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In most Sexual and Assault offences the reported suspect was known to the victim - 83% for Sexual offences and 75% for Assault offences.
Friends or acquaintances were the reported suspects for a higher share of Sexual than Assault offences. Just over a fifth (21%) of reported suspects for Sexual offences were friends or acquaintances compared with 14% of Assault offences. To a lesser extent, the share of reported suspects who were blood relatives was 16% for Sexual offences compared with 13% for Assault offences.
In contrast, persons who were strangers to the victim accounted for a quarter (25%) of reported suspects of Assault offences compared with 17% for Sexual offences. Just over one fifth of reported suspects for Assault offences were partners or ex-partners compared with 15% for Sexual offences. See Figure 4.1.
| X-axis label | Sexual offences | Assault offences |
|---|---|---|
| Friend/acquaintance | 21 | 14 |
| Blood relative | 16 | 13 |
| Partner/ex-partner | 15 | 22 |
| Stranger | 17 | 25 |
| Others | 31 | 26 |
Blood relatives accounted for around the same share of reported suspects for Sexual (29%) and Assault (30%) offences against persons under 18 years at the time of the incident.
Partners or ex-partners were the reported suspects for a higher share of Sexual offences (40%) than Assault offences (30%) for those aged 30-44 years when the incident occurred. The shares among other age groups between both crime categories were somewhat closer.
For victims over 18 years at the time of the offence, friends or acquaintances were the reported suspect for a higher share of Sexual offences than Assault offences. Friends or acquaintances were the reported suspects for about a quarter of Sexual offences against both those in the 18-29 age group and those aged 45 or over and a fifth (20%) of Sexual offences against those aged 30-44 years. By contrast, friends or acquaintances were the reported suspects for 14% and 13% of Assault offences across these age groups. See Figures 4.2 and 4.3.
| X-axis label | Partner/ex-partner | Blood relative | Friend/Aquaintance | Reported suspect not known to victim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 6 | 29 | 20 | 10 |
| 18-29 | 18 | 2 | 23 | 30 |
| 30-44 | 40 | 2 | 20 | 15 |
| 45 and over | 18 | 1 | 26 | 24 |
| X-axis label | Partner/ex-partner | Blood relative | Friend/Acquaintance | Stranger |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 2 | 30 | 18 | 21 |
| 18-29 | 24 | 8 | 14 | 29 |
| 30-44 | 30 | 7 | 13 | 24 |
| 45 and over | 17 | 17 | 13 | 23 |
Strangers to the victim were the reported suspects for just over a quarter of both Sexual (26%) and Assault (25%) offences reported within a year of the offence occurring compared with between 3-4% for those reported after a year.
Partners or ex-partners were the reported suspects for a higher share of Assault than Sexual offences reported both within a year and thereafter. These reported suspects accounted for just over a fifth (21%) of Assault offences reported within a year compared with 14% for Sexual offences. Just over half (51%) of Assault offences reported after a year involved partners or ex-partners as the reported suspect compared with just 15% for Sexual offences.
A higher share of offences for both crime categories where the reported suspects were friends or acquaintances were reported within a year than afterwards. Offences involving these suspects accounted for a quarter (25%) of Sexual offences reported within a year compared with 13% reported after a year. For Assault offences, 14% were reported within a year and 7% were reported after a year.
Blood relatives were the reported suspects for a higher share of both crime categories reported after a year rather than sooner. Blood relatives accounted for almost a third (32%) of Sexual offences reported after a year compared with just 6% of those reported within a year. For Assault offences, the difference was much less – 13% reported within a year and 16% after a year. See Figure 4.4.
| X-axis label | Sexual offences reported within a year | Sexual offences reported after a year | Assault offences reported within a year | Assault offences reported after a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partner/ex-partner | 14 | 15 | 21 | 51 |
| Blood relative | 6 | 32 | 13 | 16 |
| Friend/aquaintance | 25 | 13 | 14 | 7 |
| Stranger | 26 | 3 | 25 | 4 |
When one looks at the crime incident reporting gap (the time gap between an offence occurring and it being reported and recorded by AGS) for Assault offences involving the different types of reported suspects, we can see that nearly all offences involving each type of relationship for reported suspects were reported within a year of occurrence. However, for some of the relationship types between victim and suspect, the reporting of the crime happens later.
Where a stranger was the reported suspect for Sexual offences, nearly all (94%) of these offences were reported within a year of the incident occurring. This early reporting also extended to Sexual offences by other reported suspects such as current partner or spouse (85%), colleague or work relationship (84%) and friends or acquaintances (76%).
By contrast, for some other Sexual offences the reporting tends to happen over a year after the incident took place. Just over three in four (76%) offences involving a blood relative and about seven in ten (68%) of those involving other household members were reported over a year after occurrence.
