Risk Factors associated with sexual violence
An update of this section is due in 2025.
- Various individual, relationship, community and societal factors are associated with an increased risk that a child or an adult will become a victim of sexual assault. A number of factors have also been identified as being associated with an increased risk of committing sexual assault.
- The greater the number of sexual assault risk factors, the greater is the likelihood that a person will be a perpetrator or a victim of sexual assault. However, the influence of a particular risk factor can vary depending on a person’s gender and stage of life.
- Identifying risk factors helps to better plan preventive interventions in the area of sexual assault by making it possible to target higher-risk groups and act on the risk factors concerned.
A word of caution on the interpretation of risk factors
Victims are never responsible for being sexually assaulted. However, certain characteristics can make a person more vulnerable to sexual assault. Individual risk factors must be used not to blame people who have been victimized, but to prevent sexual assault by helping to target people who are at greater risk and to act on the factors concerned. Responsibility for sexual assault always lies with the perpetrator of an assault.
Note on methodology: Generally speaking, the risk factors identified here apply mainly to sexual assault with physical contact. It should also be mentioned that many studies on the risk factors for sexual assault have focused on populations of victims and perpetrators who are known to the authorities and are receiving services. These populations are not representative of sexual assault victims and perpetrators as a whole.