Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration experienced by adults since the age of 16 years, including breakdowns by age, sex, victim-perpetrator relationship, location and other factors. Analyses from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).

This statistic shows the prisons with the most assault on staff incidents in England and Wales in 2018. The highest number of such assaults were registered at Birmingham prison, with 438 incidents recorded.

Rape offences have increased dramatically in England and Wales since 2012/13 when there were 16,038 offences. After this year, rape offences increased substantially, reaching a high of 69,973 offences in the 2021/22 reporting year, before falling slightly to 68,949 in 2022/23, and to 67,928 in 2023/24. When 2023/24 is compared with the 2002/03 reporting year, there was an almost sixfold increase in the number of rape offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. Similar patterns in Scotland and Northern Ireland While there has also been an increase in the number of rape and attempted rape offences in Scotland, the increase has not been quite as steep, with offences reaching 2,459 in 2022/23 compared with 924 in 2002/03. In Northern Ireland there has been a sharp rise in overall sexual offences, rising from 1,438 in 2002/03, to 4,232 by 2022/23. This rise in overall sexual offences is also observable in Scotland, with 15,049 offences in 2022/23, compared with 6,623 in 2002/03. Explaining the increase Although overall crime has shown a noticeable uptick recently, the rise in sexual offences has been much more pronounced. Rather than falling in the mid-2010s and then rising again towards the end of the decade, like overall crime, sexual offences remained at a relatively stable figure, until 2013/14 when it increased dramatically, a pattern mirrored in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is possibly due to better reporting practices by the police as well as an increasing willingness of victims to come forward, including historic victims of sexual violence.

IntroductionNon-consensual condom removal (NCCR) refers to the act of removing a condom during sex without the other person’s permission. It poses physical and psychological risks to women’s health. Views and attitudes regarding this sexual practice are not well understood in the UK. This study aimed to explore young people’s views on the morality and criminality of NCCR and how their views are affected by negative health outcomes, relationship status, and socio-demographic characteristics.MethodsA quantitative online survey of people aged 18–25 living in the UK was conducted. The survey consisted of two NCCR scenarios, varied by health outcome and relationship status, followed by questions about the morality and criminality of NCCR and respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics. Statistical analysis included Chi-square testing and logistic regression modelling.ResultsMost of the 1729 respondents considered NCCR to be a violation of consent to sex (97.4%-98.1%), to be wrong (99.3%-99.5%), and to be sexual assault (86.3%-89.2%). Respondents were more likely to support prison time for NCCR if the victim got pregnant (52.1%) (rather than depressed (41.6%)) or was part of a casual hook-up (53.9%) (as opposed to a long-term dating relationship (47.2%). Respondents who were female or non-heterosexual were more likely to view NCCR as sexual assault and support prison as a penalty for NCCR.ConclusionThe majority of young UK adults in this survey considered condom removal during sex without the other person’s permission to be a violation of consent, morally wrong, and a form of sexual assault. Support for prison as a penalty was lower. These findings can inform future campaigns on consent in sexual relationships and legislation to provide support for women affected by NCCR.

For the year ending March 2023, there were 53,915 offences recorded by the police in England and Wales as; 'sexual assault on a female aged 13 and over', the most of any sexual offence in this reporting year.

In the third quarter of 2024, there were 5,268 prisoner-on-prisoner assault incidents at prisons in England and Wales, the highest number in a quarter since the third quarter of 2019 when there were 5,521 of these kind of assaults. In addition to prisoner-on-prisoner violence, there were also 2,722 assaults on prison staff in this quarter, the highest in this provided time period.

In Europe in 2019, England and Wales had the highest reported rate of serious assaults per 100,000 inhabitants, with almost 930 reported incidents. Belgium had the second highest rate with close to 560. Romania had the lowest rate of reported serious assaults, with only 1.46 per 100,000 inhabitant, followed by Lithuania and Albania. Despite this low rate of assault, Lithuania, Albania and Romania had some of the highest homicide rates in Europe, suggesting that there is a discrepancy in how often assaults are reported in these countries, or the methodology behind data collection.

The four Nordic countries Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark are between the five countries with the highest rate of reported sexual violence in Europe in 2022. More than 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in Sweden.Please note that reporting varies from country to country, and the willingness of victims to come forward can vary across regions and cultures, therefore a comparison between the countries should be taken with caution.

There were 24,334 police recorded sexual offences in London in 2023/24, compared with 24,958 in the previous reporting year, with a peak for sexual offences occurring during 2021/22.