This project is connected to the experience of being a woman in a big and unknown city.

Yes, being a newbie anywhere can be pretty scary. But when you are part of a minority group, statistics are always against you.

A Hostile Scenario

About 9 out of every 10 victims of rape are female. Every 68 seconds, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. Only 2.5% of every 1,000 rape cases lead to arrest or conviction¹.

A rape was reported every 6 hours in New York City in 2023. According to historical data released by the NY Police Department, this specific type of crime has experienced a significant—although not constant—rise in the last decade. From 2010 to 2022, there was an increase of 17.7% in the reported cases.

The numbers dropped considerably during the pandemic's peak but rose again in the following years, reaching 1,617 cases in 2022.

¹ Data from the RAINN - Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

With these statistics in mind, it is hard to leave home without being haunted by the question: “Will I be safe on the streets today?”.

A City in Red attempts to display the geography of sexual violence in NYC, focusing on rape cases reported to the NYPD from January 1st to June 25th, 2023.

Seven precincts in the southern Bronx, western Queens, and northeastern Brooklyn accounted for 22.4% of the cases in 2023. All of them had more than 20 rapes reported.

The 075 precinct in Brooklyn has 28 cases and is the region with the highest number of rapes in the year.

Eight precincts in the Bronx, northern Manhattan, and western and northern Queens had 19.3% of reported rapes, bringing the citywide number to 296. These regions had between 15 and 19 cases each.

Fourteen precincts, mostly in eastern Queens, southern Brooklyn, and the Bronx, reported 22.4% of total cases in 2023. They had between 10 and 13 rapes.

Fifteen precincts accounted for 17.1% of reported rapes in NYC during 2023. These areas are spread across the city, including Staten Island for the first time.

Sixteen precincts had 12.5% of the cases.

Most of the mapped areas had between zero and 4 cases. Seventeen precincts make up this group, accounting for 6% of rapes.

NYC had a total of 708 rape cases in 2023.

At this point, data was regrouped by boroughs.

Precincts in the Bronx accumulate 26.7% of total cases registered in the city. The borough is home to 16% of New York's population and had about 13 rapes per 100,000 people in 2023.

The number may seem negligible, but it is important to stress that, according to RAINN, only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to the police, and 1 out of every 6 American women has been a victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Following this estimation, the number found would be 16,599 victims for every 100,000 inhabitants of the Bronx. Unfortunately, we have to deal with underreporting when discussing sexual violence.

As the most populated borough in New York—with 30.9% of the city's population—Brooklyn had 29.8% of the rape cases in 2023. It represents almost 8 cases per 100,000 people.

Queens, home to 27.2% of the NYC population, had 23.8% of all citywide cases and about 7 officially reported rapes per 100,000 people.

Manhattan has 19.1% of the city's population, 16.8% of reported rapes, and about 7 cases per 100,000 people, just like Queens.

So even though the latter region has darker colors on the map, due to the absolute number of cases, Manhattan has proportionally as many rape cases as Queens.

Lastly, Staten Island, holding 5.7% of the city's population, had 2.8% of total rape cases in 2023; it means 4 rapes per 100,000 people—the lowest rate among NYC boroughs.

Considering the number of rape cases reported to the NYPD, the most dangerous days of the week in 2023 were Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Each of those weekdays surpassed the year's daily average.

Where to Get Help

Victims of sexual violence in NYC can contact:

York City Crime Victims' Hotline | 1-866-689-HELP (4357)

Horizon Counseling Center | 1-347-328-8110

RAINN – National Sexual Assault Hotline | 800-656-HOPE (4673)

Alliance Against Sexual Assault | 212-229-0345 or 212-514-SAFE (7233)

Author's Note: I used NYPD's data for this project. The graphics were created using Adobe Illustrator and DataWrapper.