Russia Reports Dramatic Rise in Rape Cases

Feb. 28, 2020

Authorities opened 72% more rape cases in January 2020 than they did in January 2019. Peter Kovalev / TASS

New rape cases in Russia have shot up by 72%, according to federal prosecutors’ criminal data cited by the state-run TASS news agency Friday.

Authorities opened 296 rape and attempted rape cases in January, 72.1% more than they did in January 2019. Rape made up 0.18% of all crimes committed in January 2020, according to the cited Prosecutor General’s Office data.

Polls in recent years have said that a quarter of Russian women say they’ve experienced sexual violence.

Extremism-related crimes also saw a dramatic rise, increasing by 77% from 35 last year to 62 in 2020. Authorities opened 118 terrorism cases in January 2020 compared to 124 in January 2019.

Telecommunications-related crimes and fraud were most common in absolute numbers, at 28,000 and 22,000 in January 2020 respectively, according to the data cited by TASS.

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