Number of sex offences recorded by police hits new high

The number of sex crimes logged by police in England and Wales has hit another record and there were “substantial increases” as lockdown restrictions eased, figures show.

Police-recorded sexual offences reached their highest level in a 12-month period (183,587) in the year to December 2021. This was a 22% increase on 2020 (150,748) and up 13% from 2019 (163,067).

Numbers of crimes recorded were lower during lockdowns but there have been “substantial increases since April 2021”, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Some 37% of sexual offences recorded (67,125) were rapes – a 21% rise from 55,592 in the 12 months to December 2020.

The ONS said the latest figures may reflect a “number of factors”, including the “impact of high-profile incidents, media coverage and campaigns on people’s willingness to report incidents to the police, as well as a potential increase in the number of victims”.

While total police-recorded crime saw the “lowest number of offences in the first quarter of the year (January-March 2021)”, during lockdown, from April “recorded crime returned to the levels seen before the pandemic”, according to the report.

It added: “Since restrictions were lifted following the third national lockdown in early 2021, police-recorded crime data show indications that certain offence types are returning to or exceeding the levels seen before the pandemic.

“While violence and sexual offences recorded by the police have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, theft offences and robbery remain at a lower level despite increases over the last nine months.”

A total of 6.1 million offences were recorded by police in England and Wales in 2021, including fraud and computer misuse.

This was up 8% from 5.6 million in 2020 but roughly the same number as recorded in the 12 months to March 2020, before the coronavirus outbreak.

Separate figures published by the ONS, based on its regular crime survey of England and Wales, suggest that adults experienced 12.8 million offences in 2021, up 18% compared with 2019.

This was “driven by a 54% increase in fraud and computer misuse offences”, which offset falls in other types of crimes such as a 15% drop in theft, the ONS said.