The Virginia Department of Health Division of Injury and Violence Prevention
released a new fact sheet on sexual violence in Virginia. You may view it
at www.vahealth.org/civp/sexualviolence .

Most sexual assaults are not reported to authorities and most victims do not
seek services. As a result, statistics on the prevalence and incidence of
sexual victimization are underestimated. To help provide a more reliable
estimate, several nationwide, representative telephone surveys have been
conducted. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an
on-going telephone health survey system, tracks health conditions and risk
behaviors of adults in the United States. In 2005 and 2006, the Virginia
BRFSS survey included questions on Sexual Violence. This fact sheet uses the
data from 2005 and 2006 to estimate the extent of sexual violence among
Virginian adults 18 and older.

Virginia Department of Health will host a web seminar on this fact sheet and
one on intimate partner violence (viewed at
http://www.vahealth.org/civp/datacivp.asp) in November. This will provide
an opportunity to clarify the data and ask questions about the source of the
data and how to use it for reports and presentations. An announcement will
be made through this list server.

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Rebecca K. Odor, MSW
Director of Sexual & Domestic Violence Prevention
Division of Injury and Violence Prevention
Virginia Department of Health
109 Governor St. #815G
Richmond VA 23219
of: 804-864-7740
fax: 804-864-7748
email: Becky.Odor@...
web: www.vahealth.org/civp/sexualviolence