Sexual Aggression

Rates of Sexual Aggression

Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes's national study of women's and men's experience with intimate partner violence provides the best contemporary estimates of how frequently sexual aggression takes place in close relationships. Of the 8,000 women in their survey, 14.8 percent had experienced rape and 2.8 percent attempted rape. The assailant was a present or past intimate partner for 62 percent of the sexually victimized women. In fact, consistency in rates across this and other studies suggests that 15 percent of U.S. women will experience rape in their lifetime, most frequently at the hands of a relational partner.

Tjaden and Thoennes's findings for the 8,000 men they surveyed stand in sharp contrast to those for women. Rape was exceedingly rare for these men: Only 2.1 percent reported being a victim of a rape, and only 0.9 percent reported being a victim of an attempted rape. Moreover, men's sexual victimization most frequently occurred before age 12 (48 percent of the time), and the assailant was much more likely to be a man than a woman. Comparing the findings for men and women demonstrates that [Page 1453]women are at much greater risk of experiencing sexual aggression.

It is important to highlight that most experiences of sexual aggression occur in the context of a romantic relationship. Scientific investigations focused on adolescents, young single adults, and married partners, as well as gays and lesbians, repeatedly demonstrate that sexual aggression exists across the full range of romantic relationships in these diverse populations.

Describing Sexually Aggressive Men

It is evident that men are much more likely to be sexually aggressive than women, and sexually aggressive men share a number of traits. When compared to men who are not sexually aggressive, they characteristically hold a unique set of beliefs about sex and relationships. For instance, male sexual aggressors are more apt to believe in rape myths (e.g., women say no but mean yes, women dress in a way that invites sexual advances, etc.), to see men and women as sexual adversaries, to accept interpersonal violence, and to see force as a legitimate means for procuring sex. They are also apt to be traditional in their attitudes about women's role in society; a belief that places women in weaker positions relative to men. Sexually aggressive men use these beliefs to justify their aggressive actions towards women.

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