Sex assault cases in Victoria reach new record high as more women attacked in Covid-19 lockdown

Victoria has had a record breaking crime spree targeting a group of vulnerable people, as it becomes the “fastest growing crime”.

EXCLUSIVE: Almost 90 people a day were sexually assaulted around Australia – many during Covid lockdowns – with almost a quarter in Victoria.

The shocking figures show the national number of victims has jumped 13 per cent from 2020 to 31,118 in 2021 – the highest ever recorded since the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) started keeping crime data records 29 years ago.

And alarmingly, most victims were female and aged under 18 at the time of the attacks – targeted in homes, during the extended Covid lockdown.

The number of sex assault victims in Victoria jumped 12 per cent to 6,164 from the previous year and it was the first annual rise since 2017.

It is also the highest number of sex assault victims recorded in Victoria almost 30 years of ABS crime data.

The data released on Thursday shows most victims were female and knew their attacker. But a greater number of male victims in Victoria – 64 per cent – were aged 18 years or younger, than were females victims at 46 per cent.

The ABS’s Head of Crime and Justice Statistics William Milne said the number of sexual assaults across the country were the largest number recorded by police.

Mr Milne said it is the 10th year in a row the number of sexual assault victims has increased.

There were increases in seven states and territories, with the Northern Territory the only one to record a drop in the number of sex assaults.

The highest increases were in Queensland where the number of victims jumped 35 per cent with 1771 more victims, followed by Victoria up 12 per cent with 651 more victims, and Western Australia 17 per cent with 516.

“The (victimisation) rate has risen from 83 to 121 victims per 100,000 people since 2011, and that accounts for population changes,” Mr Milne said.

Females aged between 15 and 19 are most at risk of sexual assault and males of that age are most likely to be the perpetrators, according to Full Stop Australia.

Hayley Foster, chief executive of Full Stop Australia, which advocates on behalf of sexual assault victims, said its services saw an increase in calls regarding intrafamilial sexual assaults during Covid lockdowns.

“Sadly, these figures are not a surprise to us,” Ms Foster said.

However, while they saw an increase in intrafamilial abuse increased during the pandemic, she said the majority of under 18s who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by their partners and she said that was probably still the case during lockdown.

She said females aged between 15 and 19 are most at risk of sexual assault and males of that age are most likely to be the perpetrators.

Ms Foster said partners were allowed to visit home during lockdowns too.

She said that while Queensland recorded the highest increase, it may be down to better awareness of what sexual assault was and an improved confidence in the police and justice system to report incidents.

“Sexual assault is the fastest growing serious crime in the country,” Ms Foster said.

“This is a crisis that requires urgent attention and proper funding.”

While sex assaults were on the rise across the nation, murders dropped seven per cent to the lowest rate since 1993 with only 370 victims of homicide and related offences – murder, attempted murder and manslaughter.

In Victoria, which suffered some of the longest lockdowns in the country, the murder rate fell with just 84 murders in 2021, down from 98 in 2020.

For victims of homicide and related offences: most were male, almost two-fifths were family and domestic violence related and two-thirds knew the offender.

Most homicide and related offences in Victoria occurred at a residential location

Crime fell in most other categories in the state including theft, robbery and motor vehicle theft.

In some jurisdictions, the number of victims of unlawful entry with intent decreased. But the largest decrease was in Victoria down 1,570 victims or five per cent.

Blackmail and extortion related crimes rose however to 229 up from 198 in 2020.

Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munroe said the rise in sexual assaults could be “multi-factorial” – impacted on by the lack of mobility during Covid which also reduced the opportunities for random sex assaults.

“People are psychologically frustrated, their futures are uncertain, I think alcohol use and drug use escalated, with people self-medicating at home, and could have had some effect” said Dr Watson-Munroe.

The rise in other crimes including blackmail and extortion may be due to increased cybercrime and cyber stalking.

“People are getting random threats to expose them. Extortion is a function of the times. People are suffering out there and desperate times call for desperate measures for some people…,” said Dr Watson-Munroe.

“I think society is unravelling and there is an anarchistic attitude from some people. Some of the drivers (of crime) we are seeing are from desperate people.”

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the data was “sobering, particularly that the majority increase relates to children”.

“We know that as awareness of family, domestic and sexual violence increases, so too will reporting,” she added.

“I’m committed to working with my state and territory colleagues to finalise the next National Plan to reduce and ultimately end family, domestic and sexual violence.

“We don’t want the next generation of women and children to have to deal with this scourge.”

If you or anyone you know is in need or crisis please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline 131 114.