We've always known more about the victims.

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We see them in court. We see them on screen. We read about them. We know about them and their pain.

But we haven't known much about the perpetrators, except the famous ones.

Sometimes we hear the perpetrator is a good bloke. It's unfathomable, apparently, that the good bloke is violent.

Never gave a hint before this moment. Or not a hint that was public.

Then there are the ones who blithely confess. The ones who end up in jail and after 10 years vow to be good men. As if that's even possible. I have no faith in rehabilitation programs devised so far.

And what we already know about perpetration isn't all that useful. We get some information from perpetrators who have had contact with the criminal justice system - but that's a teensy proportion of the number of actual perpetrators.

Just take a look at the Australian Bureau of Statistics which will explain - clearly - that the vast majority of offences and perpetrators are never reported to police. It's too terrifying, too hard and sometimes it all just seems easier to let it go. Even if you do report, few progress to prosecution and then conviction.

We hope and pray it will never be one of ours. We hope and pray it will never be anyone we know. Turns out hopes and prayers are not enough.

And if we want to help victims, we have to stop perpetrators before they even start.

New research from the Australian........

© Canberra Times