Sexual assaults and related offences in the Wellington police district have nearly doubled in the last five years. Photo / 123RF
Sexual assaults and related offences in the Wellington police district have nearly doubled in the last five years. Photo / 123RF
The number of sexual assaults in Wellington have increased by nearly 50 per cent in the past five years, police data reveals.
Reports of sexual assaults and related offences have gone from 157 in 2015 to 230 in 2020, overall a 46 per cent increase inside the Wellington police boundary.
On top of this, the data also shows the number of acts intended to cause injury, including common and serious assault, have grown by 35 per cent over the same period.
Victoria University of Wellington Thursday's in Black co-president Maddi Rowe said the numbers weren't a surprise as it seems to be getting "worse and worse".
"I definitely know that students have experienced more sexual violence lately, like more this trimester than usual."
Victoria University of Wellington Thursday's in Black co-president Maddi Rowe. Photo / Supplied
Detective Senior Sergeant Warwick McKee said Wellington police had strengthened their partnerships with other agencies that work with the victims of sexual assault.
"As a result, we are seeing more referrals of sexual assault complaints coming to police through our partner agencies."
Last year a group, some in the music industry, were accused of sexual assault over social media.
Following this, police launched operation Emerald and received approximately 20 reports from women regarding alleged assaults.
One of the men is now facing seven charges related to sexual assault, including five of sexual violation and two of indecent assault.
And earlier this year, police also started looking into allegations against a man from a training gym in the Capital.
The Herald understands one of the alleged incidents happened at a staff Christmas party for the gym.
In relation to the increase in acts intended to cause injury, which include common and serious assault, police said these offences were commonly associated with family harm investigations.
"We know that incidents of family harm are more widely reported than in previous years. We find neighbours, friends, acquaintances and associates are more inclined to report family harm matters to police when they believe it might be happening."
McKee said there were also more reporting avenues available to people with the establishment of the 105 reporting system in May 2019.
Last month, Lower Hutt man Simon Strickland, 58, died after a serious assault near Te Papa around 7pm on Saturday, February 13.
In recent weeks representatives from the hospitality industry have spoken out about the worsening levels of violence in central Wellington.
Bar owners met on Monday to discuss how to make nightlife safer.
Ideas tabled at the meeting included more enforcement of the public liquor ban, extra street lights, and tightening communication between bars, police, and the city council.
Danger Danger owner Matt McLaughlin told Newstalk ZB on Monday they were also looking into a possible blanket ban, which would prevent violent offenders from entering any nightclubs in the area.
He said they also want to bridge the communication gap between bars, police, and the city council.
"We wanna push back a little on some of the other agencies and say hey, we've talked about these things numerous times and we've got no action and we really want to start seeing that action."
