• Haley Clark, Antonia Quadara
• Australian Institute of Family Studies

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13 December 2010This project examines sexual offending by asking victim/survivors how the sexual assault(s) they experienced happened; what factors they thought facilitated it; and what strategies, behaviours and tactics perpetrators used against them.

Building the evidence on how sexual assault occurs, and particularly the strategies used by men to perpetrate, can assist in the development of prevention initiatives.

Significant proportions of women in Australia have been sexually assaulted: national victimisation surveys consistently estimate that around one in six women experience sexual assault from the age of 15. At local, state and national levels, reducing the incidence of sexual violence is a pressing concern and a core focus of policy development.

However, those responsible for developing prevention strategies face the challenge that there is a lack of knowledge about sexual offending. Research has established that women are primarily assaulted by people they know, often in contexts of trust and familiarity. This acts as a barrier to disclosing sexual assault and many offences therefore remain hidden. Few victim/survivors report offences to police and fewer still see their perpetrator convicted.

Most current knowledge about male sexual offenders is based on the small minority who have been detected. The research base suggests that these men may not be representative of undetected offenders or the types of sexual offences regularly perpetrated. To date, the sexual offending literature has emphasised instances involving adult sexual assault where perpetrators and victims know each other. Relatively little is known about the situational circumstances in which sexual assault occurs, the factors that facilitate or inhibit it occurring, the use of strategies by offenders, and how these aspects all fit together.