NCJ Number
211426
Date Published
August 2005
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In order to assess the incidence and nature of crime among migrants in Australia, this report analyzed findings from the Australian component of the 2004 International Crime Victimization Survey (ICVS), which oversampled migrants who were born in Vietnam or the Middle East or whose parents were born there.
Abstract
Slightly fewer of the Middle Eastern/Vietnamese sample (48 percent), compared with the main sample (52 percent), reported experiencing any of the crimes included in the survey over the previous 5 years. Five-year rates of victimization were similar in both groups for the crimes of robbery, burglary and attempted burglary, theft of property from motor vehicles, and bicycle theft. Logistic regression was conducted to identify the most important risk factors for personal victimization for the two sample migrant groups, while holding constant the effects of the other variables. Being unmarried and living in an area where drug use was common increased the risk of personal victimization for both groups. Being born overseas reduced the likelihood of personal victimization; risk was higher for second-generation migrants born in Australia. Forty-two percent of assaults against the Middle Eastern/Vietnamese sample were perceived by the victims to be racially motivated, including 53 percent of threats and 38 percent of attacks. The migrant samples were more likely than the main sample to be worried about racially based attacks in the future. Higher proportions of migrants, particularly women, felt unsafe walking alone in the local area after dark. 4 tables, 2 figures, and 9 references