NISVS Frequently Asked Questions

CDC's NISVS assesses experiences of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking among adult women and men in the United States.

With the ultimate goal of stopping violence before it occurs, CDC developed NISVS to better describe and monitor the magnitude of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking in the United States. Timely and reliable data on these forms of violence can be used to inform policies and programs; establish priorities at the national, state, and local levels; and to track progress in preventing these forms of violence over time.

The survey asks questions to assess intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking over the lifetime and 12 months prior to the interview. The questions used in NISVS are “behaviorally specific” rather than using terms like “abuse” or “assault,” which might have different meanings to different people or be stigmatizing. For example, instead of asking participants if they ever experienced abuse by an intimate partner, NISVS asks questions about specific behaviors such as "made threats to physically harm you" and "hit you with a fist or something hard." In this way, the questions describe the specific behaviors rather than using stigmatizing terms that may be unclear.

NISVS asks questions about intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking using a health frame and asking several behaviorally specific questions to help maximize reliable reporting of these important public health issues. For example, instead of asking participants if they ever experienced abuse by an intimate partner, NISVS asks questions about specific behaviors such as "made threats to physically harm you" and "hit you with a fist or something hard." In this way, the questions describe the specific behaviors rather than using stigmatizing terms that may be unclear.

NISVS collects lifetime and 12-month prevalence data, the characteristics (age, sex, race/ethnicity) of who experiences these forms for violence, as well as information on the patterns, impacts, and health consequences associated with these types of violence victimization. The information NISVS collects can be used to inform and improve prevention and response efforts.

NISVS is an ongoing, nationally representative survey of non-institutionalized English- or Spanish- speaking adults in the United States. The most current (2023/2024) NISVS data were collected from households through an address-based sampling frame and push-to-web design. Previous administrations of NISVS were conducted via a random digit dial telephone survey. The survey is administered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data are collected throughout the year.

NISVS data from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2016/2017 are archived in the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data and are available at no cost. On that site, you will find the respective codebooks, survey instruments, and related data documentation. There is also a list of data-related publications. The raw data are in a restricted-access database, which has specific requirements for obtaining them.

NISVS relies on self-reported data. There may be measurement errors in any self-report data collection because people may have incomplete memories of events in their lives. For example, some participants may be less likely to recall incidents that happened many years in the past, such as being groped or harassed in a public place. However, if the respondent experienced impacts or trauma from the victimization, they typically have reliable memories of these experiences, although they still might be unable to recall some of the specific details.

Despite efforts to make respondents feel comfortable and safe, it is possible that some victims are unable or unwilling to share their experiences in a survey. Reasons for not disclosing violence victimization experiences are numerous and might include shame, embarrassment, fear of a perpetrator, fear of being overheard or responses being seen by someone in the same home, and emotional anguish about the victimization experience. These factors contribute to under-reporting and underestimates of the true prevalence of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking victimization.

Although NISVS includes a large sample size, in some cases statistically reliable estimates for all forms of violence among all populations and sub-populations cannot be calculated from annual data.

Significant revisions were made to the 2023/2024 survey instrument and data collection strategy; therefore, comparisons of prevalence estimates to previous years are not recommended.

NISVS measures five types of intimate partner violence. These include sexual violence, stalking, physical violence, psychological aggression, and control of reproductive/sexual health.

• Sexual violence includes rape, being made to sexually penetrate someone else, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and non-contact unwanted sexual experiences. Contact sexual violence (SV) is a combined measure that includes rape, being made to penetrate someone else, sexual coercion, and/or unwanted sexual contact.
• Stalking victimization involves a pattern of harassing or threatening tactics used by a perpetrator that are both unwanted and cause fear or safety concerns in the victim.
• Physical violence includes a range of behaviors from slapping, pushing, or shoving to severe acts that include being hit with a fist or something hard, kicked, hurt by pulling hair, slammed against something, tried to hurt by choking or suffocating, beaten, burned on purpose, or used a knife or gun.
• Psychological aggression includes expressive aggression (such as name calling, insulting or humiliating an intimate partner) and coercive control, which includes behaviors that are intended to monitor and control or threaten an intimate partner (such as trying to keep a partner from seeing or talking to family or friends).
• Control of reproductive or sexual health includes the refusal by an intimate partner to use a condom. For a woman, it also includes times when a partner tried to get her pregnant when she did not want to become pregnant. For a man, it also includes times when a partner tried to get pregnant when the man did not want her to become pregnant.

In NISVS, an intimate partner is described as a romantic or sexual partner and includes spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, and people they dated, were seeing, or "hooked up" with.

NISVS measures five types of sexual violence including rape, being made to penetrate, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences.

Rape is defined as any completed or attempted unwanted vaginal (for women), oral, or anal penetration through the use of physical force (such as being pinned or held down or by the use of violence) or threats to physically harm and includes times when the victim was too drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent. Rape is separated into three types: completed forced penetration, attempted forced penetration, and completed alcohol- or drug-facilitated penetration.

• Among women, rape includes vaginal, oral, or anal penetration by a male using his penis and vaginal penetration by a male or female using their mouth, fingers, or an object. It also includes vaginal or anal penetration by a male or female using their fingers or an object.
• Among men, rape includes oral or anal penetration by a male using his penis. It also includes anal penetration by a male or female using their fingers or an object.

Being made to penetrate someone else includes times when the victim was made to, or there was an attempt to make them, sexually penetrate someone without the victim's consent because the victim was physically forced (such as being pinned or held down or by the use of violence) or threatened with physical harm, or when the victim was too drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent. Currently, NISVS assesses this experience among males only. Behaviors captured in NISVS include being made to vaginally penetrate a female using one's own penis and being made to receive oral sex from a male or female. It also includes male and female perpetrators attempting to force male victims to penetrate them (orally or vaginally), though it did not happen.

Sexual coercion is defined as unwanted sexual penetration that occurs after a person is pressured in a nonphysical way. In NISVS, sexual coercion refers to unwanted vaginal, oral, or anal sex after being pressured in ways that include being worn down by someone who repeatedly asked for sex or showed they were unhappy; feeling pressured by being lied to, being told promises that were untrue, having someone threaten to end a relationship or spread rumors; and sexual pressure due to someone using their influence or authority.

Unwanted sexual contact is defined as unwanted sexual experiences involving touch but not sexual penetration, such as being kissed in a sexual way or having sexual body parts fondled, groped, or grabbed.

Non-contact unwanted sexual experiences is defined as unwanted sexual situations at work (e.g., unwanted sexual remarks or jokes, offensive comments about one's body or appearance); verbal harassment in a sexual way that occurs in a public place; unwanted sexual situation through the use of technology (e.g., receiving unwanted sexually explicit messages or images without permission; someone electronically posted or sent sexual photos or videos without the victim's permission).

Contact sexual violence (contact SV) is a combined measure that includes rape, being made to penetrate someone else, sexual coercion, and/or unwanted sexual contact.

Stalking involves a perpetrator's use of a pattern of harassing or threatening tactics that are both unwanted and cause fear or safety concerns.

Stalking tactics measured:

• Unwanted following and watching of the victim.
• Unwanted approaching or showing up in places, such as the victim's home, workplace, or school.
• Unwanted use of global positioning system (GPS) technology to monitor or track the victim's location without permission.
• Leaving strange or potentially threatening items for the victim to find.
• Sneaking into the victim's home or car and doing things to scare the victim or let the victim know the perpetrator had been there.
• Use of technology (e.g., hidden camera, apps, computer software) to monitor the victim's communication and activities.
• Use of social media to monitor and track a victim, their communication, or location without permission.
• Unwanted and repeated emails, texts, and phone calls, including hang-ups and voice messages.
• Unwanted and repeated messages through social media.
• Unwanted cards, letters, flowers, or presents.

NISVS data are used to:

• Educate communities about the prevalence and characteristics of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking victimization at the national and state levels.
• Help plan and prioritize violence prevention and response efforts at the national, state, and local levels.
  
• Inform policies, programs, and practices for violence prevention and response initiatives.
• Guide and evaluate progress at the state level toward the reduction of these forms of violence.

Understanding the magnitude, impact, and consequences of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking in the United States is an important first step in preventing these types of violence. This information can be used to:

• Inform policies and programs that are focused on preventing these forms of violence, such as approaches that promote healthy, respectful relationships;
• Provide information for states to consider in their prevention planning and advocacy efforts, such as ensuring adequate access to services and resources; and
• Establish priorities for preventing these forms of violence at the national, state, and local levels.

As CDC collects more years of data, NISVS data can also be used to examine trends in IPV, SV, and stalking, as well as to evaluate and track the effectiveness of prevention efforts.

CDC focuses on preventing intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking before they happen. CDC's work focuses on three areas:

1. Understanding the size of the problem—NISVS is a key component of this work.
2. Identifying risk and protective factors and effective prevention approaches.
3. Ensuring that states and communities have the capacity and resources to implement prevention approaches based on the best available evidence.