Recorded sexual crimes in Dunfermline are higher than they were before the pandemic.

In total, more than 1,000 sexual crimes have been reported in Dunfermline since 2017.

Crime data from Police Scotland on the recorded sexual crimes across the Dunfermline Central, Dunfermline North, and Dunfermline South wards show that starting from 2017-2018, and ending in 2022-2023, there were 1,078 sexual crimes in the city.

In 2017-2018, there were 136 sexual crimes across the wards. This increased to 170 in 2018-2019, before falling to 163 in 2019-2020.

During the pandemic the figures further fell to 157 in 2020-2021.

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However, as Scotland started to come out of the COVID-19 lockdowns, the number of sexual crimes rose. This went up sharply to 229 in 2021-2022, before dropping slightly to 223 in 2022-2023.

This means that recorded sexual crimes in Dunfermline are now significantly higher in comparison to the years prior to the pandemic. 

As previously reported in the Dunfermline Press, Police Chief Derek McEwan said that Fife has a high sex crime rate. 

There are several charities across Fife which you can access if you have been affected by sexual crime. These include Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre (FRASAC), Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project (KASP), and Safe Space.

Located in Dunfermline, Safe Space supports survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Safe Space commented: “We’re a small charity and we’re a trauma-based charity, and what we provide is long-term counselling to survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

“We had a young people’s service but we lost our funding for that, but we are pursuing funding for that.

“As well as counselling we provide a range of therapeutic groups.”

The charity offers a range of groups to people aged 16 and over who have been sexually abused in their childhood. They are supported by Fife Council and the Robertson Trust.

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One of these is an art therapy group. This helps people explore or express their thoughts and feelings that might be difficult to communicate with words. The charity have an art therapist who used to be a volunteer with them running the art therapy group.

There is also an art journaling course that allows people to reveal their thoughts and feelings using a creative process over eight weeks.

Another group that the charity runs is a parents and guardians support group, for the parents of those who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. This is a six-week course that helps parents and guardians to understand the effects of abuse on their children, as well as themselves.

“Parents are at a loss to understand what their child is going through,” Safe Space added. “The whole aim is to support people on a daily basis.”

Anyone who is interested in accessing the services provided by Safe Space can call the charity.

Safe Space added: “They can ring us up, that’s our main way of referral. We prefer people to ring up themselves rather than someone else ring up on their behalf.

“They need to be able to talk to us at the very beginning.”

A person’s details would then be taken and they could be invited in for an assessment. They might then do counselling, group work, or both. When the charity has a big waiting list, they recruit more volunteers.

Safe Space added: “We try to make sure that people have access to something while they’re waiting.”