Highest-ever number of rapes recorded in England and Wales

Police person recorded a grounds fig of rape offences successful England and Wales, according to authoritative figures released today.

Although determination had been a autumn successful wide transgression levels driven by coronavirus restrictions, the Office for National Statistics said recorded intersexual offences had accrued by 8%.

“Rape accounted for 37% of each intersexual offences recorded by the police.

“The fig of rape offences successful the twelvemonth ending June 2021 was the highest ever recorded yearly fig to day (61,158 offences),” said a study published connected Thursday.

The ONS said the grounds was driven by a ample summation betwixt April and June, successful which determination were 17,300 rape offences, compared with a quarterly mean of betwixt 12,000 and 15,000.

The summation whitethorn bespeak “a fig of factors, including the interaction of high-profile cases and campaigns connected victims’ willingness to study incidents”, alternatively than solely an summation successful the fig of rapes committed.

The rape and execution of Sarah Everard successful March prompted a nationalist statement implicit women’s safety, intersexual unit and the effect of constabulary and prosecutors.

Nick Stripe, the caput of transgression statistic astatine the ONS, said immoderate caution should beryllium exercised erstwhile interpreting the figures.

“Prior to the pandemic, the fig of constabulary recorded intersexual offences was good beneath the fig of victims estimated by the Crime Survey for England & Wales, with less than 1 successful six victims of rape oregon battle by penetration reporting the transgression to the police.

The emergence could beryllium owed to an summation successful unfortunate reporting arsenic lockdowns eased, an summation successful the fig of victims, oregon to an summation successful victims’ willingness to study incidents, perchance arsenic a effect of high-profile cases and campaigns successful caller times,” helium wrote connected Twitter.

The fig of home abuse-related crimes besides roseate by 6% successful the year, to astir 850,000 offences.

The ONS said under-reporting made it hard to find the existent level of home maltreatment successful England and Wales, but information from enactment services suggest it intensified during lockdown periods.

Other crimes, specified arsenic theft, were reduced during periods of lockdown arsenic societal interaction was constricted and radical stayed astatine home.

But falls successful the incidence of these crimes were offset by a ample summation successful fraud and machine misuse offences, driving a emergence successful full transgression implicit the people of the year.