The numbers are real. The culture has to change. The work is urgent.
Sexual violence is one of the most under-addressed public-health issues in the United States. PASS Worldwide exists because prevention is possible — when education, research, and real tools come together.
National data from CDC, RAINN, and AAU.
Each figure links to the original public source. We present these statistics carefully: behind every percentage are real people. Understanding the scale is how we build the case for prevention — and for sustained investment in consent education.
Nearly half of women and more than one in six men in the United States experience some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetimes.
More than one in five women and one in 31 men have experienced completed or attempted rape at some point in their lifetimes.
More than one in four women and one in six men have experienced technology-facilitated sexual violence — harms such as unwanted sexual images, coercion, or exploitation conducted via digital platforms.
Annual incidence, estimated from national crime victimization data.
Prevention work cannot wait. Every curriculum, every workshop, every conversation matters.
Across all surveyed students, the overall rate of non-consensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent since enrollment was 13%.
Figures are presented as reported by each source organization. Some statistics represent lifetime prevalence; others represent annual incidence or campus-specific rates — each card labels its frame. Please follow the source links to review methodology.
Consent is the foundation — but it has to be taught.
Affirmative consent sounds straightforward: every sexual interaction requires clear, mutual, ongoing agreement. In practice, most young adults learn the language of consent informally, inconsistently, and too late. Schools that do teach it often treat it as a one-time module; those that don't leave students to figure it out on their own, usually under pressure.
PASS Worldwide works to change that reality. We design curricula and workshops built around three ideas that research consistently validates: consent is continuous, consent is communicated, and consent is specific.
What students actually need
- Language. Words and phrases to check in with partners without awkwardness becoming a barrier.
- Context. An understanding of how alcohol, power dynamics, and coercion intersect with consent.
- Confidence. Skills to say no, to hear no, and to ask again — or stop — when the answer is unclear.
- Community. Peers, administrators, and families who reinforce the same standards.
Why awareness isn't enough
Most students believe in consent. The gap between what people say and what people do is where prevention programs have to focus — and where most stop short.
Why research is essential
Good intentions have produced mediocre outcomes for decades. The next era of prevention has to be measured — and adapted — in real time.
We're not waiting for the culture to change on its own.
PASS Worldwide partners with schools, researchers, and communities to build the systems that make consent culture durable.