Victimisation and gender: a case study from non-metropolitan Australia

Victim surveys conducted in high crime rate inner-city areas have established that men have a higher rate of victimisation than women, and that they are more likely to report repeat or multiple victimisation. In focusing on victimisation in the Armidale and Dumaresq Local Government Areas in north-western New South Wales, the victim survey reported on in this paper, provides an alternative perspective of the distribution of crime in a low crime rate area. Importantly, this survey not only shows that women reported more than half the incidents incurred by respondents, they all suffered a higher incidence of multiple victimisation. In so doing, the results of this survey challenge some of the commonly held perceptions regarding the characteristics of low crime rate areas.