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Allegations and case outcomes

Home: Survivors: For Males: Research statistics

Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003

Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) members' views about the allegations and case outcomes:

In 75% of the cases where charges were laid, CIU members indicated that they were confident the victim was telling the truth.
In 11.2% they thought the allegations were probably genuine.
In contrast, in 30% of cases that resulted in NFPA (no further police action), members indicated that they were confident or reasonably confident that the victim was making a false report.
In 44% of cases that resulted in NFPA, members recorded information about the case in neutral terms without expressing a view about the veracity of the allegations.
In 27.4% of cases that were subsequently withdrawn, CIU members were more likely to doubt the allegations were genuine
In 39% of Complaint Withdrawn (CW) cases, members were neutral in expressing their own views as part of the information they recorded.
In 54.3% of the cases examined, Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit (SOCAU) members gave no indication or remained neutral in terms of indicating any view about the veracity of the allegations.
In 63% of cases where police intended to charge, the SOCAU member was confident, or reasonably confident, that the victim was telling the truth.

Reasons that cases did not proceed

Police views and attitudes towards the victim;
Victims feeling unable to proceed themselves; and
The impact of the process itself on discouraging victims from participating any further in the investigation.

"False complaints"

False complaints represented just over 2% of the 850 records considered across the entire sample. There were at least another 70 cases where members of the police force suspected or were sure that the allegations were false, however the outcome of the investigation was classified in different terms, such as 'no offence detected' or as a case for NFPA.

Cases classified as false reports are distinguished by the degree of certainty with which members of the police force expressed that the allegations were false and an increased likelihood that the victims in these cases could, or in fact were, charged with making a false report.

The characteristics of these cases are:

all 17 of the victims in this category were women, aged between 15 and 45;
seven of the 17 victims were recorded as having a disability, primarily mental health or psychiatric issues;
of the 17 victims, 11 were previously known to police, mainly because they had made previous allegations of rape and non-rape offences or had prior convictions. One woman was known due to having taken out an intervention order related to the alleged offender himself (a former partner);
the main relationship categories were strangers, current or former partner, friends, acquaintances or men whom victims had met on the night; and
the majority of victims reported the rape within 24 hours and most referred to a single incident;

Acronyms

CUI - Criminal Investigation Unit (detectives)
CW - Complaint withdrawn: where the victim indicates that he or she does not wish for the investigation to proceed, or following the initial report, would prefer that there is no further action taken.
SOCA Sexual Offences and Child Abuse
NFPA - No Further Police Action: where police decide to take no further action on a complaint.

Download: Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003 ( 448 Kb )

Source: Statewide Steering Committee to Reduce Sexual Assault

Child Abuse and the Family Court

Child abuse allegations made in the Family Court were no more frequently false than abuse allegations made in other circumstances, with false allegation being found to be 9%.

Download: Child Abuse and the Family Court ( 66 Kb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

Note:

The Law and Sexual Offences Against Adults in Australia: The prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt that the victim complainant was not consenting to sexual intercourse. In practice, this means that the legal starting point assumes that the victim complainant was consenting, which the prosecution needs to disprove in order to achieve a conviction. This has resulted in "unwarranted reliance on stereotyped views of what might amount to consensual sexual behaviour" which has tended to position real rape victims as those who fight back, who vigorously defend themselves, who are virginal or who are assaulted by strangers.; Download: The Law and Sexual Offences Against Adults in Australia ( 839 Kb ); Source: Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault

Related reports

To Report or Not to Report: A Study of Victim/Survivors of Sexual Assault and Their Experiences of Making an Initial Report to the Police Gilmore, K. & Pittman, L., CASA House, Melbourne, 1993
What Lies Behind the Hidden Figure of Sexual Assault? Issues of Prevalence and Disclosure, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 2003: Download: What Lies Behind the Hidden Figure of Sexual Assault? Issues of Prevalence and Disclosure 2003 ( 232 Kb ); Source: Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault
Sexual Offences: Law and Procedure, Discussion Paper. Victorian Law Reform Commission, Melbourne, 2001
An Obstacle to Reform: 'False' Complaints of Rape. Warner, Kate, Legal Service Bulletin 6 (3) Jun 1981: 137-139

This is not an exhaustive list of research in the area of family violence and sexual assault, merely a starting point. As the locations of web pages often change, many of these reports have been made available through this page to assist readers. Please note that these pdfs may not contain the latest version or any recent changes so it is recommended that researchers check the author's website for updates, suplements or amendments. All published details correct as at July 2009.

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