An estimated 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, according to findings released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
This is compared to men whose results showed 1 in 16 have experienced sexual violence.
Results also show that 1 in 6 women have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15 by a cohabiting partner– a partner the person lives with or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.
And sadly, 1 in 4 women have experienced emotional abuse by a cohabiting partner, compared to 1 in 7 men.
These horrifying statistics come from the ABS’s Personal Safety Survey (PSS), which asked people aged 18 years and over about the nature and extent of violence experienced since the age of 15 as well as their past experiences of child abuse and witnessing parental violence before the age of 15.
The PSS defined ‘violence’ as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either sexual or physical assault.
Michelle Ducat, ABS head of crime and justice statistics said, “We found 43 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women have experienced either physical or sexual violence since the age of 15.”
This frightening prevalence means that an estimated eight million Australians aged 18 years have experienced physical or sexual violence since they were 15 years-old, with 2.2 million women reporting experiences of sexual violence and 3.1 million women experiencing physical violence.
Survey respondents were also asked about their experience with economic abuse– behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling a person’s access to economic resources, causing them emotional harm or fear.
One in 6 women have experienced economic abuse, compared to 1 in 13 men.
The ABS’s latest release of data also provides valuable insight into experiences of violence and abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We saw similar rates of physical violence and sexual violence in 2021-22 when compared with 2016”, Ducat said, with the rate of sexual harassment declining for both women and men.
Sexual harassment rates for women were at 17 per cent in 2016 and dropped to 13 per cent in 2021-2022. For men, the numbers went from 9.3 per cent to 4.5 per cent.
The rate of cohabiting partner emotional abuse also declined over the same period for both women (from 4.8 per cent to 3.9 per cent) and men (from 4.2 per cent to 2.5 per cent) as well as the rate of cohabiting violence against women (from 1.7 per cent to 0.9 per cent).
Ducat said that with these statistics, “we acknowledge the experiences of people affected by violence and abuse who are represented in this report and would like to thank those who participated in the survey. Their contribution has added valuable insights to informing government and service responses.”
If you or anyone you know is in need or crisis, please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline (131114).