Nearly five civil servants report being attacked or injured daily, with police officers being most at risk.
According to SLFP Union figures, last year saw 1,761 instances of public officials being assaulted. Over half of these cases, 937, were violent incidents against police officers.
Healthcare workers experienced the next highest level of attacks (347), followed by public transport officers (320), and then employees of other public services.
These numbers suggest a rising trend; there has been a 15% increase in recorded violent incidents between 2019 and 2023, according to the union.
The union expressed concern over this “chronic lack of respect” and called for zero tolerance.
