It isn't your imagination, there have been an awful lot of rape stories in the news this year. Reported rape cases have jumped 16 percent this year, according to police statistics. But part of that growth is due to changes the NYPD made last year in the way it handles sexual violence.
"It doesn't mean that rape is up. It just means that those who were raped are now coming forward," Carole Sher, director of the Beth Israel Rape Crisis and Domestic Violence Intervention Program, told the Daily News. "The fact that people are reporting rape more is really good because that also means that people are coming to emergency rooms and getting help."
Last year Police Commissioner Ray Kelly upgraded the way officers are trained to deal with sexual crimes. He also ordered detectives from the special victims unit, not patrol officers, to handle sex-crime complaints from the get go. This year through June 26 there were 711 rape complaints citywide, up from 613 at the same time last year. The largest increase was in the southern end of Manhattan, where 68 rapes have been reported, up 62 percent from 42 at the same time last year.
Meanwhile, as reported rapes are up, serious crime overall is down one percent, according to the NYPD. Murders were down five percent at the end of June with 218 on the books.
And just because the number of rapes being reported is up, doesn't mean you need to be more concerned than usual walking down the street. "If there is a glass-half-full aspect to it," Police spokesman Paul Browne said of the uptick, "it's the fact that in over 80% of the cases the victim knows her assailant."
