The effects continue to be felt, more than two years after the explosion caused by the Weinstein affair and the speech-free campaigns that followed, around the keyword #metoo in particular. As in 2018, sexual violence was still on the rise in 2019 with more than 54,000 incidents recorded (+ 12%), explained by a change in the behavior of victims who dare to file a complaint more than in the past.
The number of sexual violence as well as the number of scams are the two striking indicators of the first analysis of delinquency 2019 carried out by the Ministerial Statistical Service of Internal Security (SSMSI).
A full report, with consolidated data for 2019, will be published at the end of March. He will in particular take stock of feminicides, which is not the case with the summary published Thursday where 970 homicides (including deliberate assault and death followed) are recorded, an increase of 9%, compared to 2018 .
Already increasing significantly in 2018 (+ 19%), sexual violence continued to increase (54,100 incidents recorded), with rapes in particular on the rise (+ 19% against + 17% in 2018 and + 12% in 2017), other sexual assaults, including sexual harassment, increasing by 8%.
As last year, the statistical service notes that these increases are explained “Through an evolution in the behavior of victims’ complaints” in the wake of the Weinstein affair and through campaigns to free their speech.
He also underlines that this increase in recorded sexual violence “Is part of an improvement in the reception conditions for victims by the services”.
Fraud, theft, fraudulent charges
Self-inflicted bodily harm to people aged 15 and over increased by 8%, but if we exclude domestic violence, this indicator increased by 4% (compared to + 6% last year). Robberies without violence against people increased by 3%, while armed robberies and house burglaries, down sharply in 2018, remained stable. Last year, these two indicators were down (-10% for thefts with weapons, – 6% for burglaries of accommodation).
The developments observed at the national level hide territorial disparities. Thus the number of violent thefts recorded increases with the size of the agglomeration. This is verified in Paris where the number of violent robberies without weapons per 1,000 inhabitants is twice as high as in large cities of more than 200,000 inhabitants. Elsewhere, if these violent thefts without weapons are on the decline, there is an exception in the Pays-de-la-Loire where the increase is 21.2%.
The summary also highlights the increase in scams and similar offenses which killed 363,000 victims. This indicator, now observed monthly, increased sharply at the start of the year before stabilizing.
The statistics service notes that the proportion of households who reported being the victim of a fraudulent debit from their bank account has “More than doubled between 2010 and 2018”. Finally, deliberate destruction and damage to property fell very slightly (- 1%), while 2018 was marked by very strong growth at the end of the year, due to the movement of “Yellow vests”. “The destruction and damage declined until the end of spring 2019 and then stabilized overall”, notes the summary.
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