Mum of murdered student urges reporting of non-contact sexual offences
The mother of a murdered university student has joined forces with Thames Valley Police urging people to report non-contact sexual offences.
Lisa Squire's daughter Libby went missing in January 2019.
Pawel Relowicz was jailed for at least 27 years for raping and murdering the student.
Lisa Squire said: "I knew I had to do something to raise awareness around safety at university and in the night- time economy and the importance reporting of non-contact sexual offences. After many meetings and lots of discussions with Thames Valley Police, 'It Does Matter' was created.
"I know Libby would be incredibly proud of what we have created in It Does Matter.
"My hope is that you take the messages in It Does Matter and make them part of your everyday life."
Libby's mum Lisa is a campaigner and says non-contact sexual offences can be a stepping stone to more serious sex crimes.
Thames Valley Police are visiting universities to empower people to report crimes especially those against women and girls.Violence against them has seen a stark rise, said to have reached epidemic levels.
The Force's 'It Does Matter' campaign is looking at the importance of reporting non-contact sexual offences.
Non-contact sexual offences include but are not limited to: exposure, voyeurism, up-skirting, administering substance with intent to commit sexual offence, committing other offence with intent to commit sexual offence, trespass with intent to commit sexual offence
Data from the Office for National Statistics in 2023 revealed that over 12,000 exposure andvoyeurism offences have been recorded annually by police in England and Wales since April 2021.
However, this represents fewer than 6% of the estimated total incidents, highlighting thesignificant underreporting non-contact sexual offences.
Assistant Chief Constable Katy Barrow Grint from Thames Valley Police is the Force Strategic Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls
A recent report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for UN Women found that 71% of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment in a public space, including though not limited to, sexual exposure.
95% of these incidents were not reported to the police, with more than half of women saying they did not report as they didn’t believe the incident was serious enough.
Assistant Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint, Force Strategic Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls, said: “Many women and girls will have been subjected to non-contact sexual offences during their lives.
"This is likely to include your family and friends. Many will have brushed it off as something that happens to all women, or found that others have laughed at their stories, making them question how serious is it.
"We have created the ‘It Does Matter’ campaign to encourage those who have been subjected to offences such as indecent exposure and voyeurism to absolutely report to the Police.
"We will investigate, and it will also provide intelligence that will help us understand patterns of offending to assist with locating those that commit such crimes. It really does matter.
“We strongly encourage you to provide as much detail as possible when reporting non contact sexual offences online. Detailed information, including descriptions of offenders, significantly improves our ability to route the report to the appropriate department.”
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