Characteristics of Sexual Victimization in Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2023–24 – Statistical Tables

• NCJ Number: 311168
• Author(s): Michael B. Field, BJS Statistician; Shelby Kottke-Weaver, PhD, Former BJS Statistician
• Date Published: October 2026
• Publication Series: PREA Publications
• Publication Type: Publication

Description

This report presents findings from the fourth National Inmate Survey (NIS-4) in state and federal prisons as part of BJS’s National Prison Rape Statistics Program, which collects allegations of sexual victimization directly from victims. It describes characteristics of victims, perpetrators, and incidents related to inmate-reported sexual victimization in prisons. This report accompanies Sexual Victimization in Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2023–24 (NCJ 310544, BJS, December 2025), which provides national and facility-level estimates of sexual victimization in prisons.

Highlights

• Among female inmates, a larger percentage of black inmates (5.6%) reported inmate-on-inmate victimization than white inmates (2.9%), but among male inmates, a larger percentage of white inmates (2.9%) reported inmate-on-inmate victimization than black inmates (1.1%).
• A smaller percentage of female inmates (4.1%) reported inmate-on-inmate victimization in 2023–24 than 2011–12 (6.9%), but a larger percentage of male inmates (2.2%) reported inmate-on-inmate victimization in 2023–24 than 2011–12 (1.7%).
• A greater percentage of inmates who were serving in the U.S. Armed Forces at the time of the survey reported sexual victimization of any type (15.2%), inmate-on-inmate victimization (10.3%), or staff-on-inmate victimization (9.4%) than inmates who had never served.
• Thirty-one percent of inmates who reported prior sexual victimization in another facility also reported sexual victimization in their current facility.