The number of reported rapes in Hackney has skyrocketed in the last 12 months, with the increase far outstripping the London average.
Analysis by Hackney Post reveals that the number of offences shot up by a startling 26 per cent in the 12 months up to January 2016 – nearly three times the average London increase of less than 9 per cent.
According to Metropolitan Police figures, 227 rapes were recorded in the borough compared to 180 the previous year.
Hackney Post also discovered that in the last year, Hackney has experienced an exceptional surge in Islamophobic and homophobic crimes when compared to the rest of the capital.
The number of murders in Hackney fell from seven in the 12 months to January 2015, to five in the same period to January 2016.
Recent figures have also shown that the borough has borne the brunt of cuts to policing over the last few years.
This week, Labour released Met figures showing that the number of uniformed officers in Hackney has fallen by nearly a third since 2010, more than double the average London borough.
The volunteer police force in Hackney was also cut by 77 per cent between May 2012 and December 2015, despite Boris Johnson’s pledge to double its size, a claim Labour now say is “in tatters”.
Crime percentage increases 2015/16
An organisation which offers support to victims of sexual abuse told Hackney Post that the upward trend in rapes could be a result of more crimes being reported as well being committed.
But Fay Maxted, CEO of The Survivors Trust, a charity that helps rape survivors, said areas like Hackney with rapidly changing populations often attract abnormally high sex crime levels.
“Places that have influxes of people at different time generally tend to see a rise in sexual offences,” she said.
“It could be that the nature of the area – that there is a transient group or groups of people coming in – may mean that there are more vulnerable people in the area or living in the area.”
Behind the statistics
Pavan Amara, who was raped in north London as a teenager, stressed the need to look beyond the data.
“What’s really important is that behind the statistics, these are thousands and thousands of real women,” she said.
“Behind each number there is somebody’s life, their family, and their friends.”
Since her sexual assault, Ms Amara has set up My Body Back Project, which runs a specialist clinic at St Bartholomew’s Hospital for women who have been raped, and holds regular meetings in a Shoreditch women’s sex shop to help fellow survivors deal with their trauma.
She argued that even if a greater number of women were coming forward to report crimes, more needed to be done to protect them as their case passed through the courts.
“Many women who go through the legal system feel like they’re in the dock rather than the victim,” she said.
“If you want people to report crimes, you have to make sure going through the legal system isn’t utterly traumatic for women.”
As well as the worrying increase in serious sexual offences, Hackney also experienced a 70 per cent rise in Islamophobic crime, 10 percentage points higher than the London average.
In January, a man was arrested after a woman was subjected to anti-Islamic abuse on the 259 bus on Seven Sisters Road.
Mayoral response
During a recent online mayoral hustings, Hackney Post put these findings to the candidates hoping to succeed Boris Johnson in City Hall and asked how they would tackle the upward trend.
Respect leader George Galloway said the figures reflected the UK’s discriminatory approach to minority groups.
“There must be a ceaseless struggle by all levels of government against hate crimes which starts with foul language and degrading imagery on social media and ends in Mosque car-parks in blood,” he said.
“We rightly protect some places of worship but not others, especially mosques. A multi-faith London must mean that those of faith can go about their religious duties and lives without fear.
“We don’t have that and Hackney is a shocking example.”
However, during an exclusive interview with Hackney Post while canvassing in the borough, mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan painted a different picture of the capital.
“There was undoubtedly an increase in the number of Islamophobic crimes in the wake of the Paris attacks in November,” he said.
“London is one of the most diverse places in the world. We do not simply tolerate – we celebrate.
“There is no place in the world as a Muslim father where I would rather raise my daughters.”
Homophobic hate
The surge in anti-Muslim crimes coincided with a worrying increase in the number of homophobic offences in Hackney.
In July 2013, Stewart O’Callaghan was the victim of a homophobic attack which left him with a punctured lung.
Just over two years on with the number of homophobic offences well above the London average, the threat of prejudice still hangs over Hackney.
There were 108 homophobic offences in the borough in the 12 months up to January 2016. This 35 per cent increase on the previous year dwarfed the London average of 20 per cent.
Galop, a London-based charity which has offered support to the LGBT community since the 1980s, has spent the last year at the forefront of a nationwide initiative raising awareness of homophobia.
The organisation’s hate crime manager Nick Antjoule told Hackney Post that although the rise in homophobic crimes could mean more offences are being committed, it could also reflect an increase in victims’ willingness to report attacks.
“Hackney is a really vibrant, diverse area and one person being targeted because they are LGB or T is one too many,” he said.
“On the one hand, a rise in hate crime is something to be very wary of because a lot of the time it can mean that there is an escalating problem.
“But the flip side is that, because so little of it gets reported, an increase can actually be a good thing and an indication of good work going on.”
Police response
Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Laurence said: “We believe the increase in hate crime is due to a range of factors. This includes a growing willingness of victims to report hate crime, an improved awareness of staff in identifying these offences; and work with partners to support victims. World events can also contribute to a rise in hate crime.”
He added: “We welcome the increase in the number of rape allegations made to police in Hackney as we believe it reflects a greater confidence within victims that they will be listened to.”
Additional reporting Jasmin Gray. Featured image credit: Alan Cleaver.
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