Sexual\ncrimes committed on the Welsh rail network rose by 62.5% last year, reaching\nthe highest number on record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ad\u00adFifty-two\n\u2018sexual crimes\u2019 were recorded throughout the financial year 2018-19, compared\nto just thirty-two between 2017-18, according to new figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The increase\nwas mainly down to a substantial rise in \u2018sexual crimes against females\u2019, which\nmore than doubled since last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirty-three such crimes were recorded between 2018-19, a 148% increase on the average yearly tally between 2012 and 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number\nof sexual crimes against males rose from zero to three, but the number of\ncrimes relating to exposure fell by almost half, from seven to four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
British Transport Police suggest the increase in recorded incidents could be partially attributed to a new text service, which they say \u201chas revolutionised the way sexual assault victims report crimes.\u201d It allows people to report incidents discreetly without drawing attention to themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement, they maintained that: \u201ctackling all forms of unwanted sexual behaviour on the railway is a priority for us \u2013 we take every report seriously and will thoroughly investigate all offences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall\ncrime on Welsh trains rose by 4.8%, the third consecutive year numbers have\nincreased. The 1,435 offences recorded last year is the highest figure since\nthe data set was compiled in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
British Transport Police say: \u201cDespite this increase, it\u2019s important to remember that the chance of becoming a victim of crime on the railway in Wales continues to be rare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most\nsignificant increases, other than in sexual crimes, came in \u2018drug crime\u2019, which\nrose by 59%, and \u2018violence against the person\u2019, which rose by 22%. It is the\nfirst time drug offence have increased, having previously fallen every year\nsince 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However\ncriminal damage fell by 62% on last year, with only fifty-two incidents, the\nlowest number since before 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theft of\npassenger property also fell to a new low, a 13% decrease on 2017-18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sexual crimes committed on the Welsh rail network rose by 62.5% last year, reaching the highest number on record. \u00ad\u00adFifty-two \u2018sexual crimes\u2019 were recorded throughout the financial year 2018-19, compared to just thirty-two between 2017-18, according to new figures. The increase was mainly down to a substantial rise in \u2018sexual crimes against females\u2019, which more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":229,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[746,743,744,750,1458],"tags":[1923,724,1832,777,707,1914,1925,619,229,263,1913,1924],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/229"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25506"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25511,"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25506\/revisions\/25511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}