Intimate Partner Sexual Violence

Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV) can be defined as any unwanted sexual contact or activity by an intimate partner with the purpose of controlling an individual through fear, threats or violence.  It can affect anyone from teens to elders.

Prevalence

• 1 out 10 people has been raped by an intimate partner^.1
• 60% of domestically abused women have been sexually assaulted by their batterers.²
• 76% of women who were killed by an intimate partner were stalked in the twelve months preceding the crime. 

Domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking intersect in ways that can increase risk of serious harm and fatality for victims.

Additional Online Resources

• Marital Rape from Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• LGBT Sexual Assault Facts, History, Statistics
• Sex Talk:  A Comic About Communication, Consent & Gettin' It On
• STOP Violence Against Women
• AphroditeWounded
• Pandora's Project

References

1. Mahoney, P., Williams L. Sexual assault in marriage: Prevalence, consequences, and treatment of wife rape. In J. L. Jasinski & L. M. Williams (Eds.),  Partner violence: A comprehensive review of 20 years of research (pp. 113-163). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

2. Howard, A., Riger, S., Campbell, R., & Wasco, S. (2003). Counseling services for battered women: A comparison of outcomes for physical and sexual assault survivors.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18:7, 717-734.