Gender-Based Violence State Brief

South Carolina

All data in this brief are specific to South Carolina. 

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KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Sexual Violence (SV)

45% of women have experienced rape, sexual coercion, or unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime. There are over 917,000 survivors in South Carolina alone. Prevalence for men is not available in South Carolina (NISVS, 2023/2024).

32% of women and 16% of men first experienced sexual violence when they were under the age of 18 (NISVS, 2016/2017).

16% of female high school students experienced sexual violence in the past year (YRBS, 2019).

While there are no South Carolina-specific data on SV among LGBTQ high school students in national datasets, LGBTQ students in the U.S. overall experience higher rates of SV.

20%

20% of women have experienced completed or attempted rape in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

31% of women have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. There are over 627,000 survivors of IPV in South Carolina alone. Prevalence for men is not available in South Carolina (NISVS, 2023/2024).

15% of women first experienced IPV when they were under the age of 18. Prevalence for men is not available for South Carolina (NISVS, 2016/2017).

8% of female high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2021).

8% of high school students who report sexual contact with same sex partners experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2021).

29%

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

INTIMATE PARTNER HOMICIDE

Between 2019 and 2023, 123 South Carolina women were killed by their intimate partners. The rate of intimate partner homicide was more than 2 times higher for Black women (1.9 per 100,000 women) than white women (0.78 per 100,000 women).

Stalking

Over 1 in 6 women has experienced stalking in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Human Trafficking

Between December 2024 and December 2025, there were 41 victims of commercial sex trafficking identified through police records.

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Hotline received calls identifying 274 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 required, but is encouraged by state policy (2019). State policy encourages DV training programs to be created by local government units/in-state DV coalition.

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-12 students. No requirements for school staff.

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

South Carolina has 13 Domestic Violence Service Providers (2025).

Survivors of GBV are not legally protected from insurance discrimination for health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, or property insurance due to their status as a survivor (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).

GBV survivors are not legally protected from being evicted by landlords 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 454 unhoused IPV survivors counted in South Carolina (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 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.18

Economic insecurity is both a risk factor for and a consequence of GBV victimization. Some women in South Carolina are more likely to face economic insecurity than others. In South Carolina (2024), among full-time, year-round workers, for every $1 a white man makes, a white non-Hispanic woman makes $0.78, a Black woman makes $0.59, a Latina woman makes $0.59, and an Indigenous woman makes $0.55.

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 disseminating obscene material to minors and eavesdropping/ voyeurism including via technology (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.

State policy mandates the establishment of a Domestic Violence Fatality Review team (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).

There is no legal requirement that the state establish 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 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. South Carolina law: (S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-1410); (S.C. Code Ann. §§ 16-25-720, 16-25-730, 16-25-740, 16-25-750).
  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%20 HT%20Laws%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. South Carolina law: (Act No. 293, The Comprehensive Health Education Act Amendment (2014)).
  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. South Carolina law: (S.C. Code Ann. § 20-4-60).
  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. FreeFrom. The National Survivor Financial Security Policy Map and Scorecard. 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. South Carolina law: (S.C. Code Ann. § 41-35-125).
  19. Women’s Law. (South Carolina page last updated Aug. 2025). State Map. https://www.womenslaw.org/laws?reset-state=1. Retrieved Mar 3, 2026. South Carolina law: (§ 16-3-1700); (§§ 16-15-345, 16-15-355, 16-17-470); (S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-1770(B)).
  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. South Carolina law: (S.C. Code Ann. § 16-15-390).
  21. Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. (n.d.). Nonconsensual distribution of intimate images. https://cybercivilrights.org/nonconsensual-distribution-of-intimate-images/. Retrieved May 15, 2026.
  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. South Carolina law: (H.B. 3309 (2023)).