The Nation - News from May 8, 1989

The percentage of victims of rape, robbery and assault who were physically injured during the course of an attack increased from 1979 to 1986, according to a Department of Justice survey. Of the average 2.2 million people hurt each year, 357,830 suffered serious injury and 1.83 million suffered minor injury, the report said. About 1%, or almost 23,000 people, suffered gunshot wounds, about 77,000 had knife wounds, 141,500 suffered broken bones or teeth, 64,000 had internal injuries and 84,000 lost consciousness. The percentage of victims who were injured during the attack was 27.5% in 1973 and remained relatively constant except for a drop to 26.9% in 1982 before climbing the next few years to 30.3% in 1986.