InBrief

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has released a report into the decline in the clear up rate for sexual assault since the mid-1990s. The report cites a change in the profile of sexual assaults coming to the attention of police. In particular, there has been:

• an increase in the proportion of cases where the victim knows the offender. there were twice as many cases in 2006 where the suspected offender was a current or former partner than there were in 2000;

• an increase in the proportion of cases where the victim declines to give evidence against the accused person; and

• a statistically significant fall in the proportions of incidents involving physical injury, weapon use and co-occurring offences.

Each of these factors has been shown to reduce the chances of prosecution and, therewith, the capacity of the police to clear the offence.

26 February 2009