The party began like most parties do — with food, music and laughter.

"I was 19 at the time … it was the first party I'd been to," Lauren* says.

It was 2013 and Lauren's work friend was celebrating her 21st birthday with a house party in Sydney's Sutherland Shire. A man who said he was friends with Lauren's friend struck up a conversation with the teenager.

Tall and handsome, with hair the colour of sand, he was four years older and had that "classic Australian" look, she says.

"He told me he was studying at uni … he was friendly," Lauren says.

After chatting for a few minutes, the man offered her a drink.

"I know I only had [that] one drink. Then all of a sudden I was throwing up on myself. I couldn't stand up. Everything was a blur. It was pretty awful," she says.

"I knew it was happening but I had no control over it."

The next thing Lauren remembers is the man leading her to a taxi. No-one intervened, although the next day some of her friends teased her about being so drunk she went home with a stranger — something completely out of character for Lauren, who almost never drank alcohol and hadn't even had her first kiss.

In the taxi, the man didn't ask for her home address or where she wanted to go. He simply directed the driver to his place and took Lauren inside.

"He took off my clothes and put me in the shower and then took me to his bedroom and — it happened. That's where I was raped."

It was Lauren's first sexual experience of any kind.

Lauren

I wanted him to know that… I knew what had happened to me, I knew he had [raped me]. "I wanted him to think he wasn't going to get

away with it." I wanted him to know that the police knew and to be scared. I wanted him to feel some sort of pain or feel something for what he had done to me, that you can't just go around and do these things and get away with it...



But the police were no help at all. They really turned me off wanting to try and get justice.

In the six years since, Lauren has battled feelings of guilt, shame and self-hatred, compounded by uncontrollable flashbacks and often crippling symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

But punctuating the anguish are moments of resolve and clarity. The decision to report her rape to police was during one of those moments in 2016. But it did not go as expected.

"I was shut down. I was dismissed … No one gave a shit about it," Lauren says.

Lauren tried three times in as many months to report her sexual assault to police. Each time she went in, she was asked to repeat her story to a different set of detectives. Each time, she was given different information about the steps for proceeding. The last two sets of detectives strongly discouraged her from pursuing her case, she says.

"They made out that it was going to be really hard for them — for the police — and so it's not worth me pursuing it," Lauren says.

"I felt like they cared more about their workload than trying to help me, so I've pretty much given up on it."

Lauren's experience is not unique. Hers is among an escalating number of reported sexual assaults that never make it past the police, an ABC News data investigation has found.

The data reveal, for the first time, the investigation outcome of nearly every sexual assault reported to police in Australia between 2008 and 2017.

The figures, which include previously unseen data on reports rejected by police or withdrawn by the victim, represent the most detailed national picture of police handling of reported sexual assaults.

They uncover rising rates of reports withdrawn and reports rejected, and plummeting rates of arrest or other police action in our largest jurisdictions.

They also reveal large differences between local government areas, with some regions recording more than five times as many rejected or withdrawn reports as neighbouring regions.

In NSW, the investigation has also exposed critical gaps in police records.

NSW Police told ABC News it was unable to supply statistics on reports withdrawn by victims. This is because it does not keep accurate records for why a sexual assault investigation does not lead to an arrest or other formal action.

This is despite officers being required to record a reason — such as "insufficient evidence", "complaint withdrawn", "deceased", etc — by NSW Police's own crime recording standards.

It is the only jurisdiction that does not have this data.

What happens when you report a sexual assault to police? In Victoria, complaints withdrawn soared to one in four in 2018. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. Unfounded Withdrawn Legal action taken Unsolved No legal action 33% 50% 40% 33% 32% 51% 30% 26% Not applicable* 20% 12% 9% 10% 4% 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 1500 924 1,393 1,423 1,123 1,434 1000 Not applicable* 500 367 334 107 0 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 Unfounded 50% 1500 40% 1000 30% 20% 500 9% 10% 367 4% 107 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 Withdrawn 50% 1500 40% 1,123 1000 30% 26% 20% 500 12% 10% 334 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 Legal action taken 50% 1500 1,393 40% 32% 51% 1,434 1000 30% 20% 500 10% 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 Unsolved 33% 50% 1500 924 1,423 40% 33% 1000 30% 20% 500 10% 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 No legal action Not applicable* Not applicable* In NSW, only one in 10 reports since 2009 has led to legal action. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. Unfounded Legal action taken No legal action Unsolved Withdrawn 80% 69% 60% 45% 41% 40% Data not recorded 18% 20% 12% 7% 6% 2% 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 4,251 4000 3000 2000 Data not recorded 1,087 1000 1,079 972 283 391 56 426 0 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 1995 2018 Unfounded 80% 4000 60% 3000 40% 2000 1000 20% 391 6% 2% 56 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 Legal action taken 80% 4000 60% 3000 41% 40% 2000 1000 20% 972 7% 426 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 No legal action 80% 4000 60% 3000 40% 2000 1,087 18% 1000 20% 12% 283 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 Unsolved 4,251 80% 4000 69% 60% 3000 45% 40% 2000 1000 20% 1,079 0 0% 1995 2018 1995 2018 Withdrawn Data not recorded Data not recorded In Queensland, 40 per cent of reports in 2018 were either 'unfounded' or withdrawn. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. Unfounded Unsolved Withdrawn Legal action taken No legal action 59% 60% 42% 40% 27% Not applicable* 21% 17% 20% 13% 11% 9% 0% 1998 2018 1998 2018 1998 2018 1998 2018 1,101 1000 800 714 600 544 448 Not applicable* 400 334 200 190 102 86 0 1998 2018 1998 2018 1998 2018 1998 2018 Unfounded 60% 1000 800 40% 600 400 334 20% 13% 9% 200 86 0 0% 1998 2018 1998 2018 Unsolved 60% 1000 800 40% 600 448 400 20% 17% 11% 200 102 0 0% 1998 2018 1998 2018 Withdrawn 60% 1000 800 714 40% 600 27% 21% 400 20% 200 190 0 0% 1998 2018 1998 2018 Legal action taken 1,101 59% 60% 1000 800 42% 40% 544 600 400 20% 200 0 0% 1998 2018 1998 2018 No legal action Not applicable* Not applicable* In WA, nearly 30 per cent of sexual assault reports in 2018 were withdrawn. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. Unsolved Unfounded No legal action Legal action taken Withdrawn 49% 50% 40% 29% 29% 27% 30% 24% 20% 16% 13% 7% 10% 4% 2% 0% 2005 2018 2005 2018 2005 2018 2005 2018 600 500 475 494 400 415 298 227 200 160 128 43 22 0 2005 2018 2005 2018 2005 2018 2005 2005 2018 2005 2018 2018 Unsolved 50% 600 40% 400 30% 20% 200 128 7% 10% 2% 22 0 0% 2005 2018 2005 2018 Unfounded 50% 600 40% 400 30% 227 20% 200 13% 10% 4% 43 0 0% 2005 2018 2005 2018 No legal action 50% 600 40% 29% 400 415 30% 24% 298 20% 200 10% 0 0% 2005 2018 2005 2018 Legal action taken 49% 50% 600 475 40% 494 400 27% 30% 20% 200 10% 0 0% 2005 2018 2005 2018 Withdrawn 50% 600 500 40% 400 29% 30% 20% 16% 200 160 10% 0 0% 2018 2005 2018 2005 In SA, one in four sexual assault investigations in 2017 were finalised without legal action. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. Unsolved Unfounded Withdrawn No legal action Legal action taken 38% 39% 40% 34% 30% 25% 22% 20% 20% 7% 8% 10% 6% 0% 0% 2008 2017 2008 2017 2008 2017 2008 2017 2008 2017 1,112 1000 1,015 814 800 716 574 600 564 400 232 203 200 149 4 0 2008 2017 2008 2017 2008 2017 2008 2017 2008 2017 Unsolved 40% 1000 800 30% 600 20% 400 8% 203 10% 200 0% 4 0 0% 2008 2017 2008 2017 Unfounded 40% 1000 800 30% 600 20% 400 232 7% 10% 200 6% 149 0 0% 2008 2017 2008 2017 Withdrawn 40% 1000 800 30% 574 22% 600 20% 564 20% 400 10% 200 0 0% 2008 2017 2008 2017 No legal action 40% 1000 814 34% 800 30% 25% 716 600 20% 400 10% 200 0 0% 2008 2017 2008 2017 1,112 Legal action taken 38% 39% 40% 1000 1,015 800 30% 600 20% 400 10% 200 0 0% 2017 2008 2017 2008 In Tasmania, cases closed without legal action have quadrupled from 4 per cent to 16 per cent. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. Unfounded Withdrawn No Legal action Unsolved Legal action taken 80% 57% 60% 49% 39% 40% 16% 16% 20% 9% 7% 4% 2% 2% 0% 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 150 100 97 76 90 50 26 14 14 7 25 3 3 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 0 Unfounded 80% 150 60% 100 40% 50 20% 2% 3 2% 3 0 0% 1999 2017 1999 2017 Withdrawn 80% 150 60% 100 40% 50 20% 9% 7% 14 14 0 0% 1999 2017 1999 2017 No Legal action 80% 150 60% 100 40% 16% 50 20% 7 25 4% 0 0% 1999 2017 1999 2017 Unsolved 80% 150 60% 100 76 39% 40% 50 16% 20% 26 0 0% 1999 2017 1999 2017 Legal action taken 80% 150 57% 60% 49% 100 97 90 40% 50 20% 0 0% 1999 2017 1999 2017 In the ACT, one in five sexual assaults reported to police in 2017 were rejected as baseless – four times the proportion rejected in 2015. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. No legal action Legal action taken Withdrawn Unfounded Unsolved 60% 50% 44% 40% 40% 21% 17% 17% 20% 6% 4% 0% 0% 0% 1998 2017 1998 2017 1998 2017 1998 2017 1998 2017 250 200 202 150 107 87 100 86 50 21 16 18 2 0 0 0 1998 2017 1998 2017 1998 2017 1998 2017 1998 2017 No legal action 60% 250 200 40% 150 100 20% 50 6% 21 4% 2 0 0% 1998 2017 1998 2017 Legal action taken 60% 250 50% 200 40% 150 100 17% 20% 86 50 18 0 0% 1998 2017 1998 2017 Withdrawn 60% 250 200 40% 150 100 87 17% 20% 50 0% 0 0 0% 1998 2017 1998 2017 Unfounded 60% 250 200 40% 150 107 21% 100 20% 50 0% 0 0 0% 1998 2017 1998 2017 Unsolved 60% 250 200 44% 202 40% 40% 150 100 20% 50 16 0 0% 1998 2017 1998 2017 NT Police refused multiple requests for statistics. An application under freedom of information laws was refused on the basis the information was available by request to NT Police. Outcomes are ranked from least to most common outcome in the latest year. Data from different states/territories are not directly comparable. Legal action taken No legal action Unfounded Unsolved Withdrawn refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data refused to supply data Legal action taken refused to supply data refused to supply data No legal action refused to supply data refused to supply data Unfounded refused to supply data refused to supply data Unsolved refused to supply data refused to supply data Withdrawn refused to supply data refused to supply data Police in each state/territory are subject to different practices, policies and legislation, so different jurisdictions should be compared with caution. In WA, data from before and after 2017 should be compared with caution due to changes in data recording practices.



*In Qld and Victoria, investigations that cannot be progressed may remain "Unsolved" indefinitely. In SA and WA, these cases are closed with no legal action.

"That's obviously a problem because if police don't keep track of why reports of sexual assault don't result in legal action, there's little anyone can do to improve the number of successful prosecutions," says UNSW's Don Weatherburn. Professor Weatherburn joined UNSW in 2019 after more than 30 years as director of NSW's Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

Karen Willis, executive officer at Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia, says NSW Police should change its processes immediately.

"It's a 'tick a box'. It's not hard. That's basic data collection. That's not asking people to do a whole stack more work," she says.

Police say an increase in sexual assault reporting — particularly of historical crimes — combined with a shift in the types of assaults being reported may explain why a larger percentage are not making it past police.

However Willis, Weatherburn and former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery all say the figures warrant closer scrutiny. They are calling for a national, independent inquiry into where, why and how sexual assault reports are being rejected and withdrawn.

Sexual assault reporting is already "incredibly low", Willis says.

"Finding out that so many [who go to police] don't even get past step one … It's just not good enough.

"On the one hand, we're saying people should come forward and then on the other, we're putting massive barriers in their way … That needs to change."

Will police believe you?

ABC News requested statistics from every police jurisdiction in Australia, for every local government area (or police division, where LGA was unavailable), as far back as records were available. Only the Northern Territory refused to supply data for this investigation.

(EDITOR'S NOTE, February 21, 2020: Two weeks after publication of this story, NT Police supplied the requested data. See what that data revealed.)

Nationally, police rejected 9 per cent of reports in the 10 years to 2017, ABC News can reveal.

The rejected or "unfounded" rate varies dramatically by jurisdiction and council area, with Queensland Police rejecting 20 per cent of sexual assault reports and Tasmania rejecting 5 per cent over the 10-year period.

The rate has climbed fastest in the ACT, soaring from 3 per cent in 2010 to 21 per cent in 2017.

One in five sexual assault reports are "unfounded" in Queensland, compared to one in 20 in NSW Percentage of unfounded reports, 2008-17 Qld 19.9% Vic 9.4% ACT 7.8% SA 5.8% NSW 5.3% WA 4.6% Tas 3.7% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 19.9% 20% 15% 9.4% 10% 7.8% 5.8% 5.3% 4.6% 5% 3.7% 0% Qld Vic ACT SA NSW WA Tas

In some council areas, police are more than twice as likely to reject a sexual assault report as nationally. Brisbane's Redland City Council and Queensland's regional councils Bundaberg and Sunshine Coast were among the areas with the highest unfounded rates, rejecting 25 per cent of sexual assaults reported in the 10 years to 2018.

Unfounded reports either do not count towards the crime rate or are considered "cleared" (that is, resolved), depending on the jurisdiction.

Karen Willis describes the figures as "a shocking indictment".

"Research tells us that between 2 and 5 per cent of reports are of a crime that did not occur. A national rate of 9 per cent is double what the research tells us is going on," she says.

"And what that means is there's a whole stack of serious crimes being reported to police that police aren't acting on. That's not good enough."

She says an independent inquiry conducted in co-operation with police would help to identify whether the differences between council areas meant too much was being left to individual officers' discretion.

"There shouldn't be anything like that variation across the state. You just wouldn't get places or pockets of people who wake up in the morning and decide they're going to make a false complaint," she says.

"That has to be from the police end."





But I don't think it was looked at that way. I just don't think it was really investigated that way… I don't know whether they even documented anything under his name so that if somebody else walks into a police station and says, “This guy raped me”, is my case going to come up? Are they even going to be able to connect it?



I don't know any of that. They don't tell you. I don't even know if I achieved what I wanted to achieve. If my [police] report had everything that I said, both sides of the story, and not just trying to put in the information that's going to give them the least amount of work or whatever, then it wouldn't feel so demeaning. It would feel as though they gave it their best shot. And if they gave it their best shot and didn't have enough evidence, then that would be good enough.But I don't think it was looked at that way. I just don't think it was really investigated that way… I don't know whether they even documented anything under his name so that if somebody else walks into a police station and says, “This guy raped me”, is my case going to come up? Are they even going to be able to connect it?I don't know any of that. They don't tell you. I don't even know if I achieved what I wanted to achieve. Read more... Natalie



I strongly got the feeling they were hoping I would drop the case. I had dealings with [the police] for about nine months, fighting and fighting… They just kept asking me, "Are you sure you want to go ahead with the case? Are you sure you still want to proceed with the case?"I strongly got the feeling they were hoping I would drop the case. Read more... Sandra



I was there for four hours, in a very small dark room, with a man, telling him all this…



This is why women don't report. Because that is hard. The amount of detail that you have to give — to a man — is just, it's really excruciating. They asked me to describe exactly what happened on the day. I had to draw a map of the actual apartment that we were in. I had to put down, second by second, what happened in each moment — who was where, where I was positioned, where the window was, where my head was, where he was standing. Like, everything, in horribly intimate detail.I was there for four hours, in a very small dark room, with a man, telling him all this…This is why women don't report. Because that is hard. The amount of detail that you have to give — to a man — is just, it's really excruciating. Read more... Lisa



We went up maybe two or three floors and into a small room. They closed the door and it was just the two men on one side and me on the other. And there was no offer of support, no-one asked if I wanted anything. It was just, “Take a seat. Look, let's do this.”



I was just repeating the same thing I had told the other officer over two hours. I was like, this is just kind of retraumatising, doing this all over again. I sat waiting for 30 minutes before two detectives came down. I guess they kind of seemed in a rush, like they've just been thrown this case and they weren't prepared for it.We went up maybe two or three floors and into a small room. They closed the door and it was just the two men on one side and me on the other. And there was no offer of support, no-one asked if I wanted anything. It was just, “Take a seat. Look, let's do this.”I was just repeating the same thing I had told the other officer over two hours. I was like, this is just kind of retraumatising, doing this all over again. Read more... Ruby

UNSW's Don Weatherburn says some reports of sexual assault are baseless, "but in my experience, they are generally infrequent".

"The situation [in some local government areas] of one in four reports being rejected as not genuine would be a matter of concern for the police, I would have thought — and certainly a matter of concern for the general public."

Sydney University's Cowdery, who joined the university's Institute of Criminology in 2012 after 16 years as NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, says he "wouldn't be unduly fazed" about one in 12 reports being unfounded.

"But when it gets up to one in four, I think, 'Something's going on here'," he says.

What does 'unfounded' really mean? Numerous studies from Australia and overseas have found misclassification of sexual assault cases is routine.

Researchers re-evaluating police files found the "unfounded" category included: Withdrawn or discontinued cases, where the victim decides not to pursue an investigation

Mistaken or inaccurate reports, such as cases of mistaken identity

Unsubstantiated reports, where police could not find evidence the crime occurred

Cases where the victim was unable or unwilling to cooperate

Cases where the victim was heavily intoxicated

Baseless or unwarranted cases, which did not meet the legal criteria for a crime

To reject a report, police in most jurisdictions must have evidence showing the crime did not occur. In others, such as Victoria, lack of evidence to establish that an offence occurred is sufficient. Either way, police should conduct some preliminary investigation.

"For a long time it was assumed that the 'no crime' or 'unfounded' category equated to false complaint," says Jan Jordan, professor of criminology at New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington and an international expert on police responses to sexual violence.

However, her own research — backed by studies from Australia, the UK, the US, Canada and New Zealand — demonstrates that in practice, the unfounded category is far broader than this.

In some cases, it has been misused for genuine reports.

NSW Police told ABC News that a victim withdrawing a report may be taken as evidence that the crime did not occur.

This is deeply problematic, Professor Jordan says.

"There are a whole lot of reasons why complainants would withdraw a genuine complaint," she says.

"Genuine complainants who have been sexually assaulted may decide to withdraw because they feel like they're not being believed or supported, or they're being pressured by the offender or the offender's peers, or their own family don't want to see them go through a court system."

And in other cases uncovered by ABC News, sexual assault victims say they capitulated to police pressure not to pursue their case.

'They made it sound hopeless'

Natalie says she "relented" to police pressure to drop a sexual assault investigation "after they made it sound like it was hopeless".

The 36-year-old was sexually assaulted in 2008 by a man she met while drinking and playing pool at a pub in Sydney's north-west. She reported the rape about five weeks later.

"I felt like she [the detective] was strongly telling me not to bother … That it wasn't in my best interest, that there's really no point and that if I insisted on doing it, I was just sort of wasting time," Natalie says.

"In the end … I felt like I really didn't have much of a choice but to say that I wouldn't go ahead with [it]."

Natalie

I kind of remember walking down a road with the guy. I don't remember getting to my car or how we got to my car. I don’t remember getting in my car and I don't remember the beginning of the events that took place.



Then at some point my conscious comes back to me. I don't know whether I was actually unconscious but I woke up… Somebody was having sex with me and I wondered what was going on and how I got there. "I was trying to speak and I couldn't. I was trying to move and I couldn't. It was a terrifying feeling, to not be in control of your body." I was feeling really sick and nauseous. I started vomiting. I threw up a few times and he just continued to have sex with me while this was happening. It went from vaginal to anal, back to vaginal… It hurt but I still couldn’t really speak. I was just really sick.

Natalie agreed not to make a formal statement but says she was "really adamant" that police at least record the sexual assault and warn the man that a police report had been filed about his behaviour.

"I couldn't live with myself if I just let it go and he did it again," she says.

More than a year passed. Then, in March 2010, the detective called. She had spoken to Natalie's attacker.

Natalie still becomes emotional when she recalls the phone call.

"She said, 'It was a misunderstanding, he's a good guy, he lives with his mum and little sister, and has a full-time job' … [It was] like she was saying, 'He's a decent person' and therefore couldn't have raped me," Natalie says.

"I couldn't believe she used the words, 'It was a misunderstanding' … I was stunned."

The final, devastating blow came when Natalie obtained a copy of her police file under freedom of information laws and read the detective's notes from her initial interview in 2008.

"The parts that were documented were the parts that didn't support my rape case," she says.

"It's almost as though the document is written with any information that doesn't fit with an assault."

Nearly one in three sexual assault reports are withdrawn in Queensland, compared to one in 10 in Tasmania. Percentage of reports withdrawn, 2008-17 Qld 29.5% SA 21.4% WA 19.3% ACT 16.2% Vic 15.4% Tas 8.8% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 29.5% 30% 21.4% 19.3% 20% 16.2% 15.4% 10% 8.8% 0% QLD SA WA ACT Vic Tas

Complaint withdrawn means that police believe a crime has been committed but, like Natalie, the victim has instructed police not to take further action. Withdrawn complaints are considered "cleared" in every state and territory except SA.

Nationally, one in five sexual assaults reported to police were withdrawn by the victim, ABC News can reveal. Queensland had the highest rate of reports withdrawn, at 33 per cent in 2018; Tasmania had the lowest, at 9 per cent in 2017.

Across other states, reports withdrawn vary dramatically by council area. As many as 44 per cent of reports were withdrawn in Gold Coast City Council in the 10 years to 2018, compared to less than 20 per cent in Brisbane's Redland City Council.

This variation in withdrawn rates was highlighted in a scathing 2017 Queensland Audit Office report, which found Queensland Police had pressured victims into withdrawing complaints. It also found police were wrongly changing the status of some cases from unsolved to unfounded.

Both these strategies allowed Queensland Police to improve its crime clearance rate.

A QPS spokesperson said Queensland Police had since implemented the audit office's recommendations and corrected its records. The statistics supplied to ABC News are from the updated database.





I mean, it was a crime. But … I look at myself and I go, “You know, you're disgusting. You're nothing. This person did this to you” and like mentally, it's really, really hard. And because that person's done that to you, you just think you're worthless because he thought you were worthless. I guess I was confident before it happened. I was confident in myself. I liked myself. I liked my body. I respected myself. And now that respect is gone because he disrespected my body, he disrespected me.I mean, it was a crime. But … I look at myself and I go, “You know, you're disgusting. You're nothing. This person did this to you” and like mentally, it's really, really hard. And because that person's done that to you, you just think you're worthless because he thought you were worthless. Read more... Lauren I just generally feel angry that this is something that impacted me but he gets to walk away. Nothing's happened. He gets to go on living his life and this sort of thing doesn't affect him at all. Lara I feel like, oh, well maybe if I'd had more injuries he would’ve been charged. I get angry at myself for not getting bruises, which doesn't make sense. I still blame myself sometimes because I was wearing a dress, which I know is logically ridiculous, but … I feel like he came up to me because I was wearing a dress. Read more... Jessica I was scared because I didn't think I could keep myself safe, so it changed the way I behaved. I didn't want to go out. I used to be very outgoing and that changed to a degree. I put on a lot of weight because, you know, I just didn't want anybody to want me. Because if they didn't want me then that was the only way that I was going to be safe. Read more... Natalie

Bond University criminologist Terry Goldsworthy says differences in the type of sexual assault offences being reported in different areas could explain why some have higher rates of reports unfounded or withdrawn. Associate Professor Goldsworthy is a former detective inspector with Queensland Police and has more than 28 years' policing experience.

A nightclub district like the Gold Coast may receive more reports of date rapes, for example, than a regional area, which may have more reports of historical child sex offences.

In a statement to the ABC, Queensland Police noted the Gold Coast's "diverse" population, pointing out that its population "varies substantially because of the large influx of tourists at various times of the year".

Sydney University's Cowdery says differences in expertise, training and resources may explain regional variations.

In a small country town, for example, a police officer can have personal knowledge about a person that "might contribute to the decision that's made".

"Perhaps she has a history of being loose or being a frequent complainer," he says, adding that such views do not undermine the merits of her case.

However, former NSW crime statistics boss Don Weatherburn says the figures are "a real worry" and that a serious effort needs to be made to understand why so many complaints are being withdrawn.

"The working assumption, I think, has always been that it's about fear of the court process itself," he says.

"But what if the real problem has got nothing to do with the intimidating nature of the court process and everything to do what goes on before they get there?"

Imperfect victims, imperfect policing

Sandra* was gang-raped in 2016 by a group of men she met in a nightclub while out with some friends and her adult son in a coastal town in eastern Victoria. She says Victoria Police detectives treated her with suspicion and disbelief throughout the nine-month investigation.

On the night of the assault, the 48-year-old recalls being given one drink by the men and dancing with two of them before telling her son that she was going home. Her next memory is of waking up in a motel room, being "violently ill", vomiting and urinating on herself, and being used "like a rag doll" by a group of up to five men.

She reported the attack six days later. The detective assigned to her case told her she "looked fine" and "because I'd remembered so much detail of the night, in her opinion [that] means I wasn't drugged, just drunk," Sandra says.

Experts say the persistence of myths about what constitutes "real" rape continue to hinder how seriously police investigate sexual assault.

Seven myths about rape Rape myths are false beliefs about rape that justify sexual violence and place blame on victims. Common rape myths include: Most rapes are committed by strangers and involve a weapon

It is only rape if the victim fights back and/or is physically injured

Women invite rape by flirting, dressing provocatively, behaving promiscuously or drinking alcohol

Consenting to sex on one occasion amounts to consenting to sex on future occasions

Women commonly lie about rape out of spite, for attention or to cover up consensual sex they later regret

"Real" victims report rape immediately

Rape is simply unwanted sex, not a violent crime

Kristin Diemer, a University of Melbourne sociologist and expert in violence against women, says police attitudes reflect community attitudes, but can be made worse by an internal culture that minimises and excuses sexual harassment or sexist attitudes.

For example, a five-year review into sexual harassment and predatory behaviour within Victoria Police ranks found sexual harassment was "widespread across the organisation" and those who spoke up about it were shamed, bullied or partially blamed for the incident.

Numerous officers reported being sexually harassed while on duty. One woman described a colleague "masturbating and ejaculating on the wall between our rooms" while calling out that he was thinking of her. Another woman told the review that she was raped by a male colleague after a work function.

The review was conducted independently but commissioned by Victoria Police and concluded in 2019.

"If those attitudes and behaviours are normalised as part of the game or just a joke, then it makes it less likely you're going to take reports of sexual assault seriously from a victim," Ms Diemer says.

The reality of sexual violence Most perpetrators are known to their victims

Most sexual assaults take place in the victim's or perpetrator's home

Weapons are rarely used

Few victims sustain physical injuries and these injuries are often minor

Force is usually psychological rather than physical or isn't necessary because the victim is impaired or unconscious

Many victims freeze, rather than fight or flee from their attacker

Many victims don't report rape immediately. This can be because of trauma, fear of not being believed, pressure from the offender, feelings of shame and guilt, etc.



Former head of the Victoria Police sex crimes squad Glenn Davies says part of the problem is that many officers believe false rape reports are much more common than they are, and this clouds their judgement. Davies worked for Victoria Police for 30 years, mostly as a detective investigating serious and major crime.

"You don't have that same level of alarm [about false reports] from officers when they're investigating other crimes — and I've worked on homicides, I've worked on armed robberies."

He says disbelief sometimes forms part of a deliberate strategy in which investigators "aggressively challenge [victims], sometimes even accusing the victim as a liar".

Police justify this by saying survivors will have to withstand tougher interrogation if they get to court, Davies says.

"Really disappointing, seeing as we know the best witnesses, who stay in the system, are the ones who are most supported."

Author and advocate Bri Lee describes her experience reporting childhood sexual assault to Queensland Police in 2015 as "extremely gruelling and painful".

"Reporting my abuse to the police was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," she says.

"I had to repeat myself over and over again. I was asked really insulting and disrespectful questions. One officer in particular made me feel like I was being a hassle, that this horrific thing done to me wasn't even that bad, and that I wasn't doing a good enough job of remembering the abuse."

Bri Lee

When someone who has been assaulted or abused reaches out to the police, the way they are treated has a colossal effect on whether or not they feel respected and supported, and whether or not they continue with the charges... "My investigation took two years and culminated in a two-day trial." At several stages in those two years the police told me explicitly that they were "on the fence" (exact words) about whether or not to press charges. If they had decided not to, my case would be one of these "discontinued" or “unsolved” statistics, and I therefore find it offensive when people suggest that the police not proceeding with a complaint is a reflection of its legitimacy.



Police officers and prosecutors exercise discretion when making these decisions, and for some survivors that means they can be 'lucky' or 'unlucky' depending on which officer is on duty when they call or arrive at the station. It's not good enough.

Bri is not alone. Associate Professor Goldsworthy says there is still a culture among some police that wrongly believes victims "should have known better" or could have prevented the attack if they had exercised better judgement.

Officers with this kind of attitude tend to see certain kinds of sexual assault, such as date rape, as "work I shouldn't be doing". "Almost like a sort of resentment about a creation of work through a situation that, in their mind, probably shouldn't have occurred or in reality isn't a criminal issue," he says.

Victoria University of Wellington's Professor Jordan says this sort of bias can be compounded by the effects of trauma, which some police interpret as evidence the victim is not credible.

"It's extremely difficult because the impact of trauma on the victim [means] that she can act in all sorts of ways that seem counter-intuitive, ways that you wouldn't expect a 'genuine' victim to behave," she says.

More than with other crimes, sexual assault victims may disassociate from the attack, which can lead to delayed reporting, memory gaps and inconsistent accounts. Shame and fear of not being believed can also lead victims to withhold details.

Similarly — and paradoxically — factors that increase a person's vulnerability to sexual assault (such as mental illness, intellectual disability, consuming drugs or alcohol, knowing the offender, or having previously been sexually assaulted) are generally taken to undermine the victim's credibility, Professor Jordan says.

And further complicating matters is that victims themselves internalise these myths and biases, and convey this in their behaviour. For example, survivors commonly question their own actions or express guilt and shame about having "allowed" themselves to be raped.

"[Victims of] sex crimes are much more likely to take an element of personal responsibility for what has happened to them, even though it is never their fault," says Simone McDonnell, a sexual assault counsellor with more than 20 years' experience.

"So if the victims of these crimes are saying these things, then of course the police are going to be thinking these things themselves."





It just makes everything a hundred times worse because I allowed myself to think that because of the police, well, maybe it was OK what happened. If they're not going to say anything, if they're not going to do anything, then who am I to say something happened or that what had happened was a crime? For so long, I told myself, “Police didn’t care, so maybe it was my fault.”It just makes everything a hundred times worse because I allowed myself to think that because of the police, well, maybe it was OK what happened. If they're not going to say anything, if they're not going to do anything, then who am I to say something happened or that what had happened was a crime? Read more... Lauren



When someone says to you, “This isn’t a crime… it’s a misunderstanding”, it says to me that what he did wasn’t wrong. It says that it’s OK for me to be treated less than human, like a bunch of orifices, and that it’s my problem that I’m hurt by it. The police made me feel like a victim… They made me feel like there's no justice; that it didn't really matter what I did anymore anyway. I just got very depressed.When someone says to you, “This isn’t a crime… it’s a misunderstanding”, it says to me that what he did wasn’t wrong. It says that it’s OK for me to be treated less than human, like a bunch of orifices, and that it’s my problem that I’m hurt by it. Read more... Natalie



The thing that really gets to me is that I did everything they say to do when you're raped. To report it straight away. I rang the crisis line straight away, like at 9:30 in the morning. I did everything I was supposed to do. But it wasn't enough. It still just really hurts. I find that it has affected me as much as the rape itself, the whole investigation… Part of me wishes I never reported it because, well, what was the point?The thing that really gets to me is that I did everything they say to do when you're raped. To report it straight away. I rang the crisis line straight away, like at 9:30 in the morning. I did everything I was supposed to do. But it wasn't enough. Read more... Jessica I ended up in a violent relationship immediately after [the sexual assault]… and then didn’t report that violent relationship because I was like, “Well, why would I report that? The police aren’t going to do anything. It’s just going to look like I’m lying. There’s no way to prove this stuff.” Read more... Lara

The long road to recovery

When the people and institutions that are meant to protect us instead reject, dismiss or otherwise fail to act, this can have devastating consequences for survivors' ability to recover.

Natalie says the detective's conclusion that her rape was "a misunderstanding" pushed her over the edge. She transformed from a confident and outgoing woman to feeling afraid and socially withdrawn. She gained weight and became increasingly depressed.

"I felt worthless. I felt it really made me feel like a victim. It made me feel like nobody believed me," Natalie says.

"It made me feel like I didn't matter because I could be used as a toy and just disregarded, and nothing would happen."

University of Melbourne's Diemer says that in her experience, some police aren't doing the right thing by sexual assault survivors, while others "want to do the right thing but the system makes it so difficult that they don't want victims to have false hopes".

The skill lies in communicating this in a way that supports and enables survivors to proceed through the system "rather than scaring them off", adjunct professor Cowdery says.

If survivors are interpreting the police response as pressure not to proceed, he says, then police "are failing".

"They should never convey the message that it's too much trouble or that [victims are] wasting their time. That's a very wrong message to be sending to somebody," he says.

A Victoria Police spokesperson told ABC News that reporting of sexual offences had risen as a result of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse and community campaigns, such as the #MeToo movement.

Victoria Police had "made great effort" to encourage reporting, even if complainants were not willing to go to court, did not believe the complaint could be proven or could not identify the offender, the spokesperson said.

"The increase of this type of reporting goes some way to explaining why fewer complaints are resulting in arrest."

Lauren, who gave up on the justice system after trying three times to report her rape, says police should think less about their workload and more about what it has taken a survivor just to get into the seat in front of them.

"They need to not be saying it's going to be hard for them. That's their job. That's why they're police," she says.

"If it's too hard, you shouldn't be in that job."

This is the first part of an ABC News investigation into police handling of sexual assaults. Read the second part here.

(EDITOR'S NOTE, February 21, 2020: Two weeks after publication of this story, NT Police supplied the requested data. See what that data revealed.)

* Some sexual assault survivors have chosen not to use their real name or to use only their first name.

Notes about this story

Police data showing investigation outcomes was requested via a combination of data requests to state crime statistics agencies and applications under freedom of information laws. ABC News then grouped these outcomes into five broad categories (Unfounded, Withdrawn, Unsolved, Legal action taken and No legal action) in consultation with statisticians and experts in crime reporting standards. In some instances, very low numbers of cases with an investigation status of "Other" could not be separated.

ABC News collected annual data from each state/territory (excluding the NT) as far back as comparable figures were available, so data for each jurisdiction spans a different time period. The national percentages and counts are for the period 2008 to 2017, as this is the longest time frame covered by the seven jurisdictions.

Due to low population numbers, data for Tasmania is for police divisions, not local government areas.

ABC News has taken steps to verify the stories of sexual assault survivors interviewed for this story, including obtaining police reports and other documentation where possible.

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