WHILE crime levels have stabilised, perceptions that crime is increasing persist, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday. This comes after Stats SA released the results of the Victims of Crime Survey for 2014/15 which states that the levels of crime in the country have stabilised but that South African perceptions of crime are increasing.

The report which looks at assault, sexual offense and murder within South African communities is based on a sample size of approximately 30 000 households and covers people 16 years and above.

According to the report, murder at (95.7%) was the most reported to the police followed by sexual offenses (63%) and 55.1% of assaults.

Presenting the results of the report, Statistician General Lehohla said 37% of people did not report sexual offenses because they felt it wasn’t serious enough. Other reasons given were that the police could do nothing and that it was inappropriate for police.

Sexual assault: When coming to sexual offenses – which refer to an unwanted sexual act or contact or communication with unwanted sexual attention – the data showed that four in ten sexual offenses that occurred in 2014/15 were at home (40%), while 25% happened outdoors.

The report further found that 39.6% of individuals who were single and never married were victims of sexual offenses at home, followed by the in street and at an entertainment areas.

Assault: The report revealed that the most common place for the occurrence of assault was in the street, while the majority of young people were most likely to experience assault in the street, while the elder generation was most likely to experience assault at home.