The Sexual Assault Response Team is dealing with an increasing number of cases — and most of the victims are adolescents.

Nineteen incidents were reported to them last year, compared with 13 in 2013 and 16 in 2012. Five victims were under the age of 12 and five were teenagers.

According to Rebecca Madeiros, a sexual assault nurse examiner, men in their early twenties are the perpetrators in about half of the cases involving teenage girls.

“It’s increasing,” Ms Madeiros said of the overall number of reported incidents.

“The majority of our cases are adolescents. Some of it can be peer on peer but I would say that a good half is older men on younger girls.”

Gaynell Hayward-Caesar, the Sart coordinator, said alcohol, illicit drugs and social media were the common denominator in cases involving teenagers.

“Some of it for teens can be in private homes,” she said. “Also, in that environment you can have a setting for multiple assailants because, obviously, you’re inebriated and at times may just pass out and you have no knowledge of what occurred until you wake up.”

To reduce the risks, Ms Madeiros said parents needed to know where their children were, who they were with and that they were going where they said they were going.

Both Ms Hayward-Caesar and Ms Madeiros are Sart volunteers who examine victims of “acute sexual assaults”.

These are assaults that have taken place no more than five days before the exam because forensic evidence can only potentially be obtained within that time frame.

Exams for chronic sexual assaults can be conducted in a clinic or doctor’s office.

The forensic nurses examine victims at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and put them in touch with other helping agencies.

Child and Family Services is alerted when cases involve children, while the Centre Against Abuse is called for adults.

Because the forensic nurses only deal with acute cases, Ms Hayward-Caesar said their figures did not reflect the total number of sexual assaults on the Island. But she added that more cases had been reported and had gone to court since Sart was set up in 1998.

According to Bermuda Police Service crime statistics, which include all reported crimes, there were 31 sexual assaults in 2013 and 26 in 2012.

Figures for this year and last year are not available, a police spokesman said, although they are expected to be released early next year.

But Ms Madeiros said the total number was likely to be much higher because only a third of sexual assaults were reported, according to global statistics.

She added that one in four men and one in three women would suffer a sexual assault.

With Bermuda being a small island, she said it was easy to get “lulled into a false sense of security”.

“You have to advocate for yourself, protect yourself,” she added. “Don’t do anything that will put you at risk or make you vulnerable to assailants.”

Ms Hayward-Caesar said the team “rarely” encountered male cases or seniors despite global evidence indicating that they happen.

“The males are very interesting because of the homosexuality stigma,” she added. “That is a barrier to reporting because in most cases they don’t feel that they will be believed.”

However, Ms Hayward-Caesar said that both male and female victims often did not report sexual assaults because “they don’t want anyone to get in trouble, so they just hope it goes away”.

“Most of them are known assailants,” Ms Madeiros added. “It’s more of a betrayal. You know the person — it’s a hard thing to overcome and then trust yourself again.”

Both women stressed the importance of reporting these crimes because it was “the only way they can get appropriate and the most comprehensive help”.

Ms Hayward-Caesar said untreated sexual assaults could result in anxiety attacks, fear, suicidal ideation, depression and post traumatic stress disorder.

“The important part with taking it to trial is it helps with closure and it puts the perpetrator away so that they can’t reoffend,” Ms Madeiros added.