Nearly 40 percent of victims of offenses against sexual autonomy in the first 10 months of the year were females under the age of 18, according to statistics released on Saturday by the Ministry of the Interior.
From January to October, 39.22 percent of victims of offenses against sexual autonomy — including rape, sexual intercourse with a child and sexual obscenity — were females aged 12 to 17, the statistics showed.
In that same period, 91.94 percent of victims were female and 97.77 percent of suspects were male, and 21.61 percent of suspects were males aged 18 to 23, the data showed
The number of reported offenses against sexual autonomy has been falling over the past five years, the ministry said.
In 2014, 783 cases of rape were reported, compared with 221 last year, a decrease of 71.78 percent, it said.
There were 3,263 cases of offenses against sexual autonomy last year, which was 509, or 13.49 percent, fewer than in 2014, according to the ministry’s statistics.
More than 90 percent of the reported crimes since 2014 have been committed by people known to the victims, it showed.
Since 2014, the clearance rate on these crimes has been higher than 96 percent each year, reaching 99.7 percent in 2015, and was 98.02 percent between January and October, the statistics showed.
An unnamed ministry official said that the overall clearance rate has helped curb the number of crimes.
The decrease in the number of offenses against sexual autonomy could be attributed to joint prevention efforts by government agencies dedicated to social welfare, health, education and judicial matters, the official said.
In recent years, besides raising awareness on school campuses and referring at-risk families to social welfare agencies, the police have also been making sure its departments register offenders and conduct home visits, and that offenders report to police stations as required, the source said.
The use of DNA databases has also helped to solve cases where a perpetrator is unknown, they said.
To reduce the number of crimes against those aged 12 to 18, police departments are to step up efforts to increase awareness of laws, as well as safety and prevention measures, on school campuses.
The National Police Agency said it also advises schools and parents to teach children about physical autonomy.
“In the face of any behavior that oversteps or violates [boundaries], [people] should say ‘no’ loudly and bravely,” it said.
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