The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
South Holland has an average of 28 rapes or sexual offences reported every month and the county has a prosecution rate for the crime of just over five per cent.
Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones is spending £3m to help keep women and girls feeling safe.
And Lincolnshire’s force is promoting a charity smart phone app, Hollie Guard, designed to track women walking alone.
It has also created a new panel, meeting quarterly, specifically to look at rape investigations.
The £3m will be spent to help tackle sex offences along with domestic abuse, violence and drug offences.
“I place a high priority on crimes that disproportionately affect the safety of women and girls,” said Mr Jones.
An assurance report presented by police at the end of November showed a prosecution rate of 5.4 per cent for rapes, while referrals to specialist domestic violence services were up more than 600 per cent in the year ending September 2021.
“It is fully accepted that we are not receiving consistently high levels of satisfaction from victims of crime, and there is clearly work to do,” the report says.
Cases of sexual assault and harassment were up 27 per cent in the county – the total number of sex offences in Lincolnshire was 2,057.
“The number of recorded rape offences have significantly increased since the release of lockdown,” said the report, which showed an 8.5 per cent increase over the 12 month rolling period.
“Rape offences occur with a known acquaintance, not a stranger,” it added.
“It’s paramount that we address serious criminality that effects the safety and perceptions of safety against women and girls within Lincolnshire.”
Chief Constable Chris Haward said in the report there was a “need for further co-ordinated work to tackle violence against women and girls across the country.”
A Violence Against Women and Girls Briefing given to the meeting said: “The long-term fundamental ambition must be nothing less than to reduce the prevalence of violence against women and girls.”
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Dawson is leading on the topic.
The independent rape scrutiny panel has been established to review investigations.
“We are fully committed to tackling violence against women and girls, and their safety is paramount.” he said this week.
“We have created an independent rape scrutiny panel to review investigations, scrutinise outcomes and ensure that the victim is at the heart of the investigation,” he said.
“These issues cannot be resolved by policing alone which is why I have been diligent in working with partners from across the county to ensure we address the issue in a way that will provide long-lasting solutions,” he added.
According to work undertaken by the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership, 70 per cent of domestic abuse victms are female and 84 per cent of sexual offence victims.
There are also plans to create proposals for a new Violence Reduction Unit for Lincolnshire, with planning work due to be completed at the end of April. The next assurance report will be presented in March.
