§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes of(a) rape,(b) sexual harassment of women and (c) sexual attacks on women have been committed in the county of South Yorkshire during 1987 and 1988 to date; on how many such occasions the victims were attended to by a woman police surgeon; and if he has any plans to increase the number of women police surgeons employed.
§ Mr. John Patten[holding answer 19 January 1989]There is no legal offence of sexual harassment; the available information on recorded sexual offences is given in the following table. Such information is published annually in table 3.1 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", supplementary tables, volume 3, a copy of which is in the Library. I understand from the South Yorkshire police that 22 victims in 1987 and 11 victims in 1988 were attended by women police surgeons. The employment of civilian staff is a matter for individual chief officers of police.
Certain sexual offences recorded by the police in South Yorkshire Number Offence 1987 19881 Rape 73 51 Indecent assault on a female 357 272 1January to September.