well-known/casual acquaintances, or strangers.

Sexual violence includes rape and sexual assault. The NCVS defines rape as coerced or forced sexual intercourse. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal, or oral penetration by the offender(s). This category could include incidents where the penetration was from a foreign object such as a bottle. It includes attempted rape, threatened rape, and incidents involving victims and offenders who are the same sex or different sexes. Attempted rape includes verbal threats of rape. Sexual assault encompasses a wide range of victimizations, separate from rape or attempted rape. Includes attacks or attempted attacks generally involving unwanted sexual contact between victim and offender, with or without force. Includes grabbing or fondling and verbal threats. For NCVS reporting, rape and sexual assault are combined into one victimization measure.
Unit of measure

Rate of sexual victimization per 1,000 specified population (females age 12 or older)
Data sources

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Data providers

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Comment and limitations

The NCVS is administered to persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. It collects information on nonfatal personal crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, and personal larceny (purse snatching and pocket picking)) and household property crimes (burglary or trespassing, motor vehicle theft, and other types of theft). The survey collects information on threatened, attempted, and completed crimes. Survey respondents provide information about themselves (including age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, education level, and income) and whether they experienced a victimization. For each victimization incident, respondents report information about the offender (including age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, and victim-off ender relationship), characteristics of the crime (including time and place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic consequences), whether the crime was reported to police, reasons the crime was or was not reported, and experiences with the criminal justice system. As the NCVS is based on a nationally representative sample, the indicator is subject to sampling error. For more information on the sample size and response rates see https://bjs.ojp.gov/data-collection/ncvs

NCVS data can be used to produce several types of estimates, including victimization, incident, and prevalence rates. Data for this indicator are based on victimization estimates, which are reported as either the number or rate of violent victimizations. Victimization data are not reported as a proportion of the population, whereas incident and prevalence estimates are. Therefore, the data for this indicator are reported as the rate of sexual victimizations by persons other than an intimate partner per 1,000 specified population (females age 12 or older). Further breakdowns by age and location are not available.

Estimates for 2006 cannot be compared to other years. See Criminal Victimization, 2007 (NCJ 224390, BJS, December 2008), https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv07.pdf, for more information on changes to the 2006 National Crime Victimization Survey.
Method of computation

NCVS victimization rates are estimated by dividing the number of victimizations that occur during a 12 month period by the population at risk for those victimizations and then multiplying the rate by 1,000. Specifically, divide the number of sexual victimizations for females age 12 or older by persons other than an intimate partner by the number of females age 12 or older in the U.S. and then multiply the rate by 1,000.
Actual indicator available - description

Rate of sexual victimizations for females age 12 or older by persons other than an intimate partner per 1,000 population
Date of national source publication

September 2023
Periodicity

The NCVS is a self-report survey that is administered annually from January 1 to December 31. Annual NCVS estimates are based on the number and characteristics of crimes that respondents experienced during the prior 6 months, excluding the month in which they were interviewed. Therefore, the 2022 survey covers crimes experienced from July 1, 2021 to November 30, 2022, with March 15, 2022 as the middle of the reference period. Crimes are classified by the year of the survey and not by the year of the crime.
Scheduled update by national source

September 2024
Date metadata updated

July 2024
Disaggregation geography

None
Disaggregation categories

None
International and national references

National Crime Victimization Survey Data Dashboard: https://ncvs.bjs.ojp.gov/Home National Crime Victimization Survey: https://bjs.ojp.gov/data-collection/ncvs
Time period

2000-2022

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator

Indicator 5.2.2: Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence
Target

Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
Organisation

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)

World Health Organization (WHO)

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Definition and concepts

Definition:

This indicator measures the percentage of women and girls aged 15 years and older who have experienced sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner, in the previous 12 months.

Definition of sexual violence against women and girls is presented in the next section (Concepts).

Concepts:

According to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993), Violence against Women is “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following: […], Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution […]”. See here for full definition: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm

Sexual violence is defined as any sort of harmful or unwanted sexual behaviour that is imposed on someone. It includes acts of abusive sexual contact, forced engagement in sexual acts, attempted or completed sexual acts without consent, incest, sexual harassment, etc. However, in most surveys that collect data on sexual violence against women and girls by non-partners the information collected is limited to forcing someone into sexual intercourse when she does not want to, as well as attempting to force someone to perform a sexual act against her will or attempting to force her into sexual intercourse.

For a more detailed definition of sexual violence against women see Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women- Statistical Surveys (UN, 2014).
Data sources

The main sources of intimate partner violence prevalence data are (1) specialized national surveys dedicated to measuring violence against women and (2) international household surveys that include a module on experiences of violence by women, such as the DHS.

Although administrative data from health, police, courts, justice and social services, among other services used by survivors of violence, can provide information on violence against women and girls, these do not produce prevalence data, but rather incidence data or number of cases received in/reported to these services. We know that many abused women do not report violence and those who do, tend to be only the most serious cases. Therefore, administrative data should not be used as a data source for this indicator.

For more information on recommended practices in production of violence against women statistics see: UN Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women- Statistical Surveys (UN, 2014).
Data providers

National Statistical Offices (in most cases) or line ministries/other government agencies that have conducted national surveys on violence against women and girls.
Comment and limitations

Comparability:

The availability of comparable data remains a challenge in this area as many data collection efforts have relied on different survey methodologies and used different definitions of sexual violence and different survey question formulation. Diverse age groups are also often utilized. Willingness to discuss experiences of violence and understanding of relevant concepts may also differ according to the cultural context and this can affect reported prevalence levels.

Efforts and investment will be required to develop an internationally-agreed standard and definition of sexual violence by non-partners that will enable comparison across countries.

Regularity of data production:

Since 1995, only some 40 countries have conducted more than one survey on violence against women and girls. Obtaining data on violence against women and girls is a costly and time-consuming exercise, no matter if they are obtained through stand-alone dedicated surveys or through modules inserted in other surveys. Not all VAW surveys, however, collect information on non-intimate partner violence. Monitoring this indicator with certain periodicity may be a challenge if sustained capacities are not built and financial resources are not available.
Method of computation

This indicator calls for disaggregation by age group and place of occurrence. No standard definitions and methods have been globally agreed yet to collect data on the place where the violence occurs, therefore this is not presented at this point in the computation method below.

Number of women and girls aged 15 years and above who experience sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months divided by the number of women and girls aged 15 years and above in the population multiplied by 100.
Metadata update

2017-07-09
International organisations(s) responsible for global monitoring

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)

World Health Organization (WHO)

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Related indicators

5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age

11.7.2: Proportion of persons victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and pace of occurrence, in the previous 12 months

16.1.3: Proportion of population subjected to physical, psychological or sexual violence in the previous 12 months

16.2.3: Proportion of young women and men aged 18-29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18
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