Child victims face sex abuse again as adults

WOMEN sexually abused as children are three times more likely to be sexually assaulted again as adults than women who were not abused, but the risk for men is five times higher.

A shocking new analysis of survey data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that 2.2 million Australian women (23 per cent of the population) and 718,000 men (8 per cent) aged 18 and over experienced sexual violence in their lifetime.

Alarmingly, for some, this included childhood sexual abuse or sexual assault since the age of 15. It has also revealed children who witnessed violence towards their parents before they were 15 years old, were more likely than those who did not witness violence, to be sexually assaulted themselves as adults.

The ABS Analysis of Recorded Crime – Victims data released on Tuesday also reveals police recorded 144,797 victims of sexual assault between 2014 and 2019.

But it shows less than half of recorded sexual assault victims reported the incident to police within a week of the attack.

ABS director of the National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics, Will Milne, has revealed after a year 76 per cent of women and 63 per cent of male victims still had not reported the crime to police.

Nearly one in five male victims and one in 17 female victims who did call police were reporting a crime that had occurred more than 20 years ago. “The proportion of male victims who were reporting an incident that occurred 20 years or more ago was highest for those who experienced sexual assault in a religious location or an educational setting allocation’’ said Mr Milne.

The Sexual Violence – Victimisation report is the first in a new series on the prevalence and type of sexual violence in Australia. It includes data from the ABS Personal Safety Survey and the Recorded Crime – Victims data, which is national statistics about victims of crimes recorded by state and territory police.

The report shows both women and men were more likely to experience sexual assault by someone known to them than by a stranger. For women, the most common perpetrator was an intimate partner.

Psychologist and executive director of service for child protection organisation Act for Kids, Dr Kaye Pickering, said: “There is an increased risk of revictimisation which is a very disturbing and common effect of childhood sexual assault.”

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800