Gender-Based Violence State Brief

Rhode Island

All data in the brief are specific to the state of Rhode Island.

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KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Sexual Violence (SV)

48% of women have experienced rape, sexual coercion, or unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime. There are over 209,000 survivors in Rhode Island alone. Prevalence for men is not available in Rhode Island (NISVS, 2023/2024).

34% of women first experienced sexual violence when they were under the age of 18. Prevalence for men is not available in Rhode Island (NISVS, 2016/2017).

There is no Rhode Island-specific data on sexual violence among high-school students in national datasets.

25%

25% of women have experienced completed or attempted rape in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024)

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

38% of women have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. There are over 166,000 survivors of IPV in Rhode Island alone. Prevalence for men is not available in Rhode Island (NISVS, 2023/2024).

12% of women first experienced IPV when they were under the age of 18. Prevalence for men is not available in Rhode Island (NISVS, 2016/2017).

1.0% of postpartum women experienced IPV in the 12 months before pregnancy. 0.8% experienced IPV during their pregnancy (PRAMS, 2022).

7% of female high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2023).

12% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2023).

34%

34% of women have experienced at least one IPV-related impact* in their lifetime. Prevalence for men is not available in Rhode Island (NISVS, 2023/2024).

INTIMATE PARTNER HOMICIDE

Between 2019 and 2023, 13 Rhode Island women were killed by their intimate partners. Intimate partner homicide affects women, especially Black and Indigenous women, at a disproportionate rate to men. At the national level, for cases in which the victim/offender relationship is known, intimate partners are responsible for over 50% of women’s homicides and 8% of men’s homicides.

Stalking

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

Human Trafficking

Between December 2024 and December 2025, there were 7 victims of commercial sex trafficking identified through police records.

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Hotline received calls identifying 25 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).

Training for prevention of human trafficking among certain professions (e.g., hospitality management) or in specific locations is not encouraged or required in state law (2024).

State law mandates child sexual abuse (CSA) education to either some or all students or some or all staff (2025). Required for K-8 students. No requirements for staff.

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

Rhode Island has 9 Domestic Violence Service Providers (2025).

State policy protects survivors of IPV from insurance discrimination for health insurance, life insurance, and property insurance, but not for disability 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).

Landlords are not legally required to change locks for individuals experiencing GBV (2024).

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 248 unhoused IPV survivors counted in Rhode Island (2025).

Priority Area 3b: Economic Security

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

State law 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 against them based on their status as a survivor (2025).

State law allows survivors who must leave or quit work due to domestic abuse-related circumstances 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 Rhode Island are more likely to face economic insecurity than others. In Rhode Island (2024), among full-time, year-round workers, for every $1 a white man makes, a white non-Hispanic woman makes $0.84, a Black woman makes $0.64, and a Latina woman makes $0.53. Wage gap data not available for Indigenous women in Rhode Island.

Priority Area 4: Online Safety and 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 unauthorized electronic tracking of motor vehicles, online impersonation, and video voyeurism (2025). As of 2026, all U.S. states have criminalized nonconsensual distribution of intimate images.

Priority Area 5: Legal and Justice Systems

Survivors of GBV can file for protective orders against stalking (2025). Survivors of stalking, regardless of their relationship to the perpetrator, can file for protective orders, no-contact orders, or civil injunctions.

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

Access to Guns

State law includes an extreme risk/red flag gun law allowing courts to temporarily limit an individual from purchasing or possessing firearms (2026).

State law closes the “boyfriend loophole” present in federal law, prohibiting gun possession by those convicted of IPV (including dating partners) (2026).

Rape Kit Policy

There is no legal requirement that the state establish a Rape Kit Tracking System (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. (2022). Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) dataset: Maternal and Child Health indicators by site. https://www.cdc.gov/prams/ php/data-research/mch-indicators-by-site.html. Retrieved Feb 25, 2026.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2024–2025). Crime Data Explorer. https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/home. Retrieved Apr 15, 2026.
  9. National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2024). https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/statistics. Retrieved Feb 21, 2026.
  10. 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.
  11. 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. Rhode Island law: (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 27-60-1 to -7, 27-60.1-1 to -8, 27-61-1 to -7).
  12. 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.
  13. 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. Rhode Island law: (Title 16, Chapter 97, The Rhode Island Board of Education Act (2014)).
  14. 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.
  15. 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 Jun 17, 2026.
  16. 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. Rhode Island law: (R.I. Gen. Laws§ 8-8.1-3); (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-37-2, 34-37-2.4, 34-37-4).
  17. 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.
  18. The National Survivor Financial Security Policy Map and Scorecard. FreeFrom. https://mapandscorecard.freefrom.org. Current as of Dec 15, 2023. Retrieved Feb 2026.
  19. 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. Rhode Island law: (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-57-1 et seq.); (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-44-17.1).
  20. Women’s Law. (Rhode Island page last updated Sept 2025). State Map. https://www.womenslaw.org/laws?reset-state=1. Retrieved Mar 3, 2026. Rhode Island law: (§ 11-52-4.2); (§ 11-59-2); (§§ 11-69-1, 11-52-7.1, 11-64-2); (R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-37.2-2(a)).
  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. 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. Rhode Island law: (R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-9-1.3).
  23. Everytown Research & Policy. (2026). 2026 Everytown Gun Law Rankings. https://everytownresearch.org/rankings/. Retrieved Feb 9, 2026. Rhode Island law: (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 8-8.3-1–8-8.3-14); (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 11-47-5(a)(4), 12-29-5, 12-29-2(a), (b)).
  24. End the Backlog. (2026). Pillar map. https://www.endthebacklog.org/#explore_backlog_map. Retrieved Mar 10, 2026. Rhode Island law: (HB 7079 (2022));(HB 7079 (2022)).