Shocking extent of sexual violence in Australia revealed in report

The horrific toll of sexual violence on women in Australia has been laid bare — and victims have revealed why they often don’t go to police.

Almost a quarter of Australian women will experience sexual violence in their lifetime, a shocking new report has found.

An Australian Bureau of Statistics analysis has found about 2.2 million women (23 per cent) will experience sexual abuse during their lives compared to 718,000 men (8 per cent) and a significant number of women choose not to tell police because they don’t believe they can help.

The report lays bare the ongoing toll of sexual violence on victims, with many women uprooting their lives and changing their activities in the wake of an assault.

Disturbingly, those who suffered sexual violence as a child were at a far greater risk of sexual assault later in life.

ABS director of the National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics Will Milne said: “Women who experienced childhood sexual abuse were three times more likely to experience sexual assault later in life, compared with women who had not been sexually abused as children”.

“For men, the risk was five times greater.”

The findings were based on almost 145,000 victims who were sexually assaulted from 2014–2019.

Most victims are under the age of 18.

Most victims (83 per cent) were women and nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) were under the age of 18.

Fewer than half of the victims reported the assault to police within a week.

The analysis found the most common reasons women did not report the assault was because they felt they could deal with it themselves (34 per cent), did not regard it as a serious offence (34 per cent) or felt ashamed or embarrassed (26 per cent).

More than a fifth of women chose not to report the assault to police because they did not think they could do anything about it or didn’t think it was a crime (both 22 per cent).

The report found domestic violence was the most common type of sexual assault.

Women were eight times more likely than men to experience sexual assault by an intimate partner from the age of 15, with alcohol and drugs a significant contributor to violence.

The most dangerous place for women was their home, where 40 per cent of sexual assaults occurred.

About 17 per cent occurred at the offender’s home.

About a third of women who were sexually assaulted changed their sleeping and eating habits.

A fifth changed their contact details and 15 per cent fled their homes.

If you or anyone you know is in need or crisis please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT or Lifeline 131 114.