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40 people reported rapes to the police last year, as local law enforcement saw a surge in historical allegations.
The shocking figures are more than twice the number recorded in previous years, although Law Enforcement has stressed that any direct comparisons would be "misleading" because of the introduction in 2018 of a new, more robust reporting standard.
Bailiwick Law Enforcement's annual report for 2018, released today, highlights the work done locally to combat, investigate and respond to crime.
One of the most alarming figures was the number of islanders who contacted police with allegations of rape.
"One of the areas that has caused an increase in that specific category of crime has been an increase in historical allegations which people have come forward with," said Ruari Hardy, Head of Law Enforcement. "Those investigations are really complex and require a lot of resources to deal with, but I really think the positive that is coming out of that is that people feel they can come forward, particularly with historical allegations of sexual offences.
Pictured: A breakdown of the sexual offences that were reported to Bailiwick Law Enforcement last year.
"It’s a very challenging and complex part of our work, but I really feel we are offering a victim-focused service.
"We also take third-party allegations [from a family member or friend, for example], so it is us as a service making sure people can reach us, and reach our service in as many ways as possible."
Mr Hardy said historic sexual abuse has become less of a taboo subject in recent years, and that Law Enforcement had put new measures in place to encourage people to come forward if they have been victim to a sexual crime.
"I think historic sexual abuse has become a more spoken about issue, but I also think organisations like the police are far more open and transparent and people have the confidence to come forward and seek our help," he said.
"At the beginning of this year, we opened our new victim suite and it’s an environment where we can take people who are potentially victims of sexual assault where we can understand what the allegations or the circumstances are in a more comfortable surrounding, but also in an evidentially better environment.
"We have also got a medical suite there where they can see a specially-trained doctor, so I think the service is far better equipped and resourced in situations such as that."
Pictured: Around a quarter of the sexual offences reported last year are yet to be resulted (as represented by brown).
The 40 rape reports made last year compare to 19 recorded offences in 2017 and 16 in 2016.
However, those statistical comparisons - like all others contained in the 2018 annual report - come with the caveat of different reporting standards.
"Among the biggest changes of the year was the more robust enforcement of victim focused crime recording – bringing the Bailiwick in line with the UK’s National Crime Recording Standard and Home Office Counting Rules," said a spokesman for Bailiwick Law Enforcement. "Some incidents that would not have previously been recorded as a crime are now included.
"For instance, in previous years, if someone had been assaulted but did not want to make a complaint, this would have been logged on the system, but would not have been recorded as a crime and show as part of our annual crime statistics. Now it is. The same is true of instances where people reported certain events to us and we logged instances for “information only”. These where appropriate will now be recorded as crimes.
"This means the total number of recorded crimes is slightly higher than in previous years. However to compare 2018 to previous years would be misleading as a direct comparison - the changes made to crime recording should not be taken to mean there has been an increase in crime. Also, in line with these rules, rather than listing detections, it is the outcomes of crime investigations that are now displayed. This provides a far more accurate picture of the criminal justice process."
Pictured top: Guernsey Police Station.
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