Gender-based Violence State Brief

Arkansas

All data in this brief are specific to the state of Arkansas.

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KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Sexual Violence (SV)

51% of women have experienced rape, sexual coercion, or unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime. There are over 585,000 survivors in Arkansas alone. Prevalence for men is not available in Arkansas (NISVS, 2023/2024).

44% of women and 20% of men first experienced sexual violence when they were under the age of 18 (NISVS, 2016/2017).

21% of female high school students experienced sexual violence in the past year (YRBS, 2023).

26% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual high school students experienced sexual violence in the past year (YRBS, 2021).

31%

31% of women have experienced completed or attempted rape in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

48% of women and 30% of men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. There are over 878,000 survivors of IPV in Arkansas alone (NISVS, 2023/2024).

19% of women first experienced IPV when they were under the age of 18. Prevalence for men is not available for Arkansas (NISVS, 2016/2017).

11% of female high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2021).

21% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2021).

47%

47% of women have experienced at least one IPV-related impact* in their lifetime. Prevalence for men is not available in Arkansas (NISVS, 2023/2024).

INTIMATE PARTNER HOMICIDE

Between 2020 and 2023, 70 Arkansas women were killed by their intimate partners. The rate of intimate partner homicide was 2 times higher for Black women (2.55 per 100,000 women) than white women (1.18 per 100,000 women).

Stalking

Over 1 in 5 women has experienced stalking in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Human Trafficking

Between December 2024 and December 2025, there were 12 victims of commercial sex trafficking identified through police records.

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Hotline received calls identifying 153 victims of human trafficking (either sex or forced labor trafficking).

Sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking remain among the most underreported crimes globally.

Today's Key Priorities in GBV Prevention and Response

The first U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence was released in 2023, informed by a comprehensive, national process that engaged survivors, advocates, and other stakeholders. This policy overview is organized around selected National Plan priority areas, with a brief summary describing policies responsive to GBV prevention or survivor support.

  • GBV responsive
  • Some elements GBV responsive
  • Not GBV responsive

Priority Area 1: Prevention

DV training for healthcare workers is not encouraged or required in state policy (2019).

State law requires or encourages training for prevention of human trafficking among specified professions or in specific locations (2024). Required for commercial drivers licensing.

State law does not currently require or encourage child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention education to either K-12 students or school staff (2025).

Priority Area 2: Survivor Support, Safety, and Well-being

Arkansas has 25 Domestic Violence Service Providers (2025).

State policy protects survivors of IPV from insurance discrimination for health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and property insurance (2019).

Priority Area 3a: Housing Stability

State law allows for court/protection orders to remove abusive partners and other violent perpetrators from a shared home (2024).

GBV survivors have no legal protection against penalties for early lease termination due to GBV (2024).

State law requires landlords to change locks if an individual is a survivor of IPV and/or SV and provides a court order (2024). Tenant may be financially responsible for the lock change. See individual state law.

State law prohibits landlords from evicting survivors due to the GBV they experienced (2024).

State officials conduct an annual point-in-time count to estimate the number of unhoused individuals in each state and locality.

In a single night, there were 175 unhoused IPV survivors counted in Arkansas (2025).

Priority Area 3b: Economic Security

As of 2023, the criminal definition of domestic violence does not include elements of economic coercion or abuse.

No existing policy allows survivors to take leave from employment due to the consequences of abuse (2025).

GBV survivors are not legally protected against employer discrimination or retaliation based on their status as a survivor (2025).

State law allows survivors who must leave or quit work due to domestic violence to remain eligible for unemployment benefits (2025).The claimant may need to show proof of violence or harassment to qualify.

Economic insecurity is both a risk factor for and a consequence of GBV victimization. Some women in Arkansas are more likely to face economic insecurity than others.

In Arkansas (2024), among full-time, year-round workers, for every $1 a white man makes, a white non-Hispanic woman makes $0.80, a Black woman makes $0.66, an Indigenous woman makes $0.63, a Latina woman makes $0.58.

Priority Area 4: Online Safety & Security

As of 2024, the criminal definition of stalking is inclusive of online tactics (cyberstalking). Direct cyber components are included in the legal definition of harassment/stalking.

State law criminalizes AI-generated Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) as part of definition of CSAM (2025).

Additional state online safety laws prohibit video voyeurism and interception and recording of communications (including electronic) (2025). As of 2026, all U.S. states have criminalized nonconsensual distribution of intimate images.

Priority Area 5: Legal and Justice Systems

Survivors of stalking, when perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner or household member, may file for protective orders (2025). Survivors without a relationship with the perpetrator are not covered by current protective orders.

The establishment of a Domestic Violence Fatality Review team is not legally mandated or encouraged in this state (2019).

Access to Guns

This state does not have an extreme risk/red flag gun law allowing courts to temporarily limit an individual from purchasing or possessing firearms (2026).

As of 2026, no state law addresses the “boyfriend loophole” in IPV-related firearm restriction/ relinquishment (i.e., dating partners may be excluded from enforcement).

Rape Kit Policy

State policy requires existence of a Rape Kit Tracking System (2026).

State policy establishes deadlines for submission and testing of newly submitted rape kits (2026).

This state does not have a Victims’ Right to Know policy for rape kit progress (2026).

Sources

  1. CDC. (2025). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2023/2024 Sexual violence data brief [PDF]. https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/media/pdfs/sexualviolence-brief.pdf. Retrieved Jan 12, 2026.     
  2. CDC. (2023). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016–2017 state report [PDF]. https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/documentation/NISVS-2016-2017-State-Report-508.pdf. Retrieved Feb 18, 2026.      
  3. CDC. (2023). Youth Risk Behavior Survey data explorer. https://yrbs-explorer.services.cdc.gov/#/. Retrieved Apr 15, 2026.     
  4.  CDC. (2026). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: Intimate partner violence data brief [PDF]. https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/media/pdfs/intimatepartnerviolence-brief.pdf. Retrieved Mar 2, 2026.      
  5. CDC. (2020–2023). NVDRS: National Violent Death Reporting System — Violent Deaths Report. https://wisqars.cdc.gov/nvdrs/. Retrieved Apr 16, 2026.  
  6. CDC. (2025). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2023/2024 Stalking data brief [PDF]. https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/media/pdfs/stalking-brief.pdf. Retrieved Jan 12, 2026.     
  7. Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2024–2025). Crime Data Explorer. https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/home. Retrieved Apr 15, 2026.  
  8. National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2024). https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/statistics. Retrieved Feb 21, 2026.      
  9. The White House. (2023). U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action. https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/National-Plan-to-End-GBV.pdf. May 2023.      
  10. Futures Without Violence. (2019). Compendium of state and U.S. territory statutes and policies on domestic violence and health care (4th ed.) [PDF]. https://store.futureswithoutviolence.org/product/us-state-and-territory-compendium/. Retrieved Mar 5, 2026. Arkansas law: (ARK. CODE ANN. § 23-66- 206(14)(G)(i)-(iii)).        
  11. U.S. Department of Transportation. (2024). Compendium of transport-specific human trafficking state and territory laws: A resource guide (2nd ed.) [PDF]. Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking initiative. https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2024-07/USDOT%20TLAHT%20HT%20 Laws%20Compendium%20-%202024%20Edition_0.pdf. Retrieved Feb 24, 2026. Arkansas law: (A.C.A. § 27-23-108).      
  12. Enough Abuse. (2025). State Laws Mandating or Allowing Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education in Schools. https://enoughabuse.org/get-vocal/laws-by-state/prevention-education/. Retrieved June 1, 2026.    
  13. National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2024). Domestic Violence Counts: 19th Annual Report. https://nnedv.org/content/domestic-violence-counts-19th-annual-report/. Retrieved Jan 23, 2026.   
  14. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2025). CoC homeless populations and subpopulations reports. https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/. Retrieved June 17, 2026.      
  15. National Housing Law Project. (2024). Housing rights of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors: A state and local law compendium [PDF]. https://www.nhlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-NHLP-Compendium-of-Housing-Rights-for-DVS.pdf. Retrieved Feb 16, 2026. Arkansas law: (ARK. CODE ANN.  §§ 9-15-205, 9-15-206); (ARK. CODE ANN. § 18-16-112).      
  16. National Women’s Law Center. (2026). The Lifetime Wage Gap: State by State. https://nwlc.org/resource/the-lifetime-wage-gap-state-by-state/. Retrieved Mar 25, 2026.     
  17. The National Survivor Financial Security Policy Map and Scorecard. FreeFrom. https://mapandscorecard.freefrom.org. Current as of Dec 15, 2023.  
  18. Legal Momentum. (2025). State guide on employment rights for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking [PDF]. https://www. legalmomentum.org/sites/default/files/reports/50%20State%20Survivor%20Guide.pdf. Retrieved Feb 12, 2026. Arkansas law: (A.C.A. § 11-10-513).  
  19. Women’s Law. (Arkansas page last updated September 2025). State Map. https://www.womenslaw.org/laws?reset-state=1. Retrieved Mar 3, 2026. Arkansas law: (§5-71-229(f)(1)(B)); (§§ 5-16-101, 5-60-120); (ARK. CODE ANN. §§ 9-15-205, 9-15-206).      
  20. Orrick Law Center. (n.d.). U.S. AI Law Tracker. Retrieved Mar 6, 2026, from https://ai-law-center.orrick.com/us-ai-law-tracker-see-all-states/. Arkansas law: (Ark. Code § 5-27-603).    
  21. Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. (n.d.). Nonconsensual distribution of intimate images. Retrieved May 15, 2026, from https://cybercivilrights.org/nonconsensual-distribution-of-intimate-images/.     
  22. Everytown Research & Policy. (2026). 2026 Everytown Gun Law Rankings. https://everytownresearch.org/rankings/. Retrieved Feb 9, 2026.     
  23. End the Backlog. (2026). Pillar map. https://www.endthebacklog.org/#explore_backlog_map. Retrieved Mar 10, 2026. Arkansas law: (HB1567/Act 839 (2019)).