Statistics

Studies produce varying figures about how common rape and sexual abuse is, depending on factors such as the definitions used, whether or not the assaults were reported to the police and whether researchers have won the woman’s trust sufficiently for her to disclose such personal and distressing information. However, we know these crimes are massively under-reported and we know that conviction rates for both rape and child sexual abuse are incredibly low.

	This short selection of statistics gives an idea of the extent of the problem. See our links page for links to websites (e.g. the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University - www.cwasu.org ) which cover research in more detail.
	Less than one in 20 rapes reported to the police in Scotland results in a successful conviction. In 2000 a total of 562 rapes were recorded by the police. There were proceedings against 50 suspects where rape was the main offence involved, with 27 convictions. In 1999 there were 27 convictions out of a total of 591 reported rapes. (Scottish Executive)
	Prevalence studies for childhood sexual abuse, which is substantially under-reported, show rates of 7-30% of girls and 3-13% of boys are abused. Men are the abusers in 95% of cases, regardless of the child being female or male. (In the Mainstream, Department of Health. 2001)
	Scottish Rape Crisis centres dealt with over 6,000 calls from women in 1998. An average of only 20% reported their abuse to the police. Approximately 90% of women and girls contacting us were abused by someone known to them. Only 2% reported abuse by women, most often in cases with multiple abusers.
	A survey by the Women’s Support Project in Glasgow in 1989 found that two in every five women have been raped or sexually assaulted.
	The British Crime Survey of 2000 reported that one in 10 women have experienced sexual victimisation including rape, with nearly half of those raped by their current ‘partners’. Only 8% of rapists were ‘strangers’.
	The 1998 US Department of Justice National Violence Against Women Survey found that 18% of women had experienced a completed or attempted rape at some time in their life, using a definition that includes forced vaginal, oral and anal intercourse. A total of 76% of the women who reported rape or physical assault were assaulted by a current or former husband, partner or date.
	In England since 1985, reports of rape have increased by 400 per cent but convictions by only 40 per cent. Just 7.5% of reported cases end in a conviction. (Home Office statistics) In Scotland the rate is less than 5% (see above).