Top 5 Countries With the Highest Rape Crime in 2024

Rape is a particularly complex crime to analyse. In several parts of the world, it is very rarely reported. Women in some countries are much less likely to have their complaint recorded, due to the extreme social stigma cast on women who have been raped, or subjected to violence or the fear of being disowned by their families.

Rape and other sexual assaults statistics are commonly available in advanced countries, and are becoming more common. Large numbers of rapes go unreported throughout the world. Here, we’ve presented the statistics for 10 renowned countries with highest rape crimes. You would be amazed to see that the most developed countries like America, Canada, Sweden and United Kingdom are the most immersed in this crime. About 36% of women globally have experienced either physical or sexual intimate violence. In U.S. 83% of girls aged 12 to 16 have experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools. In England, 1 out of 5 women (aged 16 to 59) experience some form of sexual violence.

5. Denmark and Finland

One out of three women in Europe have suffered some form of physical or sexual assault and 5% have been raped.

According to a 2014 study published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, approximately 47% of women surveyed in Finland were said to have suffered physical and/or sexual abuse; And 52 % of women in Denmark were said to have suffered physical and/or sexual abuse. Finland was one of the last countries in the EU to criminalize marital rape, making it illegal in 1994.

More than 1 in 10 of the women interviewed indicated that they experienced some form of sexual violence by an adult before they were 15 years old. One out of 10 had experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 15, one in 20 had been raped. And over 1 out of 5 had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from either a current or previous partner. Only 13 % of women reported their most serious incident to the police. (Source).

4. Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is at 9th position with the countries with highest rape crimes in the world. At least one woman is raped every 90 minutes in Zimbabwe. According to the latest statistics by Zimbabwe National Statistics (ZimStat), 500 women were sexually abused monthly – about 16 women being raped daily.

A total of 1524 cases were reported during the first 3 months of the year, up from 1285 recorded in the same period last year. Of these reported case, 780 are children (ages from 11 to 16 years) while 276 were children aged between 5 and 10 years. However, there are fears that the number could be higher as some cases go unreported.

According to UNICEF, Child rape up 42 percent in Zimbabwe. It said the number of cases of rape of minors reported to police surged from 2,192 in 2010 to 3,112 in 2014. Many other cases likely went unreported in a climate of secrecy and denial.

3. Australia

Rape Crimes in Australia

In Australia the reported rape rate per 100,000 people is relatively high. During the last year, an estimated 51,200 Australians aged 18 years and over were a victim of sexual assault. Almost a third (30%) of victims of sexual assault had the most recent incident they experienced reported to the police.

According to news.com, 1 out of 6 Australian women has to face the torture of rape by a non-partner, compared to one in 14 women around the world. It said that Australian women aged over 15 are victims of rape. Australia (with New Zealand in the research) came third in the worldwide study with 16.4 % of women reporting being raped by someone other than a partner.

Karen Willis, the NSW Rape Crisis Centre executive officer, says more than 70 % of these sexual assaults are carried out by family members, friends, work or school colleagues. A further 29 % of rapes are perpetrated by someone the woman meets socially or occur on a date. Just 1% of rapes are committed by strangers, she said.

2. Sweden

Sweden now has the second highest number of rapes in the world, after South Africa, which at 53.2 per 100,000. Statistics now suggest that 1 out of every 4 Swedish women comes out to be the victim of rape. If you look at the number of rapes, however, the increase is even worse. In 1975, there were only 421 rapes reported to the police – in 2014, it was 6,620. That is an increase of 1,472%. It would seem Sweden is a much more dangerous place for women in the world.

In addition, Sweden has the highest rate of rape in Europe. According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), there were 63 rape cases per 100,000 population reported to the Swedish police.

Rape crisis advocates in Sweden says, 1 out of 3 Swedish women have been sexually assaulted by the time they leave their teens. During the first half year, more than 1,000 Swedish women reported being raped by Muslim immigrants in the Stockholm. Over 300 of those were under the age of 15.

1. South Africa

With an estimated of 500,000 rape cases every year, the country has one of the highest rate of Rape Crimes in the world. It is estimated that more than 40% of South African women will be raped in their lifetime. The Medical Research Council has estimated that only 1 in 9 rapes are reported. Thus the actual numbers of rapes is much higher than numbers recorded by the police.

With the highest reported incident of Rape Crimes, South Africa top the list. The majority of sexual violence is against women, but men and children are also subjected to this crime. According to a report, above 4% of men have been forced to have sex with other men. According to South African Police, children are victims of 41% of all reported rape cases. About 15% of rape victims are children under the age of 11. According to South Africa’s Tears Foundation and the Medical Research Council, 50% of South Africa’s children will be abused before the age of 18. Another source states that there were 24,892 rapes and attempted rapes of children under the age of