Assaults on Women in Ireland Rise 8% in Q1, Kidnappings Up 65%
Assaults against women in Ireland rose 8% to 2,460 victims in Q1, while overall serious crimes decreased. Kidnappings surged 65%, and thefts increased 6%. The CSO noted potential underreporting in assault and fraud data.
Assaults, threats, and harassment against women in Ireland increased by 8% in the first quarter of the year, despite an overall decrease in serious crimes. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) reported 2,460 female victims in Q1, up from 2,174 in the same period last year. Male victims of assault saw a 1.2% increase, mainly among those aged 18-29.
CSO statistician Jim Dalton noted potential underreporting in many crime types, including assault, fraud, and sex crimes, as data relies on incidents recorded by gardaí. Homicide and related offenses decreased by 27% annually, with homicides alone halving from 20 to 10 quarterly. Sexual offenses were down 15% annually, organized crimes and offenses against government/justice procedures fell 7%, and burglaries dropped 9%.
Kidnappings and related offenses surged by 65% in Q1, from 25 incidents in the first three months of 2025 to 43 this year. Thefts, the most common crime, rose 6% to 17,676 incidents. Drug offenses increased 14% to 4,521, and fraud offenses rose over 21% to 3,466, though this figure is affected by a backlog in processing bank-reported incidents.