𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Women and girls are facing an epidemic of sexual violence, assaults, stalking and harassment, shocking new figures have revealed. Statisticians believe millions of women suffered domestic abuse, were sexually assaulted or stalked last year.

And the number of crimes being reported to police has surged, Office for National Statistics research shows. Officers recorded 74,174 rape allegations in the year to December, up five per cent from the previous 12 months. In total, police forces recorded 215,180 sexual offences, of which 34% were rapes.

Another 622,376 stalking and harassment offences were reported to police in the year to December. This was fuelled by a 7% increase in stalking.

But the ONS warned the true figure will be far higher.

They said: “We estimated that 10.6% of people aged 16 years and over (12.8% of women and 8.4% of men), which is around 5.1 million people, had experienced at least one of the following crime types in the last year: domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “The continued rise in sexual offences, rape and stalking is truly shameful. Labour promised to halve violence against women and girls and now that promise lies in ruins.”

Police also categorised 824,772 offences as domestic abuse. An alarming 641,461 were violent crimes.

Shadow Home Office Minister Alicia Kearns said: “Behind every one of these numbers is a woman or girl who deserves justice.

“Labour promised to fast-track rape cases by introducing specialist courts at every Crown Court– instead they’ve scrapped these plans and are scrapping jury trials.

“One in eight women experienced domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking last year, a scale of harm that is shaming.

“The surge in reporting is not something to celebrate – violence against women does not emerge in a vacuum, this is a failure of political will.

“Women deserve to feel safe in their homes, on their streets, and in their relationships. Right now, this Government is failing them.”

Police recorded a staggering 509,566 shoplifting offences in the year to December, down marginally from 516,611 the year before.

But data experts at the ONS warned the true number will be higher, as thugs threatening violence after storming into a shop to steal are now being arrested for robbery.

Mr Philp added: “Shoplifting up 8 per cent since the election has become the defining symbol of Labour’s breakdown of law and order. A crime so routine, so consequence-free, that shop workers face more risk confronting a thief than the thief faces from the police.

“Under this Government, the odds are firmly with the criminal.

“Labour’s answer has been to cut police numbers by over 1,300, let 50,000 criminals out early, and legislate to abolish prison sentences under a year – so virtually no shoplifter will ever go to prison.”

Sarah Jones, crime and policing minister, said the Government is “driving down crimes that blight communities and have previously gone unpunished”, adding: “We will continue to build on this progress and not stop until every community feels a change.

“Rates of shop and phone theft remain unacceptably high. But these figures show that our swift, decisive action is turning the tide: shoplifting is down on last year.

“The number of shoplifters facing justice continues to soar under this Government, with 17% more charges in just a year.

“Our policing reforms will deliver lasting change. A new National Police Service will tackle nationwide and cross-border crime, meaning local forces will be better focused on policing their areas and protecting communities.”

Overall, police forces recorded 5.24 million offences in England and Wales in 2025, excluding fraud and computer misuse, down 2% from 5.34 million in 2024.

The total is slightly below the 5.31 million in the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, but up from 3.90 million a decade earlier in 2015/16.