There were 32 male victims (84.2%) and 6 female victims (15.8%) of murder or manslaughter in Ireland in 2020, according to data recorded by An Garda Síochána. Both the number and proportion of victims of murder or manslaughter who were female has fallen in each of the last three years, from 16 female victims (representing a third of murder or manslaughter victims) in 2017, to 11 female victims in 2018, 8 female victims in 2019 and 6 female victims in 2020. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

Just over half, (55.5%) of victims of physical assault and related offences recorded in 2020 were male, however the difference between the male and female proportions narrowed compared to previous years. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.3.

The proportion of victims (44.5%) who were female was higher than in previous years (41.0% in 2019, 40.7% in 2018, 40.2% in 2017), and is attributable to a greater decline in the number of male assault victims than female assault victims in 2020, as outlined in Table 1.3 of Recorded Crime 2020 Q4.

Around four in every five (79.2%) victims of sexual violence incidents reported in 2020 were female. This was lower, albeit marginally so, than the proportion reported from 2017 to 2019, which varied between 81.0% and 81.8%. See Table 3.1.

More than three-in-five (61.6%), or 1,562 victims reporting sexual violence in 2020 were under 18 at the time the offence occurred, while a further 562 victims (22.2%) were aged between 18 and 29. The remaining 410 sexual violence victims reporting in 2020 reported offences which took place when the victim was aged 30 or over. See Table 3.2.

There is often a separation in time between when a crime occurred and when it was subsequently reported to or became known to An Garda Síochána. This is observed to be a particular feature of sexual violence offences which are often not reported by victims for a substantial period of time after the offence has taken place. A breakdown of the period of time between the date of occurrence of sexual violence crime incidents and the date reported to An Garda Síochána is provided in Table 3.3.

Over half of victims (56.5% or 1,431 victims) who reported sexual violence crimes to An Garda Síochána in 2020 reported offences which are recorded as having occurred less than one year prior to the reporting of the crime. The remaining 1,103 victims (43.5%) reported offences which occurred more than one year prior to their reporting to An Garda Síochána, and the gap between the reporting date and the date of occurrence of the crime showed considerable variation. More than a quarter of victims (27.5%) of sexual violence who reported crimes in 2020 reported offences which occurred more than ten years earlier. See Table 3.3.

Recorded crime data in respect of sexual violence crimes and victims, relates both to events which were reported to An Garda Síochána shortly after their occurrence, as well as to events which may have happened many years ago but are now being reported by victims. The profile of victims differs depending on this incident-reporting gap, and consequently they are examined separately in the analysis which follows. For ease of understanding, the scenarios are referred to as ‘recent’ (i.e. crime reported within one year of occurrence) and ‘historic’ (i.e. crime reported more than one year after its occurrence) in the subsequent analysis.

Of those who reported sexual violence crime to An Garda Síochána in 2020, the number of victims reporting recent crimes was 1,431, a sharp fall of 17.7% on the number reporting such crimes in 2019 (1,738 victims). However, it should be noted that in general, reported crime decreased in 2020 on 2019 levels, likely due to the various COVID-19 restrictions that were in place over the course of 2020. By contrast, the number of victims who reported historic sexual violence crimes in 2020 rose from 1,089 in 2019 to 1,103 in 2020. These contrasting trends meant that the share of victims who reported historic sexual crime rose from 38.5% of sexual violence crime victims in 2019 to 43.5% of sexual violence crime victims in 2020. See Table 3.3 and Figure 3.4.

More than five hundred (533) victims of recent sexual violence crimes reported in 2020 were females aged under 18 years at the time of the offence, while a further 98 were males who were under 18 at the time of the offence. Taken together, almost half (44.0%) of victims who reported sexual violence which had taken place in the previous year were aged under 18. See Table 3.4 and Figure 3.5.

Of victims who reported sexual violence crimes in 2020 which had taken place in the previous year, nine out of ten (88.7%) were female. This figure is consistent with the equivalent figure in 2019 (88.8%).

Some 581 (52.7%) victims of historic sexual violence crimes reported in 2020 were females who were aged under 18 at the time of the offence. A further 350 victims (31.7%) were males aged under 18 at the time of the offence. As such, 84.4% of all victims (931 victims) of historic sexual violence crimes reported in 2019 were aged under 18 when the offences took place. Overall, females were victims in just over two thirds (66.8%) of historic cases. See Table 3.4 and Figure 3.6.

Although the vast majority (84.4%) of victims of historic sexual violence crime were under 18 when the offences occurred (see above), more than half of the historic sexual violence crime reported in 2020 was by victims aged 30 years or over (351 females and 244 males, accounting for 53.9% of historic cases), highlighting the considerable gap in time between victimisation and reporting for many sexual violence victims. See Table 3.5 and Figure 3.7.