Gender-Based Violence State Brief

Mississippi

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

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KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Sexual Violence (SV)

36% of women have experienced rape, sexual coercion, or unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime. There are over 413,000 survivors in Mississippi alone. Prevalence for men is not available in Mississippi (NISVS, 2023/2024).

34% of women and 15% of men first experienced sexual violence when they were under the age of 18 (NISVS, 2016/2017).

13% of female high school students experienced sexual violence in the past year (YRBS, 2023).

25% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual high school students experienced sexual violence in the past year (YRBS, 2023).

16%

16% of women have experienced completed or attempted rape in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

33% of women have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. There are over 381,000 survivors of IPV in Mississippi alone. Prevalence for men is not available in Mississippi (NISVS, 2023/2024).

9% of female high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2023).

10% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2023).

29%

29% of women have experienced at least one IPV-related impact* in their lifetime. Prevalence for men is not available in Mississippi (NISVS, 2023/2024).

INTIMATE PARTNER HOMICIDE

Between 2020 and 2023, 39 Mississippi women were killed by their intimate partners. The rate of intimate partner homicide was more than 1.5 times higher for Black women (1.06 per 100,000 women) than white women (0.55 per 100,000 women).

Stalking

Over 1 in 4 women has experienced stalking in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Human Trafficking

Between December 2024 and December 2025, there were 21 victims of commercial sex trafficking identified through police records.

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Hotline received calls identifying 300 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.

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 Mississippi are more likely to face economic insecurity than others. In Mississippi (2024), among full-time, year-round workers, for every $1 a white man makes, a white non-Hispanic woman makes $0.76, a Black woman makes $0.59, and a Latina woman makes $0.58. Wage gap data not available for Indigenous women in Mississippi16

Priority Area 4: Online Safety & Security

As of 2025, the criminal definition of stalking is inclusive of online tactics (cyberstalking). Direct cyber components are included in the legal definition of stalking/harassment.

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

Additional state online safety laws prohibit obscene electronic telecommunications, sexual extortion, and online impersonation (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) (2026).

Rape Kit Policy

While state policy does not require existence of a Rape Kit Tracking System, the state has established a system through non-legislative means (2026).

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

State policy establishes a Victims’ Right to Know for rape kit progress (2026). Survivors have the right to information, upon request, of the location and results of their kit.

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 Feb 17, 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. (2019–2023). WISQARS National Violent Death Reporting System report: Intimate partner violence, women ages 15–85+, 2019–2023. https:// wisqars.cdc.gov/. 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. Mississippi law: (MISS. CODE ANN. §§ 83-71-1 to -15, 51 to 65, 101 to 115).
  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.
  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. Mississippi law: (MS Code 37-3-83 (2015)).
  13. National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2025). Domestic Violence Counts: 20th annual report. https://nnedv.org/content/domestic-violence-counts-20th-annual-report/. Retrieved Jun 17, 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. Mississippi law: (Miss. Code Ann.§ 93-21-15(a) (temporary) and § 93-21-15(a) (final), incl. (iv), (ii)).
  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 Apr 14, 2026.
  17. The National Survivor Financial Security Policy Map and Scorecard. FreeFrom. https://mapandscorecard.freefrom.org. Current as of Dec. 15, 2023. Retrieved Feb 2026.
  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. Mississippi law: (Mississippi Administrative Code for Department of Employment Security 309.01).
  19. Women’s Law. (Mississippi page last updated Aug. 2025). State Map. https://www.womenslaw.org/laws?reset-state=1. Retrieved Mar 3, 2026. Mississippi law: (Miss. Code § 97-3-107(8)(a)(ii)); (§ 97-3-107(7)); (§§ 97-3-119.2, 97-29-45, 97-45-33); (Miss. Code § 93-21-15).
  20. Enough Abuse. (2025). State laws criminalizing AI-generated or computer-edited child sexual abuse material (CSAM). https://enoughabuse.org/get-vocal/ laws-by-state/state-laws-criminalizing-ai-generated-or-computer-edited-child-sexual-abuse-material-csam/. Retrieved Mar 6, 2026. Mississippi law: (Miss. Code § 97-5-33).
  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.End the Backlog. (2026). Pillar Map. https://www.endthebacklog.org/#explore_backlog_map. Retrieved Mar 10, 2026. Mississippi law: (HB485 (2023)).