Physical attacks on women have surged a shocking 41% over the last four years, according to disturbing NYPD data obtained by The Post.
Through Oct. 1 this year, 2,830 women have been the victims of felony assault, excluding domestic violence, compared to 2,006 just four years ago.
The attacks, ranging from random subway shoves to vicious beatings, have jumped 5% from the same period last year, when 2,699 women were felony assault victims.
“It seemed like a while ago, it was old Asian people, and now it’s young women,” one 27-year-old told The Post, three weeks after a stranger sucker-punched her in the face at the West 4th Street subway station. “It feels like men just hate us.”
She ripped ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio and his comrades for pushing to empty the city’s jails during the pandemic and lashed out at city pols for passing legislation to cut down on the number of people in custody as part of its goal to close Rikers Island.
“They’re not being careful about who they’re letting out,” she said.
“There’s nowhere safe for them to go, so they are on the streets and they’re drug-addicted and they’re desperate for a sense of control and women are an easy target.”
Misdemeanor assaults, excluding domestic violence, against women have also risen 8% over the same period, from 8,008 in 2019 to 8,668 in 2023.
The tally is also up a troubling 12% compared to last year when 7,734 women were attacked.
Several victims agreed that women are more likely to be targeted for their small size and stature, but also blamed city and state politicians for passing legislation to allow more criminals to roam the streets — or for failing to provide sufficient services to drug addicts and mentally ill individuals to reduce the chances of them violently acting out.
“You could see a lot more people with mental illness out and about — it’s never been this bad,” said HR executive Gladys Chen, who was punched so hard by a crazed woman on the N/R/W platform at the 23rd Street station that her contact lens popped out of her eye.
“Attacks are up because people who are committing the crimes are not getting the treatment they normally would need.”
A City Council spokesperson said lawmakers recently passed legislation expanding mental health services and has advanced budget initiatives supporting violence prevention and victim services programs.
In recent months, a number of assaults have shaken New York women’s sense of safety in the city, including:
“I felt pretty defenseless,” Aniqa said. “Now I would probably carry a knife or pepper spray in my pocket or my hand, in case I needed it.”
Jane Manning, director of Women’s Equal Justice Project, also attributed the skyrocketing assault cases to an uptick in “aggressive explicit misogyny” in public.
“On the right, we have a leading presidential candidate who bragged about brutalizing women. On the political left, we have organizations that are exclusively calling for domestic violence to be decriminalized,” she said, adding that this rhetoric is emboldening some men to attack women.
“The two go hand in hand,” she said.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said assailants are often looking to prey on the most vulnerable.
“Criminals are opportunists, and they’re cowards, and they’re going to seek out the easiest targets available. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
“There are plenty of people that are out, specifically in the subway and the streets, that shouldn’t be out among the public…and it results in more victimization.”
Women, however, are banding together online to help keep others safe.
“If you are a woman living in New York City, please protect yourself,” 19-year-old Ellio Wagner, who was sucker-punched by a stranger in Chelsea last month on her way to work, said through tears in a TikTok video captioned “PSA TO NYC GIRLIES!!”
With her face still covered in bruises, she pleaded: “Please stay aware because you will never know when s–t like this is gonna happen.”