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Facts and Figures

Gender Violence is about power and control. Gender Violence runs along a continuum from Dating and domestic violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking.


Gender Violence - any form of violence that is perpetrated against someone because of their gender. Involves a power and control dynamic where one gender believes they have power over the other.

Dating and domestic violence - intimate partner relationship, married or otherwise.

Sexual Assault - Umbrella term referring to any act of sex where the actor has not obtained consent from the other person.  Runs along a continuum from unlawful sexual contact to intrusion, rape, sodomy, etc.

Rape – Sexual intrusion or penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of the victim.  The weapon of intrusion used by the perpetrator may be a penis, tongue, finger or object. 

Acquaintance Sexual Assault – It is considered acquaintance sexual assault when the perpetrator is known to the victim.

Stalking - Stalking is a willful course of conduct that will cause a person to be afraid or intimidated. Some Examples of Stalking Behaviors

  • Following a person

  • Appearing at a person's home, classroom or place of business

  • Making harassing phone calls, text messages, emails or letters

  • Leaving gifts

  • Threatening or injuring loved ones or pets

  • Relocating personal items (such as car mirrors, welcome mats, etc.)

  • Vandalizing a person's property

Sexual Assault facts

1. One in four women will be a victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault between her sophomore year in high school and sophomore year in college. (Warshaw, 1988)

2. One of seventeen Colorado men has experienced an attempted or completed rape as a child and/or an adult (Sexual Assault in Colorado: Results of a 1998 Survey, July 1999)

3. 84 to 97.8 percent of sexual assaults against students are perpetrated by young men known to the victim (Fisher, Cullen & Turner, 2000)

4. A substantial number of victims do not define their experiences in legal terms even though the actions rise to the definition of a crime. It is particularly true when weapons are absent, alcohol is present, and/or physical injury is not apparent (Bondurant, 2001; Warshaw, 1988).

5. As many as 70% of sexual assaults involve alcohol, consumed either by the perpetrator or the victim. Alcohol serves to make victims more vulnerable and perpetrators perhaps more brazen, but it does not cause the assault nor does it justify it. (Ending Violence Against Women, 2000)