There is a problem with white British men raping women and sexually abusing children in this country.
We went to the figures the state itself keeps: who the Crown Prosecution Service prosecutes for rape, who the courts prosecute for child sexual abuse and who the police record as perpetrators.
What the figures show:
- The Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted 4,458 people in rape cases in England and Wales in 2024/25. Where ethnicity was recorded, two in three were white British: 2,223 defendants.
- Courts prosecuted 9,215 people for child sexual abuse offences in 2023. Where ethnicity was recorded, 87% were white British. White British people are 75% of the population aged 10 and over. White British people are significantly over-represented.
- Police recorded an ethnicity for 44,396 perpetrators of child sexual abuse and exploitation in 2024. 37,017 were white British, which is 83.4%, against 74.4% of the population.
- 99% of the child sexual abuse defendants were male. 98% of rape victims said the perpetrator was male.
Where the rapes take place:
- 43.2% of victims were raped by a partner or ex-partner.
- 37.8% were raped by someone else they knew, such as a date or a friend.
- 16.3% were raped by a stranger.
- The most common place was the victim's own home (38.2%), followed by the perpetrator's home (28.5%). A park, street or other public space accounted for 8%.
Who is prosecuted for rape
The Crown Prosecution Service released its 2024/25 rape figures by the defendant's own stated ethnicity under the Freedom of Information Act. They cover rape of adults and of children.
2,223 of the 4,458 people prosecuted in rape cases were white British
Rape-flagged prosecutions in England and Wales, 2024/25 financial year. Source: Crown Prosecution Service, FOI release 13533.
See the figures
| Ethnic group | Defendants prosecuted in rape cases, 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| White British | 2,223 |
| Ethnicity not recorded | 1,102 |
| Black | 359 |
| Asian | 358 |
| Other white | 244 |
| Mixed | 100 |
| Other, including Arab | 72 |
Of the 3,356 defendants with a recorded ethnicity, 2,467 were white. That is three in every four. 2,223 were white British, and 1,346 of them were convicted.
Rape prosecutions and convictions by defendant ethnicity, 2024/25
Swipe or scroll sideways to compare columns. The first column stays in view.
Who the courts prosecute for child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is where white British men take up far more of the dock than their share of the country. The Ministry of Justice records the ethnicity of defendants, and the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse set those figures against the census.
White British people are 87% of child sexual abuse defendants and 75% of the population
Defendants proceeded against in England and Wales in 2023 where ethnicity was recorded (6,356 of 9,215). Source: Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, from Ministry of Justice and ONS data.
See the figures
| Ethnic group | % of child sexual abuse defendants, 2023 | % of population aged 10+ |
|---|---|---|
| White British | 87 | 75 |
| Other white | 3 | 8 |
| Asian | 5 | 9 |
| Black | 2 | 4 |
| Mixed | 2 | 2 |
| Other | 1 | 2 |
“Among these individuals, nine-tenths were White (5,731); across all other ethnicities, there was a much lower proportion than in the general population of England and Wales”
Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, Child sexual abuse in 2023/24: Trends in official dataRead the original
There were 7,371 convictions for child sexual abuse offences that year. 99% of the defendants were male.
Child sexual abuse defendants by ethnic group, against the population
Who the police record as perpetrators
The police figures cover every recorded child sexual abuse and exploitation crime, whether or not it reached a court. Police recorded 122,768 of them in 2024. The National Police Chiefs' Council published the analysis in December 2025.
Police recorded an ethnicity for 44,396 perpetrators. 37,017 of them were white British. That is 83.4%, nine points above the white British share of the population. Police did not record an ethnicity for the other 84,747.
Police-recorded perpetrators of child sexual abuse and exploitation, 2024
Swipe or scroll sideways to compare columns. The first column stays in view.
Where rape happens
The Crime Survey for England and Wales asks victims themselves, whether or not they went to the police, who attacked them and where. The Office for National Statistics published the latest answers in November 2025.
Most victims were raped by a man they knew, in a home
Victims aged 16 and over of rape or assault by penetration since the age of 16, most recent incident. Crime Survey for England and Wales, years ending March 2020 and March 2025 combined. Source: Office for National Statistics.
See the figures
| Answer | % of victims |
|---|---|
| Partner or ex-partner | 43.2 |
| Someone else the victim knew | 37.8 |
| Stranger | 16.3 |
| The victim's home | 38.2 |
| The perpetrator's home | 28.5 |
| Park, street, car park or other public space | 8 |
- For 43.2% of victims, the perpetrator was a partner or ex-partner.
- For 37.8% it was someone else they knew, such as a date or a friend.
- For 16.3% it was a stranger.
- The most common place was the victim's own home (38.2%), followed by the perpetrator's home (28.5%). A park, street or other public space accounted for 8%.
Who raped the victim, and where
Ethnicity is the wrong place to look
We opened this piece by singling out white British men. The figures support it, but it is still the wrong place to look.
Rape in this country is mostly committed by a man the victim knows, in a home. It is her partner, her ex, her date, her friend. Four in five victims knew the man who raped them.
Sorting rapists by ethnicity does nothing for her. It tells her to watch the street when the danger is in her own house, and it lets every man who is not in the group being blamed off the hook.
The work that stops rape is in the home: believing women when they report a partner, prosecuting the men they name and funding the services they turn to.
How we did this
How we counted
All figures are for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland publish separately and are not included. Rape prosecutions: Crown Prosecution Service management data for the 2024/25 financial year, which is not an official statistic, ethnicity recorded for 75% of defendants. White British defendants were 66% of those with a recorded ethnicity, against 74% of the population; the table gives every group's share beside its share of the population. Child sexual abuse defendants: Ministry of Justice data for 2023 as published by the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, ethnicity recorded for 69% of defendants, compared with the Census 2021 population aged 10 and over. The Centre says the lower figures for minority groups are "likely to be related to the under-identification of child sexual abuse in minority ethnic communities". Police perpetrators: National Police Chiefs' Council analysis of 2024 crimes, ethnicity recorded for 34%, compared with the Census 2021 population of all ages. Group-based child sexual exploitation, 761 of the 122,768 crimes, is not analysed separately here. Every percentage by ethnicity leaves out people whose ethnicity was not recorded, and the tables give those counts. No figure is adjusted for age or sex. Prosecution and police figures show who was caught and charged, which is not the same as everyone who offended. Who raped the victim and where: Crime Survey for England and Wales, victims aged 16 and over, most recent incident. The full tables can be downloaded below.
Download the data
Start with the victim and what happened to her.
Sources: Crown Prosecution Service, FOI release on rape prosecutions by ethnicity 2024/25; Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, Trends in official data 2023/24; National Police Chiefs' Council, 2024 national analysis of police-recorded CSAE crimes; ONS, Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, November 2025.
Conversation
Be specific, respectful and constructive. Comments are public to readers who can access this article. Publishers can hold or remove comments.
Loading the conversation…