Statistics

NJCASA's rape crisis centers receive about 30,000 calls each year...

• The majority of calls are from females, most of them in the 13-22 age group.
• Males represent about 5% of all calls.
• The calls are not just from assault victims but from significant others, families, friends and others who are wondering how to help.
• One in two rape victims is under 18.
• Sixteen- to 19-year-olds are three and a half times more likely to be raped.
• Twenty-five percent of college students have been sexually assaulted.

Many people don't seek help...

• The 30,000 calls the centers receive are just the tip of the iceberg, representing only a portion of the total number of sexual assault survivors in this state.
• Shame and embarassment keep many people from calling.
• Others don't report because of the stigma associated with a sexual crime. This is especially true with men, who traditionally don't seek help anyway.
• Nobody deserves to be raped.
• Nobody asks to be raped.

Most victims know their perpetrators...

• About 87% of victims know their perpetrators, who may be their significant others, a friend, a relative, a neighbor, or an acquaintance.
• The myth of the stranger rapist is just that; it is rarely a stranger.
• Yet stranger rapes are the ones that make the news; stranger rape used to be called "real rape," as opposed to a rape that involves someone known to the victim. The result of this nomenclature is that people who are assaulted by perpetrators they know are often not believed.