12M U.S. rape, violence, stalking victims

ATLANTA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- More than 12 million U.S. women and men per year are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, federal health officials say.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Wednesday said across all forms of violence -- sexual violence, stalking, intimate partner violence -- the vast majority of victims knew their perpetrator, who was often an intimate partner or acquaintance and seldom a stranger.

"This landmark report paints a clear picture of the devastating impact these violent acts have on the lives of millions of Americans," Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.

The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, is the first survey of its kind to provide simultaneous national and state-level prevalence estimates of violence, Sebelius said.

Key findings for women in 2010 include:

-- Nearly 20 percent of women has been raped at some time in their life. More than one-quarter of male rape victims were 10 or younger when they were first raped.

-- One-in-4 women and 1-in-7 men have been a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.

-- One-in-6 women and 1-in-19 men had experienced stalking victimization which they felt very fearful or believed someone close would be harmed or killed.

-- Almost 70 percent of female victims and 53 percent of male victims experienced some form of intimate partner violence for the first time before the age of 25.