Sexual assault is a public health and public safety problem with far-reaching implications. Being a victim of sexual assault is one of the most violating experiences anyone can endure and can cause immediate, as well as long-term, physical and mental health consequences. Of rape victims, 25% to 45% suffer from nongenital trauma; 19% to 22% suffer from genital trauma; up to 40% get sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); and 1% to 5% become pregnant, resulting in an estimated 32,000 rape-related pregnancies in the United States annually (Holmes, Resnick, Kirkpatrick, & Best, 1996). Four out of five rape victims subsequently suffer from chronic physical or psychological conditions (Strategies for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Assault, 1995), and rape victims are 13 times more likely to attempt suicide than noncrime victims and six times more likely than victims of other crimes (Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, 1992). Overall, rape is believed to carry the highest annual victim cost of any crime. The annual victim costs are $127 billion (excluding child sex abuse cases), followed by assault at $93 billion per year, murder (excluding arson and drunk driving) at $61 billion per year, and child abuse at $56 billion per year (Miller, Cohen, & Wierama, 1996).
