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11 percent of reported sexual violence cases end in conviction – report
Less than a third of sexual violence cases reported to the police make it court, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Justice.
Less than a third of sexual violence cases reported to the police make it to court, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Justice.
The government and advocacy groups say progress is being made as just 11 percent of sexual violence reports made to police between July 2014 and June last year resulted in a conviction.
Key findings from the report:
- Of the sexual violence victimisations reported to police, more than three-quarters (77 percent) occurred when the victim was aged 24 years or less
- For 63 percent the victim was a child or young person aged 17 years or younger
- Females experienced 87 percent of the reported victimisations and males 13 percent
- 37 percent had police action taken against a perpetrator
- 11 percent resulted in a conviction
- 6 percent had a prison sentence.
- 56 percent of reported victimisations had an investigation undertaken but Police were unable to proceed against a perpetrator at that time
One slither of hope in the report was that in the last year police saw a 34 percent increase in the number of investigations resulting in court action.
The government will be introducing legislation into Parliament this year to address some of the barriers victims face. The report stated it was estimated that less than 10 percent of sexual violence was reported to police.