Abstract:
This report presents the key results of the crime victim surveys that were
carried out as part of the fifth sweep of the International Crime Victim
Surveys conducted in 2004/2005. A large portion of the these data are
derived from the European Survey on Crime and Safety (EU ICS), organised
by a consortium lead by Gallup Europe and co-financed by the
European Commission, DGRTD. Wherever possible, results on 2004 have
been compared with results from surveys carried out in earlier rounds
since 1989.
The ICVS project was started back in 1989 because there was a need for
reliable crime statistics that could be used for international comparisons.
Statistics on police-recorded crimes cannot be used for this purpose
because the legal definitions of the crimes differ across countries.
Besides, there are large differences in willingness of the public to report
crimes to the police. Recording practices and counting rules of the police
vary greatly as well. Results of nation-specific crime victim surveys have
become the preferred source of information on levels of crime in many
developed countries. However, surveys such as the National Crime Victim
Survey in the USA and the British Crime Survey differ in questionnaires
and other key design features to the extent that results are incomparable
across countries. The International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) is a
programme of sample surveys to look at householders’ experiences with
crime with the use of standardised questionnaires and other design
elements. Reviews by independent scholars have confirmed that ICVS
results are more comparable across nations than those of nation-specific
surveys (Lynch, 2006).
Nevertheless, the limits of the ICVS must also be recognised. Full standardisation
of all design aspects has proven to be unattainable, especially
if surveys in developing countries are included. Although there are no
reasons to assume that comparability has in any way been systematically
compromised, divergent design features such as the mode of interviewing
and the period in which the fieldwork was done, may have affected
results of individual countries in unknown ways. Also, since the samples
interviewed were relatively small (2000 in most countries and 800 in most
cities), all estimates are subject to sampling error.
The ICVS and EU ICS cover ten conventional crimes, broken down into
vehicle related crimes (theft of a car, theft from a car, theft of a motorcycle
or moped, theft of a bicycle), burglary, attempted burglary, theft
of personal property and contact crimes (robbery, sexual offences and
assault & threat). In most countries in this report, questions have been
added to the questionnaire on experiences with street level corruption,
consumer fraud, including internet-based fraud and credit card theft,
drug-related problems and hate crime. For most categories of crime trends
over time can be studied in a broad selection of countries. Other subjects covered by the questionnaire are reporting to the police, satisfaction with
the police, distribution and need of victim support, fear of crime, use of
preventive measures and attitudes towards sentencing.
This report presents data from 30 countries, including the majority of
developed nations. Also the data from 33 main cities of a selection of
developed and developing countries are presented in this report. Altogether
data are presented from 38 different countries. For the first time
data are available on Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China
– SAR China) and Istanbul (Turkey). Surveys were also done in Mexico,
Johannesburg (Republic of South Africa – RSA), Lima (Peru), Buenos Aires
(Argentina), Sao Paulo & Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
and Maputo (Mozambique). In the tables and graphs results of developed
countries are presented as a special subcategory.
