At least 43% of women report experiencing some form of contact sexual violence (i.e., attempted or completed rape, forced penetration, sexual coercion, and/or unwanted sexual contact) in their lifetime, with the majority of women reporting that victimization first occurred in emerging adulthood (i.e., late teens through 20s; Arnett, 2000; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, 2015).

Sexual assault is a crucial public health concern impacting university students (Fisher et al., 2000; Kilpatrick et al., 2007; Koss et al., 1987; Krebs et al., 2007). In terms of the size of the problem, the Association of American Universities (AAU) surveyed female undergraduate students from 27 colleges and universities and found that 23.1% had experienced sexual assault or sexual misconduct (Cantor et al., 2015).

Prevalence data from 19 countries indicate that up to 14% of pregnant women experience intimate partner violence (Devries et al., 2010). Violence preceding and during pregnancy has negative consequences for both the woman and fetus. For example, a study of 118,579 women found that intimate partner violence a year prior to pregnancy was linked with high blood pressure, severe nausea, and kidney and urinary tract infection in gestation (Silverman et al., 2006).

Sexual violence among higher education institution (HEI) students is a growing public health concern. Women attending HEIs face a higher risk of experiencing sexual violence when compared to men and when compared to women not attending HEIs (Bhochhibhoya et al., 2019; Degue et al., 2014; Gonzales et al., 2005; Zinzow & Thompson, 2015). A recent meta-analysis of research on sexual violence at HEIs in the United States estimates that over 20% of women have experienced unwanted sexual contact.

The link between maternal violence exposure and adverse obstetric outcomes is well-documented, but less is understood about the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and perinatal post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depression in women.

Research has illuminated that a very small proportion of sexual assault victims report the incident to police (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006). When victims do report, case attrition remains high at both the police and prosecutorial decision-making points (Alderden & Ullman, 2012).

This study examined 231 cases of adult sexual assault incidents reported to the police to identify which factors predict congruence (agreement or harmony; compatibility) between the police classification of crimes and prosecutorial charging decisions in adult sexual assault cases.

The phenomenon of Sexual Assault against Women in Late Life (SAWLL) has received increasing research attention in recent years. Yet, there is still only scant knowledge on it, compared with research on the sexual assault of younger women. Sexual assault is considered a sensitive topic, generally characterized by a conspiracy of silence. The aim of this article is to explore the barriers that hinder the identification and exposure of sexual assault of older women.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth are at risk for many negative behaviors associated with teen dating violence victimization (TDVV). This study describes the prevalence of physical and sexual TDVV by sexual identity and quantifies the increased risk for TDVV among LGB youth compared with heterosexual youth. The participants for this study were students in Grades 9 to 12 participating in the 2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) who responded to questions ascertaining sexual identity and both physical and sexual TDVV.

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) in the U.S. rural context has increased in recent years while other types of homicide have decreased. This suggests that some rural structural characteristics make IPH more likely in rural communities than other forms of homicide. The current study sought to better understand individual- and community-level correlates of IPH in the U.S. rural context using FBI homicide data.

Studies examining the deaf population and IPV note deaf victims experience diverse types of IPV, including communication or technological abuse (Mastrocinque et al., 2017; Southworth et al., 2007), physical abuse (Mastrocinque et al., 2017), emotional abuse (Pollard et al., 2014), sexual abuse (Mastrocinque et al., 2017; Pollard et al., 2014), and financial abuse (Mastrocinque et al., 2017).