Sexual assault reports on the Tube treble in the last five years

The British Transport Police released five years worth of data, showing an alarming steady rise in sexual crimes on the London Underground between 2010 and 2015.

In 2010, the number of reported sex related crimes was 198, and by 2015, this figure rose to 564, almost tripling in five years. There was also a 52 per cent increase of reported sex crimes between 2014 and 2015. From this figure, 11 cases were considered to be serious sexual assaults involving penetration.

The types of sexual crimes reported included: groping, public masturbation, public exposure and rape. According to the figures, almost 2,000 people have reported such crimes since 2010. Out of these, 1,899 cases were against women, 58 against men and 23 against children.

Kings Cross Front 26-03-12

King’s Cross Underground Station shows the highest number of overall crimes reported since December 2014, with a total of 457 crimes reported, 25 of which were sexual offences. However, there are several other stations with a higher number of sex crimes.

The central line had the highest number of incidents with 150 reported in 2015. Among these, Liverpool Street Station was revealed to have the highest number of incidents, with 20 sexual assault crimes documented.

Unfortunately, the British Transport Police estimates that up to 90 per cent of sex crimes occurring on the Tube go unreported. This could bring the full number of sexual crimes to the tens of thousands.

The Everyday Sexism Project aims to encourage women to report cases of abuse. Laura Bates, who is founder of the project and who works alongside the British Transport Police, told BuzzFeed: “Nne of the biggest [issues] is that women don’t realise they can report it. I think there’s a real sense of normalisation and impunity that can be magnified on public transport.”

The Everyday Sexism Project released an advert in April 2015 entitled “report it to stop it” in order to encourage sexual assault victims on the London Underground to report the crimes. After the advert was broadcast, the British Transport Police observed a rise in reports. However, it cannot be certain whether this was because of the advert.

UCL has also taken action on sexual harassment, agreeing a Zero Tolerance policy on cases of sexual violence at the university. NUS research found that 68 per cent of female students have experienced sexual abuse at university and one in seven have been a victim of serious sexual or physical violence.

However, NUS revealed that in 2015, only 10 per cen of students were aware of how to report such cases. UCL hopes that the new policy will help to combat the issue.