Explain the reason that certain crimes are unreported.
1.2
Crimes can go unreported for many reasons, mostly personal, cultural and social reason.
One of the most unreported crimes being domestic abuse, there are many factors at play that
contribute to this. Victims will usually be in fear of the reaction of the offender, they would
expect the situation to become much worse. In addition to this Womens Aid reported that a
victims uncertain living situations after reporting a crime and subsequently having to move
out makes the victim less likely to report the crime as they’d be left even more vulnerable.
This is backed up by the Womens Aid audit report of 2019 stating that 57% of referrals to
refuges were declined, 18% being due to the lack of space. Another factor at play could be
the victim's shame in not believing friends and family about the offender's previous displays
of domestic violence, the victim would feel it is too late to back out of the relationship and
they had brought it upon themself. Unfortunately, one of the main reason's men feel less
inclined to report domestic violence is because of the stigma attached to men being the
‘victim’ of such a crime. The social construct a man’s role in relationships leads to men not
only feeling too ashamed to report domestic abuse but also that they are at fault because they
are clearly not ‘man enough’. Age also has a large part to play in the lack of reports as many
people in long term relationships believe they are far too old to be reporting the crime as it
has gone on for so long. This is not even considering the fact that crime against family
members or your partner was considered less of a taboo in society a few decades ago, family
life was considered private and it was not very socially acceptable to ‘air your dirty laundry’
so to speak.
Secondly, there is a vast number of hate crimes that go unreported because the victims live in
constant fear of the offender’s reaction. This could be because the victim could have been
explicitly warned about reporting the crime and the consequences that could have for them or
their family or the offender’s reputation could have the same effect. In most of these cases
victims believe it has much safer for them to be in fear and hide the crime rather than
1.2
Crimes can go unreported for many reasons, mostly personal, cultural and social reason.
One of the most unreported crimes being domestic abuse, there are many factors at play that
contribute to this. Victims will usually be in fear of the reaction of the offender, they would
expect the situation to become much worse. In addition to this Womens Aid reported that a
victims uncertain living situations after reporting a crime and subsequently having to move
out makes the victim less likely to report the crime as they’d be left even more vulnerable.
This is backed up by the Womens Aid audit report of 2019 stating that 57% of referrals to
refuges were declined, 18% being due to the lack of space. Another factor at play could be
the victim's shame in not believing friends and family about the offender's previous displays
of domestic violence, the victim would feel it is too late to back out of the relationship and
they had brought it upon themself. Unfortunately, one of the main reason's men feel less
inclined to report domestic violence is because of the stigma attached to men being the
‘victim’ of such a crime. The social construct a man’s role in relationships leads to men not
only feeling too ashamed to report domestic abuse but also that they are at fault because they
are clearly not ‘man enough’. Age also has a large part to play in the lack of reports as many
people in long term relationships believe they are far too old to be reporting the crime as it
has gone on for so long. This is not even considering the fact that crime against family
members or your partner was considered less of a taboo in society a few decades ago, family
life was considered private and it was not very socially acceptable to ‘air your dirty laundry’
so to speak.
Secondly, there is a vast number of hate crimes that go unreported because the victims live in
constant fear of the offender’s reaction. This could be because the victim could have been
explicitly warned about reporting the crime and the consequences that could have for them or
their family or the offender’s reputation could have the same effect. In most of these cases
victims believe it has much safer for them to be in fear and hide the crime rather than
