Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2014/15: Sexual Victimisation & Stalking

Key Findings

This report examines experiences of stalking and harassment, serious sexual assault, and less serious sexual offending amongst SCJS respondents. The report examines experiences since the age of 16, and in the last 12 months. The key findings are shown below.

SCJS stalking and harassment

• Overall, 6.4% of adults experienced at least one type of SCJS stalking and harassment in the last 12 months, and 1.7% experienced more than one type.
• The most common types of stalking and harassment involved indirect contact. Amongst those who had experienced stalking and harassment in the last 12 months, 45.0% had received unwanted emails and texts, 32.7% received silent, threatening or unwanted phone calls, and 21.9% were subject to obscene or threatening online contact.
• The survey found no statistically significant difference between the proportion of women and men who experienced at least one type of SCJS stalking and harassment (at 6.8% and 6.0% respectively).
• Young people, particularly young women, experienced a higher than average level of stalking and harassment: 9.7% of 16 to 24 years olds had experienced at least one type of SCJS stalking and harassment in the last 12 months. This figure was higher still for 16 to 24 year old women at 12.7%.
• A higher proportion of people living in the 15% most deprived areas experienced at least one type of SCJS stalking and harassment in the last 12 months, compared to those living in the rest of Scotland (9.4% and 5.9% respectively).
• Respondents classified as 'victims' in the main SCJS questionnaire experienced higher levels of stalking and harassment, compared to non-victims (11.4% and 5.5% respectively).
• Just over a third (36.4%) of those who had experienced SCJS stalking and harassment in the last 12 months had also experienced partner abuse in the same period.
• More than half (54.9%) of those who experienced at least one form of SCJS stalking and harassment in the last 12 months knew the offender in some way, among whom 15.0% said the offender was their partner. Nearly a third (30.8%) did not know the offender at all.
• Around one fifth of those (18.9%) who experienced at least one type of SCJS stalking and harassment in the last 12 months said that the police came to know about the most recent incident. More women than men said that the police came to know about the most recent incident (at 23.2% and 13.5% respectively).

Serious sexual assault

• Overall, 2.7% of respondents had experienced at least one form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 (this proportion has not changed over the last six sweeps of the SCJS), and 0.9% had experienced more than one form of serious sexual assault.
• A higher proportion of women than men had experienced at least one form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16, at 4.6% and 0.6% respectively.
• More than half of respondents (52.8%) said that they had experienced their first (or only) incident of serious sexual assault between the ages of 16 and 20.
• Serious sexual assault was most commonly carried out by someone known to the victim. Nearly nine out of ten (87.4%) of those who had experienced at least one form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16 knew the offender in some way, amongst whom over half (54.8%) said that the offender was their partner.
• Men perpetuated the majority of serious sexual assaults: 94.1% of those who had experienced serious sexual assault since the age of 16 said the offender was male. This proportion was higher for female victims than male victims, at 98.0% and 63.6% respectively.
• Of those who had experienced forced sexual intercourse since the age of 16, 16.8% said the police were informed about the most recent incident.
• The most common reason for not reporting the most recent incident of serious sexual assault to the police was fear that is would make matters worse (43.4%).

Less serious sexual offences

• Overall, 8.3% of respondents had experienced at least one type of less serious sexual offence since the age of 16, and 2.3% had experienced more than one type.
• Within the last 12 months, 1.3% of respondents had experienced at least one form of less serious sexual offence.
• A higher proportion of women than men had experienced at least one type of less serious sexual offence since the age of 16 (13.5% women, compared to 2.7% of men).
• Men carried out the majority of less serious sexual offences: amongst those who had experienced at least one type of less serious sexual offending since the age of 16, 92.7% said that the offender was male. This proportion was higher still for female victims, at 98.8%
• The offender-victim relationship varied by the type of less serious sexual offence. Some types of offence were more likely to be perpetrated by strangers, such as indecent exposure (70.9%) and unwanted sexual touching (39.9%), whilst partners were most likely to carry out sexual threats (55.1%).