Sexual offenses in Malta are rampant and the reports, unfortunately, do not match the realistically high rates of harassment and assault that the citizens of the island are forced to endure in silence.

Despite this, there are still some recorded numbers that give a brief and undoubtedly inaccurate understanding of the endemic that is harassment and sexual abuse.

These are the sex crime reports in Malta for 2021:

There were a total of 166 reports of sexual offenses and this number was divided into six sub-sections.

The first section was the pollution of the child and this, unfortunately, had the highest number with 46 reports, while reports on sexual activity with the child amounted to 15.

In addition, there were five reports of juvenile grooming.

Violent indecent assault had the second highest reports recorded with 39 cases, while there were 32 reported cases of rape.

Finally, there were 29 reported cases of indecent exposure.

Lovin Malta continued to reach out to the Ministry of Justice to see how many of the accused in these reports have been charged, how many have been convicted and how many cases are still pending.

However, we have not yet received a response.

When considering these numbers, keep in mind that 85% of sexual assaults on the island remain unreported, according to a University of Malta dissertation.

And only one in three victims of sexual assault reported their case to the police in 2021, found data from a Maltese NGO.

What do you do with these upset figures?