Safe from Harm: What do we know?

What do we know about the current state of family violence, sexual offences and child abuse?

Family violence, sexual offences and child abuse are prevalent in the Victorian community.

One in four women and one in 17 men in Australia have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner since the age of 15.¹

One in five women and one in 16 men in Australia having experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.²

Sexual offending also impacts children, with 11% of Australian women and 3.6% of men having experienced childhood sexual abuse. Most of these victim survivors experienced more than one incident.³

Family violence, sexual offences and child abuse are gendered crimes because they disproportionately impact women and girls. Gendered violence occurs in a context of gender inequality and is driven by deeply held attitudes, beliefs and gender stereotypes. Stalking is also a gendered crime, with the perpetrator most often a male known to a female victim survivor.

In 2023, Victoria Police responded to 94,170 family violence incidents; this is one incident around every six minutes. Family violence incidents have increased 38% over the past ten years.

In 2023, police also recorded 14,446 sexual offences. These crimes are most often perpetrated by someone known to the victim survivor.

In this time, police also recorded 6,082 victim reports of physical assaults and 3,631 victim reports of sexual offending against children and young people (aged 17 years or under).

^{1 Personal Safety, Australia, 2021–22 financial year, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2023, Canberra, Australia}

^{2 Personal Safety, Australia, 2021–22 financial year, ABS 2023, Canberra, Australia}

^{3 Personal Safety, Australia, 2021–22 financial year, ABS 2023, Canberra, Australia.}