Record number of sexual offences recorded in Hampshire - as reported incidents rise 10 per cent in a year

Charity Victim Support said it is ‘seriously concerned’ sexual offences have reached a national record high for the second year in a row and called on the government to prioritise tackling the violence.

Office for National Statistics figures show 7,360 sexual offences were recorded by Hampshire Constabulary in the year to December 2022 – a rise of 9.6 per cent on the previous year, and a record high since equivalent records began in 2007.

It was up from 6,715 sexual offences recorded the 12 months prior and up from 5,813 offences in the year to March 2020.

Across England and Wales, there were 189,700 sexual offences recorded last year – a 19 per cent increase from the year prior to Covid-19 restrictions.

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Diana Fawcett, chief executive of the charity Victim Support, said: ‘We are seriously concerned that sexual offences have reached a record high for the second year in a row. Tackling this insidious violence needs to be the government’s top priority, alongside ensuring all victims are treated with respect and given support to recover.’

The figures also show more than 697,500 stalking and harassment offences were recorded across forces last year. This was relatively in line with the year before, but a 44 per cent increase compared to the pre-pandemic year ending March 2020. In Hampshire, stalking and harassment offences rose from 14,649 pre-coronavirus to 25,476 last year.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the figures ‘show the grim truth that crime is going up and prosecutions and community penalties are going down.’ She claimed under a Conservative government ‘more criminals are getting away with it and more victims are being let down.’

The ONS said the latest statistics may reflect a number of factors, including the ‘impact of high-profile incidents, media coverage and campaigns on people’s willingness to report incidents to the police, as well as a potential increase in the number of victims.’ It added: ‘While violence and sexual offences recorded by the police have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, theft offences and robbery remain at a lower level despite increases over the last nine months.’