Minors were involved in half of the 75 cases of sexual assault reported to the police this year.

By the end of September, nine reports of rape, four of sexual activity with minors, 25 of violent indecent assault, 19 of defilement of minors and 18 of indecent exposure were filed, according to figures obtained from the police.

Thirty-eight of the victims were minors and these included 28 girls and 10 boys. The figures also show that the majority of the victims – 66 – were women, 34 of who were Maltese and the rest of various nationalities including English, French, German, Swedish and Bulgarian.

Ten of the reported cases occurred in St Julian’s, where most of the reports were made, which has been the case over the years.

A look at the past seven years showed that 109 out of the reported 751 cases of sexual assault happened in the St Julian’s area, which is known for the night life because of the Paceville entertainment hub. This was followed by St Paul’s Bay, where 83 cases were reported since 2008.

Only last month, a Dutchman was charged with violent indecent assault on an 18-year-old Maltese girl who was reportedly walking back home from Paceville on October 16 at about 4am.

The court heard that the girl was thrown to the ground and had her clothes ripped off before she managed to escape.

In March, the Sexual Assault Response Team (Sart) started operating at Mater Dei Hospital, providing adult victims of sexual assault with a 24-hour, on-call service including that of a doctor, nurse, social worker and the police.

Figures published in August showed that, by then, 14 women had sought the team’s help.

Victims who suffer some form of physical harm go to the hospital’s emergency department where they are vetted and the Sart’s nurse, doctor and social worker are then called in. The social worker asks the victim whether a police report should be filed. If so, a trained police inspector is brought in to help.

The service is available to both men and women and also to those who were victims of sexual assault in the past and want to check for any STDs.

Victim support Malta, which runs the service, can becontacted on 2122 8333 or through Facebook.

Sexual offences

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014*
Defilement of minors	29	27	37	28	17	21	19
Grooming of minors	/	/	/	/	/	2	/
Indecent exposure	32	38	32	27	29	20	18
Rape	19	12	11	18	13	15	9
Sexual activity, minors	/	/	/	/	7	4	4
Violent indecent assault	32	43	43	23	45	52	25
TOTAL = 751	112	120	123	96	111	114	75

Source: National Police System

*Until the end of September

ccalleja@timesofmalta.com