Nearly 200 Sexual Offences Against Children In Brent In 2018
This is up from 143 sexual offences in 2014, with the figures including crimes such as exposure, slavery, and sexual assault.
There were nearly 200 sexual offences committed against children in Brent in 2018, a Freedom of Information request reveals.
193 cases of sexual offences, ranging from harrassment and grievous bodily harm to attempted rape and rape, were reported in the borough in 2018. This is an increase of 35% over the last four years, when 2014 saw 143 reports.
In 2017, the rate peaked at 195 reported sexual offences.
In 2018, 104 out of 193 reported sexual offences were sexual assaults or rapes against female children: 53.8% of all sexual offences against children. For the same crimes, boys were victims in 7.8% of cases.
64% of offences committed between 2014 and 2018 were specifically against female children, with 7.6% against male children. The gender of the victims of the remaining offences is not disclosed in the data.
The Metropolitan Police did not comment.
Why did students cover this story?
Leah, 14, and Sonya, 15, from London said that they felt this topic was important because “while we see and hear about this problem daily, many women do not feel empowered enough to speak up. This is a huge issue, and worth being spoken about, and this experience has allowed us to learn more about our local area and write about an issue we feel passionately about.”