Sobering figures reveal the number of women in Yorkshire assaulted, raped or stalked each day

Statistics compiled from the Home Office's open crime database for the 12 months ending in March 2020 reveals that 86 per cent of sexual assault victims over the age of 13, and 94 per cent of rape victims aged 16 and over, are female.

When combining the data from the region's four police forces, it shows an average of 10 women are sexually assaulted and nearly 11 women are raped every day in Yorkshire.

Women are also 5.9 times as likely to be assaulted and 13.6 times more likely to be raped than men.

The figures for sexual violence in Yorkshire remain higher than the average for England and Wales, with the national rate of assaults on men and women at 63.4 per 100,000 people compared to 66.3 in Yorkshire. For rape, the national rate is 63.1 per 100,000, in Yorkshire it is 72.6.

Police data also shows that 29 stalking incidents were reported each day in the region between April and September – a rise of 106 per cent from the same period the year before.

The statistics come as concerns about women's safety have mounted over the killing of York woman Sarah Everard.

The York-based charity Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS) has meanwhile called for Ms Everard's murder to be used as "a moment for change".

Sarah Hill, who is CEO of the charity, likened the phrase "not all men" to those who said "all lives matter" in the wake of the murder of George Floyd last year.

"The reality of course is that there are male victims, that not all men will abuse, not all men harass and catcall and stalk," Ms Hill said.

"Most men don’t. And yet, the abuse, the harassment, the put downs have become so much part of the fabric of women’s lives, that sometimes we don’t even notice them."

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust meanwhile has said that stalking and harassment crimes - despite rising last year - still remain significantly under-reported.

Speaking on the national figures yesterday revealing that only 16 per cent of sexual assault victims aged between 16 and 25 reported their attack to the police, Diana Fawcett of the charity Victim Support said: “Last Saturday’s reaction by the police to women at Clapham Common is an instance of the wrong message being sent out when now, more than ever, we need to challenge male violence against women.

“Much more needs to be done to encourage victims, particularly female survivors of sexual violence, to report incidents and ensuring we shift from the ‘victim-blaming’ culture which is widespread in sexual offences cases.”

Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, Catherine Hankinson, said: "Overall violent crime and sexual offending have been reducing in West Yorkshire with the force recording a seven per cent reduction in sexual offences in the 2021 Office for National Statistics crime figures. However, we don’t underestimate the impact these crimes have on victims, their families and the wider public.

"As crime figures show, women make up the majority of the victims of these awful offences and reducing sexual offending to help make communities safer has been a priority area for us.

"We fully appreciate the trauma being a victim of a sexual offence can cause victims and to ensure they receive the best possible service, all reports of sexual offences are thoroughly investigated by specialist safeguarding detectives."

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