The information is not available in the requested format. At present Northern Ireland court proceedings and sentencing data sources do not include victim information in relation to the commission of an offence.
Table 1 shows the number of recorded rape offences (including attempted rape) from 1998-99 by age group and gender of victim while table 2 outlines the number of prosecutions and convictions for rape offences (including attempted rape) for the calendar years 1996 to 2005 (the latest available years). Court data are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.
Recorded crime data cannot be routinely reconciled with prosecution and conviction data as the former relate to the number of offences whereas the latter relate to the number of offenders brought before the courts. In addition, recorded crime data denote each offence as it has been initially recorded and this may differ from the offence for which a suspect or suspects are subsequently proceeded against in the courts.
Government are committed to improving the rates of successful prosecution in rape cases. Specialist police units, staffed by highly skilled and trained personnel, are dedicated to enhancing the service to victims of rape and sexual assault and both PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service are seeking to develop models of best investigative practice so that more offences can achieve the threshold for prosecution.
The Northern Ireland Office and the Department of Health and Social and Personal Services have also jointly developed, and consulted on, a Draft Regional Strategy for addressing Sexual Violence in Northern Ireland which will address these issues through a robust action plan delivering on strategic objectives in three key areas—crime prevention, better victim support and improved protection and justice measures. The Strategy is to be published this spring.
Age under 18 Age 18-64 Age 65+ Age unknown All ages 1997-98 Male — — — — — Female 118 149 0 4 271 Total 118 149 0 4 271 1998-99 Male — — — — — Female 135 171 3 15 324 Total 135 171 3 15 324 1999-2000 Male — — — — — Female 131 160 1 19 311 Total 131 160 1 19 311 2000-01 Male — — — — — Female 95 125 1 11 232 Total 95 125 1 11 232 2001-02 Male — — — — — Female 108 179 0 5 292 Total 108 179 0 5 292 2002-03 Male — — — — — Female 164 192 0 1 357 Total 164 192 0 1 357 2003-041 Male 5 0 1 0 6 Female 165 222 2 0 389 Total 170 222 3 0 395 2004-05 Male 9 7 0 1 17 Female 157 204 2 0 363 Total 166 211 2 1 380 2005-06 Male 20 15 0 0 35 Female 134 218 3 1 356 Total 154 233 3 1 391 2006-07 Male 27 20 0 0 47 Female 151 257 1 1 410 Total 178 277 1 1 457 1 Prior to a change in legislation which took place during 2003/04, males could not be classed as victims of rape. Source: Central Statistics Unit, PSN1
Prosecutions Convictions 1996 69 15 1997 61 21 1998 48 18 1999 36 8 2000 26 10 2001 34 17 2002 30 10 2003 31 10 2004 37 18 2005 30 8 Source: NIO Statistics and Research Branch