The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concludes from a nationwide study that 18.3 percent of American women have been raped and, of that group, more than half were victimized by an intimate partner.

More information about the study and its results can be read in this executive summary.

BBC:

“People who experience sexual violence, stalking or intimate partner violence often deal with the effects for their entire life,” said Dr Linda Degutis, director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Many of those attacked experience rape or sexual assault in their early years, with almost 80% of rape victims suffering their ordeal before the age of 25.

Some 35% of women raped before they were aged 18 were also raped as adults, Dr Degutis added.

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