Writer Sally Hope responds to new Office for National Statistics data on sexual offences in England and Wales, urging Christian women to face the truth with courage and compassion.
Today the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released a range of articles looking at the prevalence and characteristics of victims of sexual offences, as well as the nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration for the year ending March 2025. There has been no change in crime survey estimates of sexual assault in the last year, although there have been increases in the number of sexual assaults recorded by the police overall since 2015.
The ONS attributes this rise not to an actual increase in the number of sexual assaults being committed, but to an improvement in police recording of crimes and an increased willingness of victims to come forward due to increased media attention.
READ MORE: Why we silence women who speak out about sexual assault and how the church can do better
There does appear to be an increase in the number of crimes recorded as “other sexual offenses” and this, the ONS tells us, is mainly attributed, to the introduction of the Online safety Act 2023
The good news then is that there has been no tangible increase in the number of sexual assaults being carried out
The good news then is that there has been no tangible increase in the number of sexual assaults being carried out, despite what Mr Farage might tell you. The bad news however is, there has been no improvements made in this area either, and sexual assault is still highly prevalent, affecting 3% of women and 0.7% of men, this represents 898,000 people. Thats 898,000 lives impacted by the trauma of being a victim of sexual assault this last year alone. Those figures are just a one year snapshot, overall more than a quarter of all women have experienced sexual assault or rape since the age of 16. These are terrifying statistics.
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As Christians we need to remember that behind every single one of these numbers is a human being made in the image of God.
As Christians we need to remember that behind every single one of these numbers is a human being made in the image of God - 898,000 of God’s beautiful image bearers have been sexually assaulted between April 2024 and March 2025. This should make us weep. It makes God weep. Worse, the report from the ONS also tells us, that over half of those who were raped (54%) were raped by a partner or ex-partner, and only 9% by a stranger.
READ MORE: We are responsible for defending the cause of the oppressed
I believe the national discourse around rape and sexual assault at the moment is controlled by men who do not care about those 898,000 people but rather want to use their suffering to promote a racist agenda. They tell us that rape is on the increase, it is not. They tell us that rapists are mostly strangers, immigrants who have come here by boat and are lurking around corners waiting to attack women and girls. This is not true. As Christians truth should matter, and we must not succumb to these lies and manipulations, they do not help anyone, least of all the 898,000 people affected by sexual violence last year. As Christians we must stand up and speak the truth, as uncomfortable as it is for us to bear. The truth is that up and down the country, women are being raped and sexually assaulted by the men who claim to love them, in their own homes, and many of those men are men who claim to be Christians.
What are we going to do about that?
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