According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, which is one of the CDC's (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) newest public health surveillance systems, these numbers only tell part of the story. Every year, more than one million women are raped and over six million men and women are victims of stalking.
"These findings emphasize that sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence are major public health problems in the United States," the CDC states. "In addition, they underscore the heavy toll that violence takes on Americans, particularly women."
This first ever study by the CDC finds that nearly one in five women has been raped in her lifetime and one in four has experienced serious physical violence from an intimate partner at some point in her life.
Men have also been victimized. The report found that about one in seven men reports an intimate partner has been physically violent and one in 19 has been the victim of stalking. More than a fourth of all male rape victims were first abused at age 10 or younger.
The shocking revelations in this study prompted this reaction from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, "This landmark report paints a clear picture of the devastating impact these violent acts have on the lives of millions of Americans."
The new surveillance system is designed to better describe and monitor the magnitude of sexual violence, stalking and intimate partner violence victimization in the United States and is the first survey of its kind to provide simultaneous national and state-level prevalence estimates of violence for all states.
"The health problems caused by violence remind us of the importance of prevention", said Howard Spivak, MD, Director of CDC's Injury Center Division of Violence Prevention. "In addition to intervening and providing services, prevention efforts need to start earlier in life, with the ultimate goal of preventing all of these types of violence before they start."
Teresa Tomeo, bestselling author and syndicated radio host, says the study is an example of how the culture is impacting women, men and society as a whole.
"It's time that we radically examine the infusion of negative images in TV, in music and other media which corrupt the image of women and the dignity of the human person. It's not enough to be shocked by the results of the latest alarming study. What are we going to do to change the culture for the next generation?"
One suggestion might be to rethink the graphic sex education programs prevalent in schools and put more emphasis on teaching teens how to develop healthy relationships rather than focusing so much on sexual relations.
Tomeo, author of the best-selling Extreme Makeover which counsels the public on how to make an "extreme media makeover" believes families must learn how to protect themselves from the influence of a sex-saturated media.
"As devastating as this study is to see on paper, there is a root problem to the sexual pervasiveness and violence which is rampant in our culture -- a culture which has been desensitized by a toxic saturation of graphic and negative images which freely promote sex and violence which is available 24/7 on TV, radio and the internet.
She adds: "Our families are under siege."
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