As college campuses around the country come buzzing to life, many students are preparing to take future-changing classes and make friends that will last forever. Some students, however, may have their lives altered in much less positive ways — students like Columbia senior Emma Sulkowicz, who has vowed to carry a mattress around her university until her alleged rapist is removed from campus.
It’s for students such as these that MTV has partnered with President Obama and Vice President Biden to help support the launch of their new campaign called “It’s On Us,” which focuses on preventing sexual assaults before they happen — with an emphasis on men stepping forward and intervening.
Obama previously spoke about sexual assault this year, saying, “We can do more to make sure that every young man out there — whether they’re in junior high or high school or college or beyond — understands what’s expected of them and what it means to be a man, and to intervene if they see somebody else acting inappropriately.”
Related: Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Title IX And Fighting Sexual Assault On Campus
In an effort to raise awareness about sexual assault and rape, MTV News has compiled a list of facts about survivors, attackers and the aftermath of assault below:
On Survivors
1. 1 out of every 6 American women has been either raped or almost raped in her lifetime.
2. 1 in 5 women in the U.S. is sexually assaulted in college — most during their freshman or sophomore year, according to It’s On Us.
3. In 2006, 300,000 college women were raped. That’s 5.2%.
4. 3% of U.S. men have either been raped or almost raped.
5. 80% of rape and sexual assault victims are under 30.
6. Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years.
7. 4 in 10 rapes or sexual assaults take place at the survivor’s house.
8. 43% of rapes take place at night — between 6 p.m. and midnight.
9. There are, on average, 237,868 victims of rape and sexual assault each year.
10. An American is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes.
On Attackers
11. The average rapist is 31 years old.
12. 52% are white.
13. 93% of children who have been sexually assaulted know their attackers.
14. With college students, 75-80% of survivors know their attackers — many of which are serial perpetrators, according to It’s On Us.
15. 22% of rapists in prison are married.
16. 46% of rapists released from prison are arrested again — within three years — for different crimes.
On The Aftermath
17. Survivors can suffer from PTSD, substance abuse, sleep disorders, self-harm, eating disorders, depression and a host of other issues.
18. Survivors are 26 times more likely to take drugs.
19. There were around 17,342 pregnancies resulting from rape in 2012.
20. 60% of sexual assaults go unreported and only 12 percent of college women report their attackers to the police.
21. Only 3% of rapists will ever go to prison.
Related: What’s It Like To Become A Mattress-Carrying Voice For Rape Survivors? We Asked
Brenna Ehrlich
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