Respondents were asked about their own personal experiences of crime in the 12 months prior to interview and whether they had been the victim of a violent or non-violent theft or attempted theft, a physical assault or a fraud incident. For the purpose of this survey these crime types are referred to as ‘personal crime’.
One in ten (9.7%) persons aged years and over 18 said that they had been a victim of a violent or non-violent theft or attempted theft, a physical assault or a fraud in the 12 months prior to interview. This represents an increase on levels reported in previous surveys. For example, in 2015, 5.3% of persons aged 18 and over reported having been a victim of personal crime in the 12 months prior to interview. Surveys prior to 2015 did not include fraud in this category. See Table 3.1.
Some care should be taken when interpreting changes in the survey data over time. The format of the survey, and the format of questions within the survey will have changed over time. Care should also be taken when comparing the results with crime levels recorded in administrative sources, since the survey variables may not correspond with administrative variables and the levels of reporting by victims will have changed over time.
The rate of victimisation for personal crime was higher among males (10%) than females (9%), and considerably higher among persons aged 18-29 (14%) than persons in older age groups (5% of persons aged 60 or above). People from very affluent areas (14%) reported being victims of personal crime more than people in more disadvantaged areas. See Table 3.2 and Figure 3.1.
Looking at the different types of personal crime individually, victimisation rates for violent theft and non-violent theft or attempted theft were highest in the Dublin region (at 3% and 6% of persons aged 18 or over respectively) and among people in the 18-29 year age group (again 3% and 6% respectively). Persons in the 18-29 year age group also reported being the victims of assault (4%) considerably more than other age cohorts. 5% of people aged 30-44 and 5% of people aged 45-59 reported being victims of fraud which was higher than the rate of victimisation among people in other age cohorts. See Table 3.2.
| Male | Female | Aged 18-29 | Aged 30-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 or over | |
| Victim of any type of personal crime | 10 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 5 |
The Dublin region had the highest reported rate of victimisation (13%) for personal crime, compared to a low of 5% in the Border region. All other regions had victimisation rates of between 8% and 10% for personal crime. See Map 3.1.
39% of persons aged 18 and over who said that they had been a victim of personal crime in the 12 months prior to interview said that they had reported some or all of the incidents to An Garda Síochána. There was considerable variation in the level of reporting by different types of crime – people were most inclined to report incidents of violent thefts (67%) and least likely to report fraud incidents (19%) to An Garda Síochána. See Table 3.3.
Of those who reported being a victim of personal crime but said that they did not report all crimes to An Garda Síochána, the most common reason cited for not reporting was that the incident was not serious enough or that they had not suffered any loss (35% of victims who did not report). Other common reasons cited were that the victim said that they had solved it themselves (24%) or that they did not believe that An Garda Síochána could do anything about it (22%). See Table 3.4.
| Reason for not reporting some or all incidents to An Garda Siochana | |
| Not serious enough/no loss | 35 |
| Solved it myself (knew the perpetrator/thief) | 24 |
| Believed Gardai could do nothing | 22 |
| Other reasons | 19 |
| Believed Gardai would not do anything | 16 |
| Did not wish to involve the Gardai | 10 |
| Feared reprisal | 2 |
| Did not have time | 0.5 |
| No insurance claim anticipated/could not claim insurance | 0.5 |
People who stated that they had been a victim of personal crime were asked whether they believed the incident took place because of any particular characteristics about themselves, such as age, gender, race etc. 93% of victims did not identify any such characteristics which they felt had motivated the crime. 4% of victims believed the crime was motivated by race, religion or ethnicity, while 3% stated that they felt the crime was motivated by gender and 2% said they felt that age had been a motivating factor. See Table 3.5.
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