Ending Sexual Violence Hub
Understanding Sexual Violence
Sexual violence is a societal injustice, often driven by inequality and one person feeling entitled to dominate or use power over another. Sexual violence can happen anywhere, to anyone and at any stage of life. It can have a terrible impact on people’s lives, impairing their ability to work, study and live life to its full potential.
It can be difficult to talk about, but we need a whole-of-community response to address it.
On this page:
> What is sexual violence?
> How prevalent is sexual violence?
> How often is sexual violence is reported to the police?
> Who experiences sexual violence?
> Who uses sexual violence?
> Why does sexual violence happen?
> Countering sexual violence myths
WHAT IS SEXUAL VIOLENCE?
Sexual violence is a broad term to refer to sexual behaviour where there is no consent. This includes where a child or young person is under the age of consent, where there is an abuse of a relationship and authority and where force, harm, deceit or fear is used to do sexual things you do not want to do.
Sexual violence may make you feel frightened, trapped, intimidated or threatened. It is often a crime and can take many forms, including rape, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, sexual harassment and image-based sexual abuse.
It can happen to anyone, and it is never the fault of the victim survivor.
Read on for more common questions about sexual violence.
HOW PREVALENT IS SEXUAL VIOLENCE?
Sexual violence is widespread and under-reported.
It is difficult to know the true prevalence of sexual violence as there isn’t research that includes all forms of sexual violence and captures all people who experience it.
However, we can get a picture of the prevalence through using a range of sources.
14% of adult Australians have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 (ABS, 2023)
More than one in four Australians have experienced child sexual abuse, including more than one in three girls and almost one in five boys (ACMS, 2023)
One in three workers experienced workplace sexual harassment in last five years (AHRC, 2022)
Where you can find up-to-date information:
The Victorian Women’s Health Atlas allows you to view the number of sexual offence reports in your local government area easily. This data comes from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency
Victorian Women’s Health Atlas >
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has up to date data about sexual violence collected from multiple sources.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare >
The Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey is conducted approximately every 4 years and includes the national prevalence of sexual violence.
ABS Personal Safety Survey (Sexual Violence) >
The Australian Child Maltreatment Study, conducted in 2023, shows the national prevalence of child sexual abuse, among other findings.
Australian Child Maltreatment Study >
The eSafety Commissioner publishes research and statistics on the rates of technology-facilitated sexual violence.
The Australian Human Rights Commission conducts a national survey on the prevalence of sexual harassment in workplaces. The fifth study was conducted in 2022.
HOW OFTEN IS SEXUAL VIOLENCE REPORTED TO POLICE?
The majority (92%) of women surveyed about their experience of sexual assault by a male did not report the most recent incident to police. This means that any statistics about reporting sexual offences only capture a small portion of what is happening.
ABS Personal Safety Survey (Support-seeking and police contact) >
What are the barriers to reporting?
In 2021, The Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) published its report ‘Improving the justice system response to sexual offence reports.’
The VLRC found that the reasons someone might not report sexual violence are complex. They can relate to its invasive and interpersonal nature, community attitudes toward sexual violence, fear of not being believed, and the justice system response, including the police response.
WHO EXPERIENCES SEXUAL VIOLENCE?
Anyone can experience sexual violence.
Sexual violence is a form of gender-based violence and disproportionately impacts women and girls, who make up 88% of victim survivors of sexual violence. Men and boys also experience sexual violence, most often perpetrated by other men or boys.
Gender-based violence is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful gender norms. You can read more about the gendered drivers of gendered-based violence in the national framework, Change the Story.
For about half of women who have been sexually assaulted by a man (53%), the perpetrator was a current or former partner, boyfriend or date. Sexual violence can also be experienced at any time in a person’s life, including as a child or older person.
The prevalence and impacts of sexual violence can be compounded by other forms of oppression and inequality like racism or homophobia.
This means some groups in society experience higher rates and/or more severe forms of violence, as well as additional barriers to support and safety.
Populations such as the LGBTIQA+ communities, people with disability, migrant and refugee women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, experience higher rates of sexual violence than the general population.
Sexual violence is never OK and never the fault of the victim.
WHO USES SEXUAL VIOLENCE and harm?
Overwhelmingly sexual violence is committed by men against women and children.
In 2019-2020, most sexual assault offenders recorded by police in Australia were men (97%).
Sexual violence is more likely to be perpetrated by someone known to the victim survivor. In Victoria, 69% of sexual assault perpetrators recorded by police in 2024 were someone the victim survivor knew.
Most men who perpetrate sexual violence rarely encounter the legal system or experience any kind of sanction.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (Who uses violence?) >
The state of knowledge Report on Violence Perpetration (QUT) >
Around one in 10 (9.4%) Australian men has sexually offended against children (including technology-facilitated and offline abuse) with approximately half (4.9%) of this group reporting sexual feelings toward children.
While most sexual violence is perpetrated by adults, a significant amount of sexual harm experienced by children and young people is from other children and young people. This is called harmful sexual behaviour.
Harmful sexual behaviour is sexual behaviour displayed by children and young people that falls outside what may be considered developmentally expected or socially appropriate.
WHY DOES SEXUAL VIOLENCE HAPPEN?
There is a strong relationship between gender inequality and the violence that women and gender diverse people experience, including sexual violence.
Gender inequality plays out at every level of our society, so we need a whole-of-community approach to address sexual violence. It is important to note that existing frameworks for preventing violence against women do not specifically focus on sexual violence.
The national framework to prevent violence against women, Change the Story, outlines four gendered drivers of violence against women.
The four gendered drivers of violence against women:
- Condoning of violence against women.
- Men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence in public and private life.
- Rigid gender stereotyping and dominant forms of masculinity.
- Male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control.
Examples of these drivers:
- Shifting blame for violence from the perpetrator to the victim, for example, the view that women who are raped while drunk are partly to blame.
- More men hold positions of power and leadership in our society, such as in the political sphere.
- Stereotypes that sexually objectify women, for example, in advertising or pornography.
- Male dominated spaces such as sporting clubs that may reinforce masculine norms that emphasise sexism, homophobia and disrespect of women.
Jesuit Social Services’ research ‘The Man Box 2024’ found that men who most strongly agreed with “19 rules that represent a socially dominant form of masculinity” were “more likely to hold violence-supportive attitudes, more likely to have a used violence in their intimate relationships, and more likely to have perpetrated bullying and sexual harassment”.
Additional risk factors
There are also additional risk factors associated with the likelihood of experiencing or perpetrating sexual violence. It should be noted these risk factors do not cause violence, but are associated with increased risk. These include:
- experience of, and exposure to, violence, particularly during childhood and adolescence
- experiences of child maltreatment, particularly child sexual abuse (this is identified in a number of studies and systematic reviews as being associated with sexual assault perpetration later in life)
- consumption of violent pornography.
sexual violence truths
Some misconceptions and myths about sexual violence are prevalent in our society. They can impact the response that victim survivors receive from our legal and justice system, from friends and family, and other organisations and individuals. Below you’ll find statements that are true.
Most victim survivors delay or never report sexual violence and many delay seeking advice and support from others.
It’s important to believe victim survivors no matter how long ago their experience of sexual violence occurred. Fear of not being believed is one of the reasons people do not report.
‘7.7% of women who experienced sexual assault contacted police’ (AIWH)>
‘Survivors of child sexual abuse took, on average, 23.9 years to tells someone about the abuse’ (Royal Commission) >
Victim survivors are never responsible for sexual violence
‘Victim blaming’ is pervasive in our society. It’s important to remember that violence and abuse will happen regardless of victim survivors’ choices. Responding in a way that implies that the sexual assault or abuse could have been prevented by survivors’ choices can lead to survivors feeling self-blame and shame for what happened.
Our research on what helps people recover after sexual violence told us that ‘recognition of who was responsible was empowering as it supported survivors to tell a new story to themselves and to others.‘
Most perpetrators of sexual violence are known to the victim survivor. Both women and children are more likely to experience sexual assault from someone they know than a stranger.
Over half of sexual assaults are perpetrated by a current or former partner, or date. Women who know the perpetrator often delay seeking help for longer than those assaulted by a stranger.
False allegations are rare
False allegations are particularly rare compared with false allegations of other types of crime. Myths about false allegations can actually contribute to the under-reporting of sexual violence.
Research also tells us that the reasons they are made are complex. Rather than coming from a place of malice, they come from fear or a need for assistance. In fact, the vast majority of sexual violence is not reported at all.
However, 2 in 5 Australians believe that women make up false reports of sexual assault in order to punish men. This is an example of a harmful myth which continues to negatively impact survivors’ ability to recover and seek justice.
Misconceptions of sexual crimes against adult victims (Australian Institute of Criminology) >
Convictions are low because of the nature of sexual violence.
It’s difficult to get a conviction in a sexual violence case, in part because these crimes often happen in private locations with a lack of witnesses or medical evidence, and in part because of jurors’ attitudes.
However, there is more to know about the issues preventing cases that are reported to police from progressing charges being lade and just court processes. (This is referred to as ‘attrition’.)
Safe, Informed, Supported: Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence >
Victim survivors can show a range of emotional reactions after sexual assault, from visibly distressed to seeming calm and controlled.
Survivors can have different emotional responses to sexual violence, day to day and at different parts of their recovery. Often, when the public or legal professionals hear from a victim survivor, it can be months or years after the violence has been perpetrated.
There is no right way to feel after sexual violence.
Sexual assault does not always involve resistance, physical force or injuries.
Physical injury and physical force does not feature in the majority of reported cases of sexual assault. ‘It is more common for victims and survivors to ‘fawn’ or ‘freeze’ in response to sexual assault than to ‘flight’ or ‘fight’. It is particularly likely for a victim and survivor to fawn or freeze if they know the perpetrator’ (AIFS). An over reliance on physical evidence (rather than on whether consent was sought and provided, or a broader context of coercive control) is one of the reasons sexual violence offences have such low conviction rates.
Victim survivors often stay in relationships with the perpetrator for a range of complex reasons. Leaving is associated with heightened risk of violence.
Victim survivors often stay to protect others, because they don’t have the financial resources, or because they fear retaliation.
Men experience sexual assault.
Men experience sexual assault, as well as the barriers to reporting described above. Men may be particularly vulnerable to sexual violence in institutional settings such as the military and prison. Gay and bisexual men report higher levels of sexual assault than heterosexual men.
‘Women and men experienced military sexual assault but in different contexts and ways. Men were principally assaulted in unit hazing or initiation incidents by other men, while women were principally assaulted by male peers or commanders.’ (Royal Commission).
National Survey of LGBTIQA+SB Experiences of Sexual Violence >
Trans and gender diverse people experience sexual assault at higher rates.
More than half of transgender and gender diverse people in a nationally representative study (53.2%) have experienced sexual violence or coercion, which is more than four times the general population. There are many transphobic myths about trans and gender diverse people pertaining to sexual assault. However, the research suggests they are more likely to experience sexual assault than perpetrate it.
Australian trans and gender diverse sexual health survey report >
