Unreported Crime: Personal Reasons
1) Victims of crimes may fear the potential repercussions reporting may have
(especially instances where they know who the offender is, which ends up being
the case for a lot of victims). Furthermore, sometimes within extreme cases
involving offenders that are minors, their identities can be concealed from the
public as a protection method.
• domestic abuse victims; they may have to face further violence at the hands of
their abusers as a punishment for going to authority
• Rhys Jones murder trial - one of the boys was only ever known to the public as
“Boy M”, his identity was concealed and protected to ensure the police received
full cooperation and there would be no fear regarding the impact his involvement
would have on the public as they do not know who he is
*Statistics:
• in the year ending March 2018, CSEW data showed that only 18% of women
who had experienced domestic abuse ended up reporting it
• in Scotland, up to 1,000,000 domestic violence incidents can go unreported
every year
2) Victims of crimes may also feel shame at the thought of making a report
• sexual assault/rape victims: may not fully feel comfortable relaying the details
of what happened to them in the presence of authority or just anyone really, out
of shame and embarrassment
*Statistics:
• 5 in 6 women and 4 in 5 men who have been raped do not go to the police
• the CSEW found that 40% of victims who chose not to report being sexually
assaulted had given embarrassment as a reason
3) Witnesses of particular crimes may also feel disinterested in going through the
process of reporting crimes that aren’t seen as particularly urgent or life-
threatening, and don’t
directly affect the witness
• underage smoking
• drug use
• vagrancy
• Mischief Night: took place the night before Halloween where adolescents
engage in acts of vandalism that, although is against the law, go unreported
because people tend not to bother themselves with reporting crimes that are not
causing anyone any harm
*Statistics:
• a survey conducted in 2014 showed that 43% of businesses chose not to report
vandalism on their premises due to feeling that the crime was too trivial to
report
• within the same survey it was also found that 40% of businesses chose not to
report vandalism due to lack of police engagement
1) Victims of crimes may fear the potential repercussions reporting may have
(especially instances where they know who the offender is, which ends up being
the case for a lot of victims). Furthermore, sometimes within extreme cases
involving offenders that are minors, their identities can be concealed from the
public as a protection method.
• domestic abuse victims; they may have to face further violence at the hands of
their abusers as a punishment for going to authority
• Rhys Jones murder trial - one of the boys was only ever known to the public as
“Boy M”, his identity was concealed and protected to ensure the police received
full cooperation and there would be no fear regarding the impact his involvement
would have on the public as they do not know who he is
*Statistics:
• in the year ending March 2018, CSEW data showed that only 18% of women
who had experienced domestic abuse ended up reporting it
• in Scotland, up to 1,000,000 domestic violence incidents can go unreported
every year
2) Victims of crimes may also feel shame at the thought of making a report
• sexual assault/rape victims: may not fully feel comfortable relaying the details
of what happened to them in the presence of authority or just anyone really, out
of shame and embarrassment
*Statistics:
• 5 in 6 women and 4 in 5 men who have been raped do not go to the police
• the CSEW found that 40% of victims who chose not to report being sexually
assaulted had given embarrassment as a reason
3) Witnesses of particular crimes may also feel disinterested in going through the
process of reporting crimes that aren’t seen as particularly urgent or life-
threatening, and don’t
directly affect the witness
• underage smoking
• drug use
• vagrancy
• Mischief Night: took place the night before Halloween where adolescents
engage in acts of vandalism that, although is against the law, go unreported
because people tend not to bother themselves with reporting crimes that are not
causing anyone any harm
*Statistics:
• a survey conducted in 2014 showed that 43% of businesses chose not to report
vandalism on their premises due to feeling that the crime was too trivial to
report
• within the same survey it was also found that 40% of businesses chose not to
report vandalism due to lack of police engagement
