The following are 2005 national crime statistics relating to victims that have been recorded by police in the proceeding twelve months:
44,100 persons aged eighteen years and over who were victims of at least one sexual assault. Approximately 72,000 incidents of sexual assault were experienced by these victims.
841,500 persons aged fifteen years and over were victims of one or more personal crimes, equating to an overall personal victimisation prevalence rate of 5.3%.
2,613,400 incidents of physical assault . Of the 770,600 victims, just over half (52%) indicated that they had experienced more than one assault.
Young people were victims of assault more often than older people, with victimisation rates of 9.9% for people aged 15 to 19 years and 7.9% for people aged 20 to 24 years, compared to rates of 2.3% for people aged 55 to 64 years and 0.8% for people aged 65 years and over.
More alarming than these statistics is that the rate of serious crime has doubled in the past ten years. We are not just seeing an increase in crime, we are also seeing a disproportionate increase in the nature of crimes.
About the author