‘The rise in reported sex offences is a good thing – here’s why’
Home Office minister Jess Phillips has said she is ‘encouraged’ by new data showing recorded sexual offences went up 8% in a year, telling Metro it represents ‘victims coming forward’.
The latest release from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also shows a 7% increase in rape offences in England and Wales between September 2024 and September last year.
Chris Philp, the Conservative shadow home secretary, said the pair of statistics show ‘Labour is failing to keep women safe’.
But the government argues the opposite – that the numbers are rising as victims feel more confident that their reports will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.
A Home Office source told Metro it is expected that figures showing violent crime against women and girls will increase initially, before falling as policies ‘bed in’.
Phillips, the Minister for Violence Against Women and Girls, said: ‘I have spent decades working with survivors of abuse. Theirs are stories that never leave you.
‘That’s why I’m encouraged to see an increase in the number of victims coming forward and the number of rape charges has increased – this shows police and prosecutors are taking more action to bring abusers justice.
‘For too long, violence against women and girls has been treated as a fact of life. We will never accept that.’
According to the ONS, the 8% rise in sexual offences can also be partially attributed to two new sexual offences subcodes brought in by 2023’s Online Safety Act.
Those subcodes, introduced before the last election in January 2024, relate to ‘sending or sharing intimate photographs or films’.
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The stats body also says: ‘Improvements in police recording practices, the introduction of new offences, and increased reporting by victims have contributed to increases in the level of [sexual] offences in recent years.’
Read Jess Phillips' comment in full
Minister for Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips reacts to today’s crime statistics for Metro.
I have spent decades working with survivors of abuse. Theirs are stories that never leave you.
That’s why I’m encouraged to see an increase in the number of victims coming forward and the number of rape charges has increased – this shows police and prosecutors are taking more action to bring abusers justice.
For too long, violence against women and girls has been treated as a fact of life. We will never accept that.
Through our new Violence against Women and Girl strategy, we are placing specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force in England and Wales.
We are also rolling out game-changing Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to place abusers under tighter restrictions and to provide victims the protection they need.
On top of this, registered sex offenders will face tougher restrictions than ever before, while – under asylum changes brought under this government – foreign offenders will be deported faster as we take much needed action on human rights law.
And, through ‘Raneem’s Law’, we have already placed domestic abuse specialists in five 999 control rooms, to improve the police response to domestic abuse and will roll this out to all forces by the end of this parliament.
Because every woman and girl who has faced abuse has been failed. But this is a fight we will never turn away from.
We will deploy the full power of the state to make this country safe for women and girls.
Last month, the government published a landmark strategy for achieving its manifesto target of halving violence against women and girls over the next decade.
Backed by £1 billion in funding, it aims to prevent boys and men from ever becoming abusers, bear down on those who do become perpetrators, and support victims to get justice.
The measures include a commitment to place teams specialising in rape and sexual offence investigations in every police force in England and Wales.
It is understood guidance has been provided to all 43 forces, and the policy will continue once the radical restructuring plans outlined by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood last week come into effect.
The strategy also includes a ban on ‘nudification’ apps – which gained extra attention in recent weeks following criticism of Elon Musk’s Grok AI – and the wider rollout of Domestic Abuse Prevention Orders (DAPOs).
Meanwhile, schools in England will be given £20 million in funding to ‘tackle radicalisation and confront concerning behaviour long before it grows into abuse or violence’.
The latest crime statistics from the ONS also show homicides in England and Wales at their lowest level since police last updated their methodology more than 22 years ago.
There were 499 murders in the year ending September 2025, down from 539 the year before – largely driven by a 23% fall in the number of stabbing homicides.
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