SA women are becoming deadlier as female crime rate hits a 10-year high, according to statistics
WOMEN are fast becoming a deadlier species in SA’s underworld, with more committing murder, sex offending, drugs, theft and fraud than ever before — and experts are at a loss as to why.
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WOMEN are fast becoming a deadlier species in South Australia’s underworld, with more facing court for murder, sex offending, drugs, theft and fraud than ever before.
Adelaide’s female criminals have increased by 46 per cent over the past decade, more than double the national increase of 20 per cent.
And while male criminals outnumber female offenders by more than three to one, many women continue to offend long after their male peers retire.
A rising number of women continued to offend until the age of 65 while men started dropping out of the criminal scene before their 50th birthdays.
The consistent increase – dubbed a “proportional shift” by the Australian Bureau of Statistics – has stumped the experts.
Professor Andrew Goldsmith, director of the Centre for Crime Policy and Research at Flinders University, told the Sunday Mail it was “not straightforward to explain”.
He said increases in theft and drugs charges came down to social factors, especially employment.
“The rise in those categories for women is likely, in part, to reflect the shortage of work opportunities for women in SA compared to other states,” he said.
“Unemployment is a risk factor for illicit drug use and theft is a common way by which women and men find the funds to support illicit drug use.”
Social researcher Mark McCrindle said the upward trend was “quite worrying”.
“It’s undeniable that the crime rate of SA women is increasing at a much faster rate than men,” he said.
“That said, it’s hard to paint an absolutely clear picture about why this is happening.”
ABS research shows 11,351 women were convicted of crimes in 2016-17, up from 7748 in 2008-09.
Of those, 53 were convicted of sex crimes, 3786 of drugs charges and eight of murder, manslaughter or causing death by dangerous driving.
Nine years earlier, 22 women were convicted of sexual offending, 1997 of dealing in illicit drugs, while seven were found to be guilty of killing another person.
The greatest number of female killers in a single year was 15 in 2009-10, followed by 13 four years later. The number of women committing theft has been on the rise since 2013-14, culminating in 2900 convictions last year, while frauds have steadily dropped to 145.
The average age of SA female offenders in 2016-17 was 30 years old.
Will Milne, director of the National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics, said there was a clear “proportional shift” in SA.
“The number of female offenders reached the highest level since the beginning of (collating these statistics),” he said.
“Women offenders in SA have increased by 46 per cent, compared with 20 per cent nationally.”
Professor Goldsmith noted SA had more police officers per capita than other states, meaning greater vigilance and reporting of offences.
Mr McCrindle said economic pressures could explain drug, theft and fraud offences, but not the increase in sex and violence crimes. “That’s one of the most challenging aspects of this data,” he said.
“It’s something the justice system and authorities very much need to have a look at.”
The ABS research also shows the number of male offenders increased by 7878 – or 26.3 per cent – from 29,943 in 2008-09 to 37,821 in the past financial year.
The average age of male offenders in 2016-17 was 31 years old.
SA female offenders 2008/09
Murder/manslaughter/death by dangerous driving: 7
Sex crimes: 22
Theft: 1540
Fraud: 182
Drugs: 1997
SA female offenders
2016/17
Murder/manslaughter/death by dangerous driving: 8
Sex crimes: 53
Theft: 2900
Fraud: 145
Drugs: 3786
SA male offenders
2008/09
Murder/manslaughter/death by dangerous driving: 75
Sex crimes: 644
Theft: 2100
Fraud: 349
Drugs: 9192
SA male offenders
2016/17
Murder/manslaughter/death by dangerous driving: 41
Sex crimes: 781
Theft: 6746
Fraud: 265
Drugs: 12,277
Total female offenders 2008/09: 7748
Total female offenders, 2016/17: 11,351
Average age: 30 years old
Total male offenders, 2008/09: 29,943
Total male offenders, 2016/17: 37,821
Average age: 31 years old
SA female offenders
2008-09: 7748
2009-10: 8083
2010-11: 8415
2011-12: 8241
2012-13: 9631
2013-14: 10,696
2014-15: 10,293
2015-16: 11,089
2016-17: 11,351
● Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, “Recorded crime — offenders, 2016/17”
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