“From harassing and threatening someone for sex, to non-consensual intercourse, this [research] tells us perpetration of sexual violence is disturbingly common,” he said.
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“It’s quite shocking to see a number attached to significant acts of sexual violence which reflects how many people in our community freely admit to having done it.”
The study is part of a wider examination by the Australian Institute of Criminology of links between violent pornography and sexual violence.
“Perpetration of multiple forms of sexual violence was significantly more common among men than women,” the report noted.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released data in late June that showed sexual assault in Australia had reached a 31-year high. It found the number of victim-survivors of sexual assault recorded by police rose by 11 per cent in 2023, the 12th straight annual rise.
The bureau’s head of crime and justice statistics, Samantha McNally, said there were 36,318 victim-survivors of sexual assault recorded by police in 2023, with increases across almost all states and territories.
“Accounting for population growth, the rate of recorded sexual assault victim-survivors has gone up from 126 per 100,000 people last year, to 136 victim-survivors per 100,000 people,” McNally said.
“This is the highest rate of sexual assault victim-survivors recorded in our 31-year dataset.”
The most common age group of victims reported by the bureau was between 10 and 17 years at the date of the incident (41 per cent). This age group was not covered in the criminology institute’s new data, released on Tuesday night, which covered sexual violence perpetrated against adults by adults.
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Sexual Assault Services Victoria’s chief executive, Kathleen Maltzahn, and the Full Stop Foundation chief executive Karen Bevan said the fact it only included adult-on-adult perpetration meant true rates were likely far higher.
“There’s a whole lot of people here [admitted perpetrators] who, if they’d had intervention would not have assaulted someone else, but they’re getting away with it so they’re continuing to do it,” Maltzahn said, referring to the finding that perpetration of multiple forms of sexual violence was significantly more common among men than women.
Bevan said the study “tells us people are using sexual violence and they know they are using sexual violence”.
“In Australia, we’ve got a sense that people think violence against women is problem, but it’s other people’s problem: this research shows us it’s everybody’s problem,” she said.
Campaign group Our Watch’s chief executive, Patty Kinnersly, described the data as shocking and said it showed the gendered nature of sexual violence. “The volume of perpetrators demonstrates the need for efforts to end violence against women to be targeting the whole population,” she said.
“The evidence shows that the underlying drivers of violence against women, including sexual violence, are rigid gender stereotypes, gender inequality and disrespect. These attitudes and the violence they drive can be prevented.”
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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