New research has found more than half of Australian women in their 20s have experienced sexual violence, with fears the rates of abuse across the population are far higher than previously thought.
The study from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) also found a third of women in their 40s, and a quarter of women aged between 68 and 73 have experienced sexual violence at some stage during their lives.
Women in their 20s and 40s who had experienced violence as children were twice as likely to experience it again as adults.
Key points:
- New research shows more than half of women in their 20s have experienced sexual violence
- Women who experience childhood sexual violence are twice as likely to experience sexual and domestic violence as adults
- Researchers say a nationally consistent definition of sexual violence is needed