More than 71,000 rapes were recorded by UK police in 2024, with charges brought in 2.7 per cent of those cases by the end of the year, according to figures cited by Rape Crisis England & Wales.

The charity, which works to end sexual violence and abuse, says fewer than three in 100 rapes recorded by police in 2024 resulted in a charge within the same year.

Data published on the organisation’s website states that one in four women has been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16. It also reports that one in six children has experienced sexual abuse, and one in 18 men has been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16.

Rape Crisis England & Wales says that, on average, adult rape cases take around two years to complete in court once reported to police, with many cases taking longer.

The group also highlights a growing court backlog. It reports that more than 14,000 sexual offence cases are currently awaiting trial in the UK. This includes a record number of adult rape cases — more than 4,000 — and nearly 2,000 child rape cases.

As of March 2025, an estimated 6.3 million women in England and Wales have been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16, according to the charity’s published statistics.

At the same time, The Telegraph reported in August 2025 that sexual offence convictions involving foreign nationals have risen by 62 per cent over four years. Ministry of Justice data — obtained through Freedom of Information requests and analysed by organisations including the Centre for Migration Control — showed convictions of foreign nationals for sexual offences increased from 687 in 2021 to 1,114 in 2024. Over the same period, convictions of British nationals rose by 39 per cent.