More than half of all American adults have experienced physical violence in their lifetimes. Nearly half have faced sexual violence. These numbers don't come from police blotters or local court dockets. They come from the 2025 United States Violence Experiences Survey (USVEX), a nationally representative study led by researchers at Tulane University's Newcomb Institute and the University of California, San Diego.
If you only look at official crime statistics, you are missing most of the picture. Crime reports capture the tail end of a crisis—usually after someone has been severely injured or killed. The USVEX data looks at the broader ecosystem of violence before it hits fatal levels. When researchers surveyed 2,720 adults across all 50 states, they found a reality that standard law enforcement metrics completely fail to track. For an alternative look, consider: this related article.
Why Official Crime Stats Miss the Point
Police reports tell you about arrests, not abuse. Anita Raj, executive director of the Newcomb Institute and co-author of the study, points out that waiting for a crime report means waiting for the risk of fatality to skyrocket.
The study found that 52% of US adults experienced physical violence over their lifetime. Men and women reported this at identical rates: 52% each. But how and where that violence happens tells a deeply divided story. Related coverage on this trend has been provided by National Institutes of Health.
Women most often experienced physical violence from a spouse or romantic partner, hitting 61%. Men most commonly faced violence from a stranger, sitting at 38%, with 25% reporting abuse from an intimate partner and 24% from a family member.
Home isn't a safe haven for everyone. The data shows that 69% of women experienced physical violence at home. For men, that number drops to 34%, while 30% of men reported physical violence happening out in public spaces.
The Economic Triggers Nobody Talks About
Violence doesn't happen in a vacuum. It spikes when people face severe economic pressure.
The study draws a straight line between financial instability and abuse. Adults who had been evicted in the previous year were seven times more likely to report recent physical violence. They were three times more likely to report sexual violence and nearly five times more likely to report intimate partner violence.
Economic shocks strip away options. When you don't have enough money for basic needs like food, or when you face sudden homelessness, your physical vulnerability multiplies. Jakana Thomas, a political science professor at UCSD and co-author of the report, notes that prevention can't happen in isolation. It has to address economic hardship, mental health, and social inequality.
The Scale of Sexual Violence and Intimate Partner Threats
The survey revealed that 49% of US adults have experienced sexual violence in their lifetimes. The gender gap here is stark: 68% of women compared to 29% of men.
In the past year alone, roughly one in 14 Americans—about 7%—experienced sexual violence, heavily driven by instances of sexual harassment. Strangers were the most common perpetrators of recent sexual violence for both groups, accounting for 58% of cases for women and 66% for men.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) carries the heaviest physical toll. Nearly one in five women—19%—reported experiencing potentially lethal IPV, such as beating, burning, strangulation, or attacks involving knives and guns. For men, that specific metric sat at 3%.
The psychological aftermath is massive. Among those who experienced physical violence in the past year, nearly half of women (48%) and over a quarter of men (26%) reported suffering from anxiety or depression. Despite these severe mental health tolls, only a fraction filed formal complaints: 10% of women and 17% of men. Among victims of sexual violence who faced recent trauma, a sobering 4% of women and 10% of men reported considering suicide.
What You Can Do Right Now
Understanding the data is the first step, but navigating these realities requires concrete resources. If you or someone you know is facing domestic or sexual violence, you don't have to navigate it alone.
- In the US, reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text "START" to 88788.
- If you are experiencing an immediate physical threat, call 911 or your local emergency services.
- Look into local community health clinics that offer confidential mental health support and trauma counseling without requiring formal police reports.
Prevention starts long before a crime is logged. It starts with recognizing the financial, social, and domestic pressures that put people in the line of danger every single day.
