The prevalence of sexual violence

A limited picture

24.14 Information about the nature and prevalence of sexual assault is limited. This is due to a range of factors including lack of reporting generally, and under-reporting due to the methodologies and definitions employed in the various surveys or data sources.[7]

24.15 Moreover, many sexual assaults are not reported to anyone, let alone to the police.[8] For example, the 1996 ABS Women’s Safety Survey found that one in five women who had been sexually assaulted did not tell anyone about it. In 2002, the National Crime and Safety Survey found that 80% of women did not report the most recent incident to the police.[9] Similarly, the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) found that only 15% of women who experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner reported that incident to the police.[10] In 2007, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) estimated that less than 30% of sexual assaults and related offences are reported to the police.[11]

24.16 Some forms of sexual violence may be less likely to be reported than others. Notably, incidents (whether sexual or physical) committed by current or former intimate partners are less likely to be reported than those incidents committed by strangers.[12] In a submission to this Inquiry, Professor Patricia Easteal stated that research confirmed that ‘partner rape has particularly low reporting, prosecution, and conviction rates’.[13] This has particular significance for an understanding of sexual violence in a family context.

24.17 Women and children may not report or disclose the sexual violence that they have experienced for a range of reasons,[14] including because: they have not identified the act as sexual violence, let alone as a criminal offence; they do not consider the incident serious enough to warrant reporting;[15] they are ashamed, fearful of the perpetrator, do not think that they will be believed, fear how they will be treated by the criminal justice system, and may consider that they can handle it themselves.[16]

24.18 The failure to recognise or identify an act as sexual violence, or more specifically as a sexual assault, may also be a ‘survival strategy’ for some women, particularly those who have been sexually assaulted by an intimate partner. As Debra Parkinson reported in 2008:

If they had recognised it as rape, they could not have managed their situation. Some excused the behaviour of their partners—even the most brutal rapes—as a consequence of being married to him, ‘it was his right’. As a result, the way women complete surveys would be inaccurate.[17]

… women told us that it was not until they were no longer in the relationship and sometimes not until many years later that they had the perspective to recognise they were being raped within their relationship. While they were in the relationship, they struggled to make sense of what was happening to them, and were caught in our society’s demand to make the marriage work. Whilst in the relationship, they minimised the rapes, they blamed themselves, or they feared even worse consequences if they didn’t comply.[18]

24.19 Different surveys or data sources report different findings about the extent of sexual violence in Australia, including because different definitions of sexual violence or sexual assault are relied upon.[19] Unsurprisingly, narrower offence-based definitions tend to result in lower levels of sexual violence being recorded.[20] Under-reporting, and under-estimates of prevalence, may also be caused by the mode of survey delivery. For example, surveys conducted via the telephone may mean that certain groups of women, particularly those who are more vulnerable to violence,[21] may not be captured in the survey.[22] Some survey instruments may be better designed to enhance disclosure, for example, through the use of multiple opportunities for disclosure, or open-ended questions that allow participants to talk about experiences that might not neatly fit within the categories set by survey questions.[23] Other methodological variations include whether interpreters are available to assist in the administration of the survey, whether the criteria for inclusion are age-specific and so on. Results also vary depending on participants’ perceptions of whether certain conduct constitutes sexual violence or a crime.[24]

24.20 There is general agreement that, given these methodological problems (and direct evidence of under-reporting of sexual assault), the available survey data are likely to underestimate the incidence and prevalence of sexual violence.

24.21 Understanding that sexual assault is under-reported is crucial background when considering the response of the criminal justice system. The vast majority of incidents of sexual assault do not come to the attention of the legal system. The problem is exacerbated in the family violence context. Therefore, an important part of the law reform focus should be on measures that might promote reporting and challenge community attitudes to sexual assault that continue to reinforce its invisibility.[25]

A snapshot of sexual violence

24.22 This section presents a snapshot of the statistics available about the experience of sexual assault and sexual violence in Australia. Where possible, statistics on sexual assault within the family violence context are highlighted.

24.23 Sexual violence is strongly gendered with many more women reported as experiencing sexual violence than men.[26] When women and children are sexually assaulted, the perpetrator is likely to be someone well known to them, a current or former partner or family member.[27] While all women and children may be at risk of sexual violence, some are more vulnerable than others, including young women, Indigenous women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD), and women with disabilities.

Children

24.24 There are limited available data about the extent of sexual violence against children. Available data come from crime statistics or child protection notifications. In 2003, it was estimated that 187 per 100,000 children aged 0–14 years were victims of sexual abuse.[28] Rates of sexual assault were higher for children aged 10–14 and ‘three-quarters of reported victims were girls’.[29]

There are no national data on how rates of reported physical and sexual assault vary across population groups. There is limited evidence suggesting that child sexual assault is more prevalent in rural and remote areas than in urban areas and is associated with social disadvantage. Information available from New South Wales and the AIHW National Child Protection Data Collection indicates that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over-represented among victims of physical and sexual assault.[30]

24.25 By way of example, the Little Children Are Sacred report identified child sexual abuse as a significant issue for most of the remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. While the report was not able to accurately estimate prevalence, it found that child sexual abuse involves both female and male victims; is committed by non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal males of all ages; has led to inter-generational cycles of offending; and occurs across urban and remote communities and in various circumstances.[31]

Young women

24.26 Young women are overrepresented as victims of sexual assault. The Australian component of the IVAWS found that younger women (aged 18–24) were more likely than other women to have reported experiencing sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the survey.[32] In a study on non-reporting and the hidden reporting of sexual assault, it was noted that women in the ‘15–19 age group report the highest rates of sexual assault, at 495 per 100,000 compared to the total rate for all females of 139 per 100,000’.[33] An over-representation of young women as victims of sexual violence was found in the ABS Personal Safety Survey—30.7% of women who reported sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the survey were aged 18–24, and a further 29.8% were aged 25–34.[34]

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women

24.27 Various surveys and police statistics generally confirm higher rates of sexual violence committed against Indigenous women compared to the non-Indigenous population:

  • the Australian component of the IVAWS found that Indigenous women reported experiencing higher levels of all kinds of violence, with three times as many Indigenous women compared to non-Indigenous women reporting sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the survey.[35]

  • crime statistics recorded in 2008 found that the Indigenous victimisation rate for sexual assaults in NSW was nearly 3.5 times the rate for the non-Indigenous population.[36] In South Australia and the Northern Territory the victimisation rate was over three times that for the non-Indigenous population.[37]

  • A NSW study on Aboriginal women in prison found that over three quarters had experienced child sexual assault, just under half had been sexually assaulted as adults, and almost 80% had experienced family violence.[38]

Women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

24.28 There is limited information available on the prevalence of sexual violence against women from CALD backgrounds. Not all surveys have adopted measures to assist in eliciting information from CALD women, and even when they have, there may be other limitations with the data.[39]

24.29 The Australian component of the IVAWS found that women from a non-English speaking background and English-speaking women reported similar levels of sexual violence in the preceding 12 months. While noting the difficulty in ‘quantifying the level of violence experienced by women from minority populations compared to women from the general population’[40] the IVAWS found English-speaking women reported higher levels of all types of violence over their lifetimes.

24.30 The IVAWS also recognised the likely impact on survey results of factors which influence perceptions and understandings about what constitutes violence, and significant barriers to discussing and reporting violence.[41] For example, there is variation in the extent to which women have knowledge about the law, ability to access the Australian legal system, willingness to engage with the police and other institutional actors, and knowledge about what unwanted sexual acts are against the law (for example, whether rape in marriage is illegal).[42]

24.31 It is important to recognise, however, that the CALD community is not a homogenous group, and includes women from a wide range of different backgrounds and experiences and varying English-language skills.

Women with disabilities

24.32 Many studies have documented the increased vulnerability to physical and sexual violence of people with disabilities. As with other groups of women, there is a dearth of statistics that document the extent of sexual violence. This is in part linked to the failure of existing data collection surveys and service providers, including the police, to ‘identify the disability status of participants’.[43] However, one study has found that 90% of women with intellectual disabilities have been sexually abused; and 68% of women with an intellectual disability will be subjected to sexual abuse before they reach 18 years of age.[44] This prevalence is consistent with overseas studies.[45]

[7] Data collection is discussed further in Ch 26 and more generally in Ch 31. For a discussion of the limitations of various data sources, eg, police statistics, crime surveys and victim surveys, see B Cook, F David and A Grant, Sexual Violence in Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology Research and Public Policy Series, 36 (2001), 2–4.

[8] See Ch 26 discussion of under-reporting and barriers to reporting sexual assault.

[9] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview (2004), 57.

[10] J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (2004), 102.

[11] Australian Institute of Criminology, Guilty Outcomes in Reported Sexual Assault and Related Offence Incidents (2007).

[12] J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (2004), 92, 102.

[13] P Easteal, Submission FV 38, 13 May 2010.

[14] Barriers to reporting are discussed in Ch 26. See, eg, J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (2004), 14, 16–17.

[15] The perceived seriousness of an event has been identified as a critical determinant in whether a person reports an incident to the police (seriousness includes such factors as whether the victim had been detained in some way, injured, or threatened, and the relationship with the perpetrator): Ibid, 92–95.

[16] See Ibid, 97–99, 105–106. See also L Kelly, ‘Promising Practices Addressing Sexual Violence’ (Paper presented at Violence Against Women: Good Practices in Combating and Eliminating Violence Against Women Expert Group Meeting, Vienna, 17–20 May 2005), Box 1, 5.

[17] D Parkinson, Partner Rape and Rurality (2008), prepared for the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 18. Parkinson suggests that this may explain the disparity in some surveys between the number of women who disclose sexual assault by a current partner when compared to the number who disclose sexual assault by a former partner. For example, data in Australia Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, 4906.0 (2005) show that of women who had experienced violence since the age of 15, 2.1% reported sexual violence by a current partner, compared to 21.7% by a previous partner: D Parkinson, Partner Rape and Rurality (2008), prepared for the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 18, 133.

[18] D Parkinson, Partner Rape and Rurality (2008), prepared for the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 18.

[19] J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (2004), 24; Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview (2004), 8.

[20] See Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview (2004),16.

[21] For example, those with unstable housing, Indigenous women particularly those living in rural and remote areas, women with limited or no English, women in custody, young women, or women in group homes or in institutional care.

[22] National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, Time for Action: The National Council’s Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009–2021 (2009), 15.

[23] See discussion in M Schwartz, ‘Methodological Issues in the Use of Survey Data for Measuring and Characterizing’ (2000) 6 Violence Against Women 815, 820–821; W DeKeseredy, ‘Current Controversies on Defining Nonlethal Violence Against Women in Intimate Heterosexual Relationships’ (2000) 6 Violence Against Women 728, 741.

[24] See discussion about methodology and design in H Johnson, ‘Assessing the Prevalence of Violence Against Women in Canada ’ (Paper presented at A Statistical Overview, Challenges and Gaps in Data Collection and Methodology and Approaches for Overcoming Them: Expert Group Meeting, UN Division for the Advancement of Women, Violence Against Women, Geneva, 11–14 April 2005); P Tjaden, ‘Defining and Measuring Violence Against Women: Background, Issues and Recommendations’ (Paper presented at A Statistical Overview, Challenges and Gaps in Data Collection and Methodology and Approaches for Overcoming Them: Expert Group Meeting UN Division for the Advancement of Women, Violence Against Women, Geneva, 11–14 April 2005); S Walby, ‘Improving the Statistics on Violence Against Women ’ (Paper presented at A Statistical Overview, Challenges and Gaps in Data Collection and Methodology and Approaches for Overcoming Them: Expert Group Meeting, UN Division for the Advancement of Women, Violence Against Women, Geneva, 11–14 April 2005).

[25] See similar discussion in Victorian Law Reform Commission, Sexual Offences: Discussion Paper (2001), [1.11].

[26] See Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, Catalogue No 4906.0 (2005), Tables 3, 5.

[27] See Ibid, Table 19 in relation to women.

[28] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, A Picture of Australia’s Children 2009 (2009), 113.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, Little Children are Sacred: Report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse (2007), 57–59. The available statistics on the incidence of child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities are summarised in A Cossins, Alternative Models for Prosecuting Child Sex Offences in Australia (2010), prepared for the National Child Sexual Assault Reform Committee,
337–343.

[32] J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (2004), 29.

[33] D Lievore, Non-Reporting and Hidden Recording of Sexual Assault: An International Review (2003), prepared for the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women, 7.

[34] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, Catalogue No 4906.0 (2005), Table 6.

[35] J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (2004), 29. Note that Mouzos and Makkai emphasise that these result should be ‘viewed with caution due to the high relative standard error’: 30.

[36] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Recorded Crime: Victims, Catalogue No 4510.0 (2008), 22. The ABS only reported on Indigenous victimisation for NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory. It did not report on Indigenous victimisation for other jurisdictions given limitations in the quality of the data: 22. This ABS publication reports on selected offences recorded by the police for the 2008 calendar year: 53.

[37] Ibid, 48, 51. See also N Taylor and J Putt, Adult Sexual Violence in Indigenous and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities in Australia (2007), 2.

[38] See N Taylor and J Putt, Adult Sexual Violence in Indigenous and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities in Australia (2007), 2.

[39]See discussion in A Neame and M Heenan, What Lies Behind the Hidden Figure of Sexual Assault: Issues of Prevalence and Disclosure, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Briefing (September 2003).

[40] J Mouzos and T Makkai, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: Findings of the Australian Component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (2004), 29.

[41] Ibid, 32. See discussion in A Neame and M Heenan, What Lies Behind the Hidden Figure of Sexual Assault: Issues of Prevalence and Disclosure, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Briefing (September 2003).

[42] See discussion in N Taylor and J Putt, Adult Sexual Violence in Indigenous and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities in Australia (2007).

[43] S Murray and A Powell, Sexual Assault and Adults with a Disability: Enabling Recognition, Disclosure and a Just Response (2008), prepared for the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 3.

[44]S Salthouse and C Frohmader, ‘Double the Odds: Domestic Violence and Women with Disabilities’ (Paper presented at Home Truths Conference, Melbourne, 15–17 September 2004).

[45]Ibid.