Provisional crime statistics for 2022, released today by an Garda Síochána, show that reports of rape and sexual assault have risen significantly since 2019.
The number of rapes reported in 2022 was 13% higher than the number reported in 2019, and the sexual assault figures were 8% higher.
The Guards say that the increase in sexual offence figures may “relate to a change in reporting behaviour whereby victims are increasingly likely to report sexual crimes,” and that “it therefore cannot be concluded that the increase in Sexual Offences (in recent years) is solely due to an increased level of incidents occurring.”
Gript have previously asked the Guards to provide us with evidence to back up that claim, but they have, so far, been unable to provide us with any evidence. Indeed Garda reports from 2019 and 2020 note that “given that crime against the person are also on an upward trend, it cannot be precluded that there has been an increase in the number of sexual crimes occurring.”
Since 2011 the number of sexual assaults has increased by 75%, and the number of reports rapes has doubled.
Reports of child sexual abuse material, more commonly known as child pornography, were 6% higher in 2022 than 2019, and reports of human trafficking have gone up by 110%.
These figures are “provisional, operational and subject to change.”
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