Criminal Victimisation in International Perspective

Abstract

This report presents the key results of the crime victim surveys that were carried out as part of the fifth sweep of the International Crime Victim Surveys (ICVS) conducted in 2004/2005. A large portion of the these data are derived from the European Survey on Crime and Safety (EU ICS), organised by a consortium lead by Gallup Europe and co-financed by the European Commission, DGRTD. Wherever possible, results on 2004 have been compared with results from surveys carried out in earlier rounds since 1989. The ICVS and EU ICS cover ten conventional crimes, broken down into vehicle related crimes (theft of a car, theft from a car, theft of a motorcycle or moped, theft of a bicycle), burglary, attempted burglary, theft of personal property and contact crimes (robbery, sexual offences and assault & threat). In most countries in this report, questions have been added to the questionnaire on experiences with street level corruption, consumer fraud, including internet-based fraud and credit card theft, drug-related problems and hate crime. For most categories of crime trends over time can be studied in a broad selection of countries. Other subjects covered by the questionnaire are reporting to the police, satisfaction with the police, distribution and need of victim support, fear of crime, use of preventive measures and attitudes towards sentencing. This report presents data from 30 countries, including the majority of developed nations. Also the data from 33 main cities of a selection of developed and developing countries are presented in this report. Altogether data are presented from 38 different countries. A full text translation of this report in Spanish is also available (See: Onderzoek en beleid 257a). CONTENT: 1. Introduction 2. Victimisation by any comon crime 3. Victimisation by vehicle related crimes 4. Victimisation by burglary and other theft 5. Victimisation by contact crimes 6. Victimisation by non-conventional crimes 7. Victimisation trends 8. Victimisation and police recorded crime 9. Reporting crimes to the police and victim satisfaction 10. Victim support 11. Fear of crime 12. Security precautions 13. Public attitudes to law enforcement 14. Public opinion and punishment 15. Twenty years of comparitive crime victim surveying