First National Survey: Over Half of US Adults Report Violence

The first nationally representative USVEX survey finds 52% of US adults reported lifetime physical violence and 49% sexual violence, tied to hardship.

The U.S. National Study on Violence Experiences Across the Lifespan (USVEX) is the first comprehensive nationally representative survey of violence in America, polling 2,720 adults in all 50 states between October and December 2025 in English and Spanish. According to the study, 52% of U.S. adults reported experiencing physical violence in their lifetime and 49% reported sexual violence. Intimate partner violence affected 61% of women and 45% of men, and nearly one in five women — 19%, compared with 3% of men — reported potentially lethal IPV including beating, burning, strangulation or violence involving a knife or gun. The survey was administered by NORC at the University of Chicago and funded by the Blue Shield of California Foundation.

The findings are striking because crime statistics depend on incidents being formally reported, leaving many experiences invisible to law enforcement and service systems. The scale revealed is far beyond what crime reports suggest: more than half of adults experiencing physical violence and nearly half sexual violence. Co-lead author Anita Raj, executive director of Tulane's Newcomb Institute, said understanding has long depended largely on crime reports, and the study shows not only how common violence is but how closely it is connected with economic hardship, behavioral health and social inequality.

The survey links violence exposure to economic instability and behavioral health with unusual granularity. Adults who experienced eviction in the previous year were seven times as likely to report recent physical violence, three times as likely to report sexual violence and nearly five times as likely to report intimate partner violence. Among people experiencing homelessness, physical violence was five times as prevalent, sexual violence more than three times as prevalent and intimate partner violence four times as prevalent, per UC San Diego Today. Medical Xpress reports that people reporting recent violence were significantly more likely to suffer depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, and substance use. Violence also rose sharply during adolescence and continued into young adulthood, when nearly one-third of adults reported experiencing sexual violence.

Co-lead researcher Jakana Thomas, a political science professor at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy, said the findings show violence prevention cannot occur in isolation and must be part of a broader strategy addressing economic hardship, mental health and other forms of social inequality. Raj emphasized that establishing a national baseline allows researchers to track violence trends, identify changing patterns and measure prevention progress, so resources can be targeted where they are needed most. The study builds on earlier state-level Violence Experiences Across the Lifespan work led by Thomas in California and Raj in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.