A rape every two days: reports quadruple in the past five years in Malaga province

From January to September this year, 127 sexual assaults were recorded in the province, 273.5% more than in the same period of 2019, when there were just 34 cases

Irene Quirante

Malaga

Monday, 11 December 2023 | Updated 13/12/2023 08:11h.

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A rape is reported every two days in Malaga as cases of sexual assault increase in the province, worrying new figures show.

Police recorded 127 cases between January and September this year in Malaga province, almost quadrupling in the past five years, according to the latest crime statistics for the third quarter of 2023. Rapes have increased by 273.5% compared to the 34 recorded in the first nine months of 2019.

The number of complaints recorded in 2019 rose from 34 to 48 the following year. However, cases almost doubled in 2022, with 63 recorded. That number has doubled again to 127 this year.

Assaults involving sexual penetration are part of a wider group of sexual offences such as abuse or touching, sexual harassment, prostitution, sexual exploitation and assaults against minors.

When considering all of these sexual offences together, the numbers are even higher. A total of 572 reports were filed from January to September, an average of two per day. It is a 35.8% increase compared to the 421 complaints in the same period in 2019, according to the figures. The ministry of the interior attributed the rise in cases to extra police work to catch offenders and a greater willingness to report crimes.

Increase in the child and adolescent population

Sexual offences perpetrated by minors are also on the rise, Malaga Public Prosecutor's Office warned in its last report. This has been caused by "excessive use" of social media among adolescents and, "in particular, pornographic content", it added.

Spokesperson for equality and gender perspective of the Official College of Psychology of Eastern Andalucía José Antonio García said this has a lot to do with a lack of sexual education and increasingly early exposure to pornography.

"The consequence is that their main role models, in the end, are relationships marked by domination, violence and impulsivity," he said.

This also causes confusion among girls who do not know how to discern whether they have been raped.

"The result is that they don't report it and, when they do, they are also afraid of being judged and of suffering a double victimisation," he added.

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