As of March 2022, 6.54 million women had been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16 in England and Wales.
How many people are raped, sexually assaulted and sexually abused in the United Kingdom? One in four women has been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16; one in six children have been sexually abused; one in 18 men has been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16.
In 2023, British Home Secretary Suella Braverman made controversial comments regarding the representation of British Pakistani men in grooming gangs. According to her, British-Pakistani men are part of grooming gangs pursuing, drugging, raping, and harming “vulnerable English girls.”
She said, “What’s clear is that what we’ve seen is a practice whereby vulnerable White English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes in challenging circumstances, are being pursued and raped, drugged, and harmed by gangs of British-Pakistani men who work in child abuse rings or networks.”
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk reignited that rape fire.
Musk called out UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his alleged inaction against Pakistani grooming gangs during his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions, insisting that “rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice” during Starmer’s tenure.
“In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects,” the X owner tweeted. “Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013.”
He demanded that King Charles intervene by dissolving the UK Parliament, suggesting that Labour MP Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison” for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation and grooming.
According to available data, 69,958 rapes were recorded by police between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024. As of 30 September 2024, charges had been brought in just 2.7 per cent of these cases.
In other words, fewer than three in 100 rapes recorded by police between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024 resulted in someone being charged that same year, let alone convicted.
Survivors face long waits for their cases to reach a courtroom. After being reported to the police, adult rape cases take an average of 2 years to complete in court – with many taking far longer.
Meanwhile, there is currently a record number of sexual offence cases that are waiting to go to court: 11,574. In addition, there is a record number of adult rape cases: 3,291.
Evidence shows that who carries out rape and other sexual offences, with one in two rapes against women carried out by their partner or ex-partner; 91 per cent of people prosecuted for sexual offences are men aged 18+, and six in seven rapes against women are carried out by someone they know.
However, five in six women who are raped do not report it, and the same is true for four in five men. Many of these survivors tell someone else what happened because they (40 per cent) feel embarrassed, they (38 per cent) did not think the police could help, and they (34 per cent) thought it would be humiliating.
Nine in 10 girls and young women in schools say sexist name-calling and being sent unwanted ‘dick pics’ or other images of a sexual nature happens to them or other girls and young women their age.
