Sexual violence is a crime that primarily affects women. Rape always leaves a deep wound to the psyche, and its consequences for the victim can be really devastating. There is no voivodship in Poland in which there were no rapes in 2023. Also, rape statistics in Poland rarely change dramatically from year to year. It is also worth noting that rapes in Poland are one of the lowest in Europe! So how many rapes in Poznan are there every year?
What is staggering is that it’s almost 10 times more likely to be raped in one region than another although, when you take into consideration the number of inhabitants in each region it more or less balances the numbers. The Poznan region had 84 ‘reported’ rapes in 2023 compared to Warsaw with 171. That’s approximately half but Warsaw has 4 times the number of inhabitants so it could be said there is more chance to be attacked ‘statistically’ in the Poznan region.
In the event that you are faced with the possibility of being raped, self-defense specialist Paweł Barnowski reminds us that it is possible to defend yourself ‘You can use anything that is within reach to defend yourself. A stick, stone, bottle. An improvised weapon can be a wrench or a pen that can be used to attack sensitive areas on the attacker’s body (including eyes, throat, and nose). It is good to have tear gas with you, remembering not to keep it in your purse but rather in your pocket. In an emergency situation, it must be easily accessible. You must also never warn the attacker that we want to attack him! You must keep a cool head and try to confuse the rapist for a few seconds and use this time to escape.
He goes on to say ‘In many cities, self-defense courses for women are organized – it is worth doing such a course because they allow you to master simple tricks that can help you get out of trouble in a dangerous situation’.
