Rise in hospital admissions for stab wounds

Last week we collaborated with The Sunday Times on an investigation into the rise in hospital admissions for stab wounds (£).

In the twelve months to April 2016, 4,054 people were admitted to hospitals in England as a result of injuries with sharp objects. In the previous year the figure was 3,590.

Richard Garside, our Director, told the paper: 'Knife crime is rare and most people will never be a victim. But these figures do suggest the problem might be getting worse'.

He went on to draw attention to recent research by Professor Sylvia Walby and colleagues, suggesting that violence has been on the rise for several years. 'If you dig deep into the official data,' he said, 'you find that violent crime started increasing several years ago, driven by increases in violence against women.'

Last year, Professor Walby gave our annual Eve Saville Memorial Lecture, during which she presented her findings on the rise in violence.

Contrary to the common view among politicians and journalists that violent crime has been falling consistently since the mid-1990s, she argued that violent crime had in fact been rising since 2009.