Dundee has seen close to a 50% increase in reported sexual crime.
Police have noted a 47.8% jump in complaints relating to sexual crime made to them between April and June compared with the same period in 2016.
One hundred and fifteen complaints of sexual crime were made between April and June 2016. That figure increased to 170 this year.
According to Police Scotland, the increase reflects the force’s work to encourage people to have the confidence to report complaints.
A police report submitted to Dundee City Council states: “Within this reporting period there has been an increase in the number of sexual crime reported.
“This is a reflection in the work our online sexual crime team carry out where again we take a proactive approach encouraging victims to have the confidence to report so we can identify offenders and ensure successful outcomes.”
The level of successfully detected sexual crimes during the same period fell slightly from 64.4% to 62.4%.
But there was an increase, of over 20%, in the rape detection rate compared with April to June 2016.
Dundee’s community safety convener Alan Ross believes an increase in reported sexual crime resembles a “Catch 22” situation.
He said increased reporting of sexual crimes can be viewed as a positive development as incidents of a sexual nature are something people have “historically kept to themselves”.
Mr Ross said: “There has been a lot of work done to encourage people to report crime.
“It’s not good to see it going up, but it’s encouraging to see more people feel like they can report it.
“It’s a bit of a Catch 22. Police can’t investigate if they don’t know.”
Sinead Daly, from Dundee Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, has previously said more research is required to establish why more women are reporting historical sexual abuse claims.
She said: “The levels of rape and sexual violence being reported in Dundee has increased quite significantly, but we don’t know if that’s because there’s an increase in prevalence or an increase in confidence.
“The reality is that we just don’t know.”