WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The number of rapes reported in Vermont in 2018 increased by 12.5% compared with the prior year, a continuing trend in the state since 2014, newly released federal data show.

The reason behind the increase is unclear, but Karen Tronsgard-Scott, the executive director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said that increase may correlate with an uptick in the number of sexual assault nurse examiners, or SANEs, available to support victims in the state. The examiners are registered nurses who are specially trained to care for individuals who have been sexually abused.

“In the past, survivors who wish to have a forensic exam may not have had easy access to a SANE in their location,” Tronsgard-Scott said. “Now that there are more SANEs serving all corners of Vermont, we can see a correlation between having a forensic exam and reporting.”

Perhaps another factor for increased reports relates to people feeling more comfortable coming forward and reporting, due in part to the #MeToo movement, other advocates have said.

“We attribute the increase in reported rapes to many variables, none of which are immediately measurable,” Tronsgard-Scott said.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire saw the opposite trend. Rape reports in the Granite State in 2018 decreased by 14% compared with the prior year, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report data, which is collected from police agencies.

There were 46 rapes reported per 100,000 people in Vermont in 2018, compared with 39 per the same population in New Hampshire and 43 nationwide.

New Hampshire, which has consistently recorded more reported rapes than the rest of the country, registered below the national average for the first time in years, according to revised data. The 2018 statistic in Vermont marks the first time in at least a decade that the Green Mountain State has recorded more rape reports than the national average.

Just because New Hampshire’s numbers have decreased, doesn’t mean there are fewer incidents happening in the Granite State, said Jessica Eskeland, the public policy specialist at the N.H. Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

“Anytime we see a decrease in reported crime, we of course hope it’s because there has been a reduction in serious crimes — in this case, of course, sexual assault,” Eskeland said via email. “However, we know that the actual incidence rates of sexual assault are not directly correlated with the number of rapes that are reported.”

And just because more people may be reporting rape in Vermont doesn’t mean there are more victims and perpetrators, VtDigger reported last week.

“We do monitor changes in these numbers, and we do not believe they represent a change in the number of sexual assaults, only changes in the number of sexual assaults which are reported,” Tronsgard-Scott said.

The FBI Uniform Crime Reporting statistics also include property crime and other violent crime statistics.

Property crime, which includes arson, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, continues to decrease in both states. Both states are well below the national average for property crime rates.

Violent crime in New Hampshire, which includes rape as well as homicide, robbery and aggravated assault, has been slowly trending downward since 2015. Violent crime has been increasing in Vermont since 2014 but held almost steady in 2018, according to the data. Vermont saw 137 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 population in 2016, 173 incidents in 2017 and 172 in 2018.

Vermont State Police “is concerned about and takes seriously all reports of crime,” especially incidents of sexual assault, spokesman Adam Silverman said this week.

“VSP works diligently every day to help prevent and reduce occurrences of crime, and to hold offenders accountable,” he said.

Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.