People in their 20s most often seek help from Victim Support

Last year Victim Support helped nearly 172 thousand people in the Netherlands, the largest group of which were people in their twenties. The vast majority of people who sought help were victims of property- and violent crimes, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Thursday.

Of all age groups, people in their 20s most often came into contact with Victim Support, accounting for more than a fifth of the organizations' clients last year. People in this age group were often victims of violent crimes and sex crimes - just over a quarter of all violent crime victims and the same proportion fo sex crime victims were between the ages of 20 and 30.

Older people, aged 50 and over, usually came into contact with Victim Support due to a property crime. Of all property crime victims who contacted the organization last year, 45 percent were in this age group.

Teenagers least often sought help from Victim Support, but when they did, it was usually because of a sex crime. Of the sex crime victims who contacted the organization last year, 43 percent were between the ages of 10 and 20 years old.

96 percent of people helped by Victim Support last year were victims of crimes and accidents. 3 percent were others involved such as a victims' friends or relatives, bystanders or witnesses. And the remaining one percent came into contact with the organization in a different way, for example as next of kin. 54 percent of victims were men. 87 percent of victims who contacted the organization after a sex crime were women.

Three quarters of those helped were victims of violent- or property crime. With nearly 66 thousand victims, or 38 percent, property crime made up the largest group of victims last year, followed by violent crime at 36 percent. 15 percent had contact with Victim Support after a traffic accident, and 4 percent were victims of sexual offenses.