Growing number of women among persons charged with crimes

Norwegian police charged more than 67,200 persons with crimes in 1996. Of these, 10,600 were women. The number of women charged is the highest ever recorded for one year. The percentage of women among persons charged with crimes is increasing, with the highest percentages seen in crimes for profit and drugs offences.

Altogether 56,600 men and 10,600 women were charged with one or more offences in 1996. Never before have so many women been charged in one year. On the other hand, a small decrease was registered in the number of men charged. Charged persons are people who the police think are guilty of a crime, but are not necessarily indicted or convicted.

Over the past two years the percentage of women among those charged with crimes has been increasing. In 1992 the percentage was 12 per cent, in 1994 it was over 13 per cent, and in 1996 it had increased to nearly 16 per cent.

More investigations of drugs offences

Last year police finished investigating just as many offences in each category of crime as they did in 1995, with one exception. The number of drugs offences investigated climbed by over 30 per cent from 1995 to 1996.

Police completed investigations of a total of 379,000 offences in 1996. This was more than in 1995, but somewhat fewer persons were charged. Thefts made up the largest category of offences fully investigated last year, with 182,000 cases, a slight decline from 186,500 cases in 1995.

New Statistics

Crimes investigated by the police, 1996.
Statistics are published every year in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and the Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Crime Statistics, which is based on STRASAK, the central police registration system. More information: Frants Gundersen, tel. +47 21 09 45 43, e-mail: fgu@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 49, 1997