Overwhelming majority of sex crime victims attacked by people known to them

More than eight in 10 women and girls who were sexual attacked had been targeted by people known to them, largely debunking the myth that females are at most at danger from strangers.

Some 14 per cent of male sex crime victims were attacked by strangers while 18 per cent of females who reported sexual offences to the Garda said they had been attacked by a stranger.

“There were other differences too between males and females, for example, blood relatives were the reported suspects for 23 per cent of (sexual) offences against males compared with 14 per cent of offences against females,” sad Jim Dalton, statistician in the Central Statistic Office’s Crime & Criminal Justice Section

“Looking at the age of the victim when the offence took place, blood relatives were also the reported suspect for nearly three in ten - 29 per cent - sexual offences committed against persons who were aged under 18 years. Friends or acquaintances were the reported suspect for a fifth - 20 per cent - of offences against this age group.”

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[ Significant increase in assaults last year as levels of violence surge in south Dublin ]

Meanwhile, victims of physical assaults were more likely to be beaten by their partner or ex partner than anyone else, including strangers. Some 39 per cent of women, and 18 percent of men, who were physically assaulted were attacked by a current or ex partner.”

Mr Dalton added there was also a big difference in the number of older or younger people being sexually attacked by their partners or ex offenders. Those aged 30 to 44 years were much more likely to be attacked by a partner or ex partner than younger or older people.

In the 30-44 years sex crime victim group, 40 per cent of them were attacked by partners or ex partners, though that fell to 18 per cent for those sex crime victims aged 18 to 29 years or aged 45 years or older.

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The new data is outlined in a study of sexual offences - including rapes - and physical assaults carried out by the CSO. It studied crimes reported to the Garda in the 12-month period to the end of last September to establish the nature of the relationship between victims and perpetrators in all sexual crime cases and in cases of physical assault.

The study of sexual offences found 21 per cent of victims were attacked by a “friend or acquaintance”. A current partner of ex-partner was the suspect in 15 per cent of all sex crime cases - with 18 per cent of female sex crime victims, and one per cent of male victims, attacked by a current or ex partner. And in 16 per cent of all sexual crimes, a “blood relative” was responsible for the crimes.

Overall, it was determined 83 per cent of people who reported a sexual crime had been attacked by a person known to them, meaning 17 of crimes were at the hands of strangers.

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In general, when people were sexually attack by a stranger, in 94 per cent of cases the crime was reported within a year. However, if the suspect was a blood relative, more victims took longer to report the crimes, with 76 per cent of those offences reported within a year.

When it came to physical assaults, 75 per cent of victims were attacked by someone known to them. In 22 per cent of cases it was by their partner or ex partner, though the trends differed very significantly between male and female victims; some six per cent of male victims, and 36 per cent of female victims, attacked by a current or former partner.

Overall, 14 per cent of people physically assaulted were attacked by a friend or acquaintance and 13 per cent were attacked by a blood relative.