A rape is reported every hour in London, shocking new statistics show, and the true number of offences could be far higher.
According to Metropolitan Police data obtained by the BBC, 8,852 rapes were reported in 2023 – an average of 24 a day – along with 10,991 other sexual crimes.
A quarter of all reports were from people aged under 18, meaning a minor reported being a victim rape or sexual assault every two hours, and the total number of all reported incidents is up 14% from 2018.
London is now just 36.8% White British, according to the 2021 Census, down from 44.9% in 2011, and 59.8% in 2001. The UK has accepted millions more immigrants since then, mostly from non-EU countries.
Sexual offences on London transport are also up 10% from the previous year, with 2,671 reported to police between February 2023 and January this year.
Tirion Havard, professor of gender abuse and policy at London South Bank University, said the rape offence statistics were “the tip of the iceberg” and that the real scale of the problem was far worse.
Data from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) shows that there were 1,527 prosecutions and 925 convictions in London between 2018 and 2022, a conviction rate of 60.6%.
However, over the same time period there were 42,690 rapes reported to the police, meaning that only 2.2% of reports ended in a conviction.
Det Ch Supt Angela Craggs said: “We know reporting a sexual offence to police can be difficult and we have worked hard in recent years to improve and support those who take this step.
“Significant progress has been made in relation to digital forensics, including obtaining evidence from mobile devices when someone reports an offence, to ensure this is as unobtrusive an experience as possible.
“We are always striving to do better and know that listening to and understanding the experiences of those who report sexual offences to us is a key part of this process.”
There have been a number of high profile rape cases involving Met Police officers over the same period, including Wayne Couzens who raped and murdered a woman walking home, serial rapist David Carrick and paedophile Cliff Mitchell.
Pictured above: Rapist London police officers Cliff Mitchell, left, and Wayne Couzens, right (Met Police)
