Zonta concerned over increase in sex crimes

A local advocacy group working to eradicate violence against women and girls yesterday expressed concern about the 34 percent increase in sexual violence.

Zonta Club of New Providence Vice-President Marisa Mason-Smith said the recently released statistics shows that the country has strayed away from its core values and that women and girls need to be assured that they are safe.

“The statistics concern us a lot,” Mason-Smith said as she explained that the issue of sexual violence goes hand in hand with the concern of domestic violence and the increase in reports the club has seen.

“One of our primary concerns is always advocating for stiffer penalties and the protection of women and girls in our country. Over the pandemic, in particular, I can speak to the reported cases of 126 that has been reported and has come to our purview of which we’ve been working with. That has shown an increase of three times the amount of persons reporting domestic violence cases in 2019. That is of grave concern.”

On Monday, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle revealed that although crime decreased by 16 percent nationwide, there was a 34 percent increase in reported sex crimes in 2020 compared to 2019.

He said there were 213 reported incidents in 2020, compared to 159 in 2019.

Rolle also noted a trend he said police have found where young women are being targeted and lured to Airbnb rentals where they are sexually assaulted.

The Zonta Advocacy National chairman expressed concern over the number of incidents that go unreported as she said women sometimes feel as though they have nowhere to go after they make a report to police.

“There are very little facilities for women and children who can stay in any place of domicile for more than two weeks,” Mason-Smith said.

“In those cases, it is also causing persons to go back to those abusive relationships. In many cases, those persons, whomever the associates may be, are in a better financial situation to take care of them, to feed them, to clothe them and provide shelter.”

The commissioner also pointed to the number of young girls reported as missing in 2020.

Rolle said, “Notwithstanding, the majority of missing person reports were adolescent females engaging in sexual intercourse.”

Mason-Smith said in reporting that information, she’s not sure if she would have used those words, but said more attention needs to be placed on the family these young women come from and what is being done to help them.

“I would handle it differently, but I guess it depends on who you’re speaking to and the reasons of your reporting and what is the intent of all of this,” she said.

“So, I do believe that the police has a duty to report as they see it and if that is going to cause us to become more concerned for the way parents raise their children, the way we take responsibility for our families, I would say that we just need to keep it in front of us.”

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