Gender-Based Violence State Brief

West Virginia

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

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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 314,000 survivors in West Virginia alone. Prevalence for men is not available in West Virginia (NISVS, 2023/2024).

38% of women and 7% of men first experienced sexual violence when they were under the age of 18 (NISVS, 2016/2017).

20% 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, 2021).

27%

27% of women have experienced completed or attempted rape in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

44% of women have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. There are over 310,000 survivors of IPV in West Virginia alone. Prevalence for men is not available in West Virginia (NISVS, 2023/2024).

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

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

7% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual high school students experienced physical dating violence in the past year (YRBS, 2021).

39%

39% of women have experienced at least one IPV-related impact* in their lifetime. Prevalence for men is not available in West Virginia (NISVS, 2023/2024).

INTIMATE PARTNER HOMICIDE

Between 2019 and 2023, 52 West Virginia 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

Over 1 in 3 women has experienced stalking in their lifetime (NISVS, 2023/2024).

Human Trafficking

Between December 2024 and December 2025, there were 18 victims of commercial sex trafficking identified through police records.

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Hotline received calls identifying 57 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 or made available by state policy (2019). State policy encourages DV training programs to be created by local government units.

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 some or all students and some or all staff (2025). Required for K-12 students and school staff (2025).

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

West Virginia has 14 Domestic Violence Service Providers (2025).

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

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 224 unhoused IPV survivors counted in West Virginia (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).

GBV survivors have no legal protection to remain eligible for unemployment benefits if they must leave or quit work due to GBV (2025).

Economic insecurity is both a risk factor for and a consequence of GBV victimization. Some women in West Virginia are more likely to face economic insecurity than others. In West Virginia (2024), among full-time, year-round workers, for every $1 a white man makes, a Latina woman makes $0.81, a white non-Hispanic woman makes $0.76, and Black woman makes $0.74. Wage gap data is not available for Indigenous women in West Virginia.

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 criminal invasion of privacy (including electronic voyeurism) and obscene, harassing, or threatening electronic communications (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

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).

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

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 or encourages some guidelines regarding submission or 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. West Virginia law: (W. Va. Code § 48-26-503); (W. Va. Code Ann. § 33-4-20).
  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. West Virginia law: (HB 4402 (2018)).
  13. National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2025). Domestic Violence Counts: 19th Annual Report. https://nnedv.org/content/domestic-violence-counts-19th-annual-report/. Retrieved June 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. West Virginia law: (W. Va. Code § 48-27-503).
  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.
  19. Women’s Law. (West Virginia page last updated Sept. 2025). State Map. https://www.womenslaw.org/laws?reset-state=1. Retrieved Mar. 3, 2026. West Virginia law: (§ 61-2-9a(h)(2)(B)); (§§ 61-8-28, 61-3C-14a).
  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. West Virginia law: (W. Va. Code § 61-8C-12).
  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. West Virginia law: (W. Va. Code §§ 61-7-7(a)(7), 48-27-502, 48-27-202, 48-27-204).
  23. End the Backlog. (2026). Pillar map. https://www.endthebacklog.org/#explore_backlog_map. Retrieved Mar. 10, 2026. West Virginia law: (SB 504 and HB 4476 (2020)); (SB 72 (2019)); (W. Va. Code § 53-8-4(a); W. Va. Code § 53-8-1(7)).