Sexual crimes and offences against the person, mainly assaults, have significantly increased in the Republic as Covid-19 restrictions have eased in recent months.
Most crime types plummeted during the pandemic but the numbers of assaults and other “crimes against the person” are now back to pre-pandemic highs and reports of sex crimes are close to record highs.
Rape Crisis Network Ireland executive Clíona Saidléar said while the number of reports of sex crimes to the Garda was back up after declining during the pandemic, more survivors needed to be supported to come forward.
“What is clear is that there have been significant fluctuations in cases reported to An Garda Síochána over the Covid period with a range of variables potentially impacting perpetration opportunities and people’s reporting practices,” she said.
“We must continue to understand the barriers to reporting and detection in order to ensure we have robust criminal justice response to these crimes.”
The number of sex crimes reported to the Garda since the start of this year has been around 300 offences per month. That level of reporting to the Garda has only been exceeded once before; during periods in 2019 when the number of sex crime reports was at an all-time high.
In a report to the Policing Authority, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the number of sexual offences reported to the Garda began increasing from 2015 and “plateaued” in 2020. However, that “upward trend has resumed” this year.
“In the 12 months to August, 2021, there has been an 11 per cent increase in reported sexual offences compared to the 12 months prior,” he said.
The latest provisional crime data from the Garda, to the end of September, shows “crimes against the
