Viscountess ASTORasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that, according to the latest police statistics, out of 1,853 indecent assaults on females, only 1,116 were dealt with in the courts, although more than half of these were offences against children under 16; and whether, in view of this, he will increase the number of women police in the Metropolitan area in order to protect children outside schools and in the parks and open spaces where the men who make these assaults are found?
§ Sir H. SAMUELThe number of indecent assaults on women and girls in England and Wales that became known to the police in 1929 and the proportion that were against girls under 16, were as stated. 1,205 persons were proceeded against, many of them for more than one offence, so that, in all, 1,569 out of 1,853 offences were traced to suspects. The figures for the Metropolitan area alone are in similar ratios. Other factors, as well as this, have to be taken into account in considering whether additions to the numbers of women police are desirable and practicable.