CANBERRA, Jul 10 (NNN-AAP) – Over 20 percent of Australians have committed an act of sexual violence in adulthood, a government report found.
The report, which was released by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), today, found that, 22.1 percent of 5,000 Australians aged 18-45, who participated in an AIC survey, had perpetrated sexual violence since turning 18, and that 9.9 percent had done so in the past 12 months.
It found that men were more likely to have committed acts of sexual violence, with 26.4 percent having done so in adulthood compared to 17.7 percent of women. Among male survey participants, 13.2 percent admitted to perpetrating sexual violence in the past 12 months – double the 6.6 percent of women.
The most common forms of sexual violence perpetrated in the last 12 months were, pressuring someone for dates or sexual activity, emotionally or psychologically manipulating someone to participate in sexual activity and non-consensual kissing or touching.
Deputy Director of the AIC, Rick Brown, said in a media release that, the findings fill an important gap in the Australian evidence base, by including offenses and perpetrators that were never reported to police or criminal justice agencies.
Data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last month, revealed that the number of Australian victim-survivors of sexual assault recorded by police rose by 11 percent last year, to a record high 36,318.– NNN-AAP
