Recorded Crime Victims 2020 and Suspected Offenders 2019

There were 32 male victims and 6 female victims of murder or manslaughter in Ireland in 2020, according to data recorded by An Garda Síochána. A further 17 males and 17 females were killed in incidents classified as dangerous driving leading to death. Overall, 49 males (68.1%) and 23 females (31.9%) were victims of crime incidents classified as homicide in 2020 in Ireland. See Table 1.1 and Figure 1.1.

While the reporting of sexual violence decreased in 2020 relative to 2019 (down from 2,827 victims to 2,534 victims overall, at least partly attributable to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions which saw a general fall in recorded crime levels in 2020), it still remains the case that 4 out of every 5 victims (79.2%) who reported sexual violence crimes were female. Just over two thousand (2,006) females reported sexual violence in 2020 compared to 528 males.

Just over half (55.5%) of victims of physical assault and related offences recorded in 2020 were male.

Statistics in respect of the age and sex of victims are presented in further detail in Recorded Victims 2020.

A crime is recorded as detected when a person has been identified as the perpetrator by An Garda Síochána and that person has been issued with a sanction such as a charge, summons or caution. The person sanctioned is termed the suspected offender.

For detected homicide offences in 2019, 83.0% of suspected offenders were male. The proportion of males was higher for murder or manslaughter incidents (90.3% were male) than for incidents of dangerous driving leading to death (72.7% were male). See Table 1.2 and Figure 1.2.

Almost all suspected offenders (99.4%) of detected sexual violence crimes reported in Ireland in 2019 were male.

Four in five (79.8%) suspected offenders of detected physical assaults and related offences in 2019 were male.

Statistics in respect of suspected offenders are presented in further detail in Recorded Suspected Offenders 2019.

Where a victim and suspected offender are recorded for a crime (i.e. for detected incidents) it is possible to link a victim and suspected offender to produce a limited profile (i.e. age and sex) of the victim and suspected offender relationship.

In detected murder and manslaughter incidents recorded in 2019, the suspected offender and victim were both male in three quarters (74.2%) of cases. In contrast, three quarters (76.5%) of detected sexual violence crime involved a male suspected offender and a female victim. See Table 5.1.

In one in five (19.6%) cases of detected sexual violence which was reported in 2019, both the victim and suspected offender were under 18 when the offence occurred. See Table 5.2.

Statistics relating to the link between victim and suspected offender are presented in further detail in Linkage between Recorded Victims and Suspected Offenders.

Background

Data presented in this publication is sourced from PULSE, the administrative crime database of An Garda Síochána, and extracted at the beginning of March 2021.

Statistics relating to victims of recorded crime incidents were first published by CSO in 2019, for the reference period 2016 to 2018. This publication includes statistics for reference year 2020. The full series, from 2016, is available on PxStat.

Statistics relating to suspected offenders of detected crime incidents were published by CSO for the first time in 2020, following the introduction of new data governance controls by An Garda Síochána targeted at improving data quality in the recording of detections in 2018. Statistical data in respect of suspected offenders is presented for crimes reported in 2018 and 2019 in this publication. Figures for reference year 2020 will be published in the next reporting period, in order to allow time for a sufficient volume of investigations to proceed to conclusion.

Differences between the numbers of suspected offenders in this publication and the Recorded Crime Detection 2019 publication of 24^th November 2020 reflect the detection of additional incidents in the interim.

Statistics published in this release are in respect of crime incidents known to and recorded by An Garda Síochána, and do not capture crime incidents which have not been reported by victims.

Statistics published by the CSO and sourced from PULSE continue to be categorised as Statistics Under Reservation. This category is used to keep users informed about the quality of statistical outputs, and arises because of ongoing data quality issues within the data source. In the case of PULSE data, it informs users that Recorded Crime statistics based on recorded incidents on PULSE may understate or overstate the prevalence of reported offences and may be subject to revisions in subsequent statistical publications.

Please see full Background Notes for further information.