Security and society 2021 edition
In this new edition of the INSEE Références collection entitled Security and society, INSEE and the French Ministerial Statistical Department for Internal Security (SSMSI), in collaboration with the Division of Statistics and Studies (SDSE) of the French Ministerial Office of Justice Statistics, offer an overview of what we know about crime and the justice system.
Since 2010, crime has been transforming while feelings of insecurity have remained unchanged
Valérie Bernardi, Maud Guillonneau, Tiaray Razafindranovona (SSMSI)
Since 2010, fewer households and people aged 18 to 75 have reported being victims of theft but are instead more exposed to bank fraud. This is reflected in the crimes and offences recorded by the police and the gendarmerie: the number of cases of theft recorded by these services has decreased, especially for theft with violence (−29%) and vehicle theft (−29%), while the number of fraud cases are increasing (+55%).
In the same period, the crimes and offences relating to sexual violence recorded by the police and the gendarmerie doubled, and those recorded for intentional assault and battery of people aged 15 and over increased significantly (+26%), particularly those that represent domestic violence. With people being encouraged to speak out and report crimes, including with improved victim support, more people aged 18 to 75 are talking about having been victims of sexual violence and are reporting these crimes, although this is still only the case for one in five victims. However, rates of 18 to 75-year-olds reporting having been victims of physical violence (including domestic violence) in their day-to-day lives have not increased, without prejudging the definition of the offence. Changes in the characterisation of facts and complaints mechanism can help to explain this discrepancy.
Victims of sexual violence are overwhelmingly women (77% between 2016 and 2018), while men are more likely to be victims of theft with violence (64%). The proportion of victims of sexual violence who are aged 18 to 28 or who are foreign nationals is higher than in 2010. Those aged 18 to 28 are over-represented in total victim numbers.
Overall, since 2010, the profile of those suspected to be perpetrators by the police and the gendarmerie has not changed much, although the proportion of foreign nationals has increased, particularly among those suspected of theft. This increase is concentrated among 10 nationalities, and organised crime networks play a central role.
Between 2010 and 2019, general feelings of insecurity remained stable at around 20% and were not affected by the increase in terrorist attacks that took place in France in 2015 and 2016.