Commissioner of Police, Clayton Fernander revealed that reported cases of sexual assault in 2023 was higher than that of the previous year in a presentation of the 2023 crime statistics on Monday.
Officer in Charge of the Sexual Offences Unit, Assistant Superintendent Altida Bowles spoke with ZNS News on the some of the reasons for the increase. She said, “we saw that victims were very vulnerable. We had individuals, female victims, living at home by themselves. They weren’t paying attention to their surroundings, so of course the perpetrator is going to look for the most vulnerable individual to attack. And when you have that individual in the form of a woman who is not going to give you much resistance when it comes to those attacks.”
When asked whether age is a factor in these sexual attacks Bowles said there was an increase in women 40-50 becoming victims. “When you look at a female and you have male attackers they are easily subdued and they are taken advantage of. So when it comes to our perpetrator looking at an age, age really isn’t a main factor in a identifying victims,” she said.
To avoid becoming a victim of a sexual crime Bowles advised females to “walk in pairs, if possible. We should be in surroundings that are lit. Our homes, if we are able to, we should have footage there. We should have secure doors, windows. All these things are a very important factor in ensuring that you’re not made an easy target.”
According to the statistics released by the Commissioner of Police rape increased by 11% in 2023.
