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We talk a lot about the rise of rape and sexual violence, let’s talk about how to stop it

As 16 Days begins, we’re reflecting on what needs to be done to tackle the rising prevalence of rape and sexual violence in Scotland and beyond. 

The latest crime statistics in Scotland were published today.

The story has been the same over the past few years; most other crime types are going down, but the number of reported rapes and sexual offences keep on rising.

Today we learned that the number of reported rape and attempted rape have increased by 11% compared to this time last year, and by 25% over the past four years. This is a really disturbing rise.

We also learned that:

• Sexual assault increased by 4% over the past year
• Threatening to or disclosing intimate images of another person (also known as ‘revenge porn’) increased by 15% over the past year

Whenever a report like this is published, we always get a flurry of media requests asking us what these latest figures mean and what can be done to stop it.

Here’s the short answer: we think Scotland needs to do much more to tackle to tackle rape and sexual violence before it happens.

That means investing in prevention work, so that every young person in Scotland has access to education about consent and healthy relationships.

Today also marks the start of 16 Days of Activism, a global movement which raises awareness of gender-based violence.

We’ll be using that time to talk about our new campaign on prevention, and why this work is absolutely crucial if we want to eradicate rape and sexual violence in Scotland and beyond.

Rape Crisis Scotland’s Chief Executive Sandy Brindley said: “It should be Scotland’s biggest source of shame that we continue to see unprecedented levels of sexual violence against women and girls.

“Despite many other types of crime being in decline, reports of rape continue to rise at an alarming rate. We know that many survivors choose not to report what has happened to them, so the real number is likely much higher. There are also other causes for alarm, like a sharp rise in incidents of so-called ‘revenge porn’ over the past year.

“Scotland must do more to stop rape before it happens. We have seen an increasing number of young women and girls reporting sexual harassment and even sexual assault at school. We hear about teenage boys quoting dangerous figures like Andrew Tate. Last week a study found that nearly half of sexually active young people in the UK have either been strangled or strangled someone during sex – that is horrifying, and something that we need to be educating young people in Scotland about.

“Prevention work in Scotland is desperately under-resourced, yet it is the first and often only line of defence in stopping this behaviour in its tracks. Giving young people the tools and education they need to identify, challenge, and report misogynistic and sexually violent behaviour is the best hope we have of curbing this disturbing rise in violence against women and girls. It’s time to treat this like the emergency that it is.”