Redevelopment of sexual victimisation statistics: research update November 2025

To ensure our statistics on sexual victimisation continue to provide the most accurate information, meet the needs of users, and align with recent legislative changes, we have conducted a rigorous research and testing programme to develop new survey questions. These fully replaced the previous set of questions and were added to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) in October 2025.

The questions on sexual victimisation asked as part of the self-completion section of the CSEW had largely remained the same since they were introduced in April 2004, allowing for a long comparable time series. However, there were several issues with the data collected, for example:

• they did not accurately capture current lived experiences of victims, in particular male victims

• they excluded new offences introduced as part of the Online Safety Act 2023

• they did not align with the recently updated CSEW questions on domestic abuse (see our Redevelopment of domestic abuse statistics: research update May 2025 article for more information on the new domestic abuse questions)

We have included input from victims and survivors in the question development process, alongside views from independent experts in the field. We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to this research.

This update outlines our work to redevelop the questions, the new question content and our future plans.

To understand the issues with the existing questions and the user requirements, we spoke to our stakeholders and topic experts, examined existing and new legislation, and conducted a review of sexual assault literature and international best practice.

Existing questions

Sexual assault, as measured in the self-completion section of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) until April 2025 (see Section 19 of our CSEW 2024 to 2025 adult questionnaire (PDF, 3.62MB)), combined the following types of abuse:

• indecent exposure
• unwanted sexual touching
• rape (including attempts)
• assault by penetration (including attempts)

The CSEW asked respondents if they had experienced each of these types of abuse at any time since the age of 16 years. If a respondent stated they had, they were then asked if they had experienced the abuse in the 12 months before interview. The survey collected information firstly on whether the respondent experienced each abuse type; if so, they were then asked if the perpetrator was a partner or ex-partner, and then if they were a family member (other than a partner). See our Sexual offences in England and Wales overview: year ending March 2025 bulletin for the latest CSEW data.

Additional questions were included on the CSEW once every three years for respondents who had experienced rape or assault by penetration since the age of 16 years. They asked more details about the most recent incident, including perpetrator details, circumstances around the incident and the impacts. The redevelopment of these follow-up questions was excluded from this phase of our work. These questions will be excluded from the CSEW until they have been redeveloped. For the latest data from these questions, see our Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, England and Wales: year ending March 2025 article.

While closely linked to sexual victimisation, questions on harassment are currently asked as part of the face-to-face section of the survey. We plan to review the survey questions on harassment in the future and then consider any changes to the questions on the self-completion module at that time. The latest data on harassment can be found in our Nature of violent crime: appendix tables.

User survey

In June 2023 we conducted a user survey. We asked our stakeholders (including government agencies, academics and victim support services) about how they used the CSEW sexual victimisation data and any additional requirements.

We received 16 responses to the survey. The main findings were:

• all users reported using the data for improving policy and planning service provision

• the estimates for sexual assault "since the age of 16 years" were used by 13 users

• of all breakdowns provided, the categories that excluded attempts were least used, although nine users still used them 

• data by victim-perpetrator relationship were used, but 10 users requested a more detailed breakdown

• more data on online sexual victimisation were requested by 14 users
• users representing male survivors stated a need for more data on males' experience of rape, particularly around being forced to penetrate

• two users requested that priority should be given to keeping the current time series where possible

Some of the feedback received focused on sexual crimes against children, however, this falls outside the scope of the CSEW. For more information on our work to measure child abuse, including sexual abuse, see our Exploring the feasibility of a survey measuring child abuse in the UK: June 2024 article.

Research and legislation

In addition to the user survey, we reviewed new and existing sexual offences legislation, academic research and engaged directly with leading researchers and victim support services in the field. This helped narrow down which offences were out of scope of our redevelopment, and which could be considered for inclusion in the new set of questions.

The Online Safety Act 2023 came into force in October 2023 and resulted in the introduction of two new offences in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. These offences both came under the "Exposure" section and were termed "Sending etc photograph or film of genitals" and "Sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film", often referred to as "cyberflashing" and "revenge porn", respectively. When reviewing these new offences, both were deemed in scope for inclusion in the sexual victimisation questions and were therefore considered during the next stage of the project.

A review of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 also identified some already established offences that the existing questions did not capture. The first was the offence "Causing sexual activity without consent". This is a broad offence, capturing a wide range of situations, including a victim being forced to carry out a sexual act on themselves (for example, masturbation), engage in sexual activity with a third party, or engage in sexual activity with the offender (not otherwise captured in other offences). The Crown Prosecution Service break down this offence into two subcategories: penetrative and non-penetrative.

Between 2016 and 2019, the CSEW included a question on the penetrative element of this offence (see Section 19 of our CSEW 2018 to 2019 questionnaire (PDF, 1.69MB)). However, because of the need for further question testing to understand the data collected, this question was removed.

A review of academic literature alongside discussions with academics and victim support services further highlighted a strong need for males' experiences of this offence to be captured. Specifically, incidents where a male is forced to penetrate someone else, often referred to as the male equivalent of rape (for more information see Experiences of men forced-to-penetrate women in the UK (PDF, 329KB)). We concluded that the whole offence was in scope and would also be considered in the next stage of the project.

Another offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 we reviewed was "Voyeurism". Voyeurism involves the perpetrator observing or recording another person doing a private act without their consent and for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification. This offence was expanded through the introduction of the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019, which criminalised photographing or recording under a person's clothing (known as "upskirting" or "downblousing"). With the nature of the offence being that the victim is often unaware that the crime has taken place, and instead the perpetrator is reported by a witness, it was deemed not suitable for collection on a victimisation survey.

Spiking, which in the context of sexual offences is legally referred to as "administering a substance with intent", was also considered. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 highlights that a crucial component of this offence is the perpetrator's intention, in that they administered the substance to enable sexual activity with the victim. With this offence only classed as a sexual offence if a sexual motivation can be proven, we concluded this offence was not suitable for collection on a victimisation survey.

Research and user need also encouraged us to consider "deepfakes". Sharing or threatening to share sexually explicit "deepfakes" is included within the Online Safety Act 2023, however, when conducting the research, there was no specific legislation outlining the creation of them as illegal. As a result, we did not consider the creation of "deepfakes" itself within scope. However, with the passing of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 in June 2025, the offence "Creating, or requesting the creation of, purported intimate image of adult" was introduced and will be added to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 within the next year. We will continue to engage with our users to understand their needs for data on this offence and consider its inclusion in the sexual victimisation questions in the future.

Having established the offences that we wanted the new questions to cover, we next focused on hearing from victims, and engaging with the public, on their understanding of the relevant concepts to help develop the question wording.

For our testing we recruited both victims of sexual offences who had sought support through a victim support service, as well as members of the public who may or may not have experienced a sexual offence. For further information on the participants who took part see Section 4: Research participants.

Focus groups

We conducted the first phase of testing through focus groups. The overall aim was to test the acceptability and comprehension of the existing Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) questions, while also exploring how participants conceptualised sexual offences that were not currently measured. We also observed the language used by participants when speaking about sexual offences.

We held two online focus groups in July 2024, one with male victims and one with female victims. The main findings from the groups were:

• the introduction to the sexual victimisation questions was well received but improvements were suggested

• the term "indecent exposure" was generally understood to include both online and in-person exposure but had the potential to be misinterpreted to capture things not covered by the offence (for example, wearing revealing clothing)

• the wording "fear, alarm or distress" was felt to be appropriate when specifying how certain indecent exposure incidents made someone feel, however, further testing was required

• the concept of "consent" was understood by participants but defined differently, therefore the way we phrased this term in the questions needed consideration

• the term "causing sexual activity without consent" was not recognised and was difficult for participants to define

Cognitive interviewing

Following the focus groups, and considering the new offences explored (as outlined in Section 2: Reviewing existing questions and understanding user requirements), we created a new set of draft sexual victimisation questions.

To test the questions, we conducted multiple rounds of cognitive testing with both victims of sexual offences and members of the public. Between each round of cognitive interviews, we analysed the findings and, based on the results, made changes to the questions.

For the first round of cognitive testing, we held 15 online interviews in November and December 2024 with a mixture of male and female victims. The aim of this round of testing was to further assess the appropriateness, comprehension and understanding of the terminology used throughout the questions, with a particular focus on the newly added questions on online sexual assault and causing sexual activity without consent.

The main findings from the first round of testing were:

• capturing experiences of indecent exposure in varying forms separately (for example, in person, online and image-sharing) without overlap was difficult for participants

• questions relating to the offence "causing sexual activity without consent" were difficult for participants to interpret and to recall experiences of, because of the broad and more complex nature of the offence

• some participants were unsure what to include within the question on unwanted sexual touching and included penetrative offences (such as rape), that we capture separately later in the survey

• the inclusion of example behaviours within the questions ("e.g. groping", "e.g. flashing") was limiting, and participants did not always find it useful  

• male participants appreciated the introduction of a new question around being "forced to penetrate" (the male equivalent of rape)

While analysing the findings from the first round of testing, the second round of testing was conducted in January to February 2025 by Verian, the contractor responsible for running the CSEW. The aim of this round of testing was to gather views on the questions from a wider range of people, particularly those who may not have previously experienced a sexual offence.

Verian conducted 20 face-to-face interviews with members of the public. Participants were not screened on their experiences beforehand and only a few reported having experienced a sexual offence during the interview.

The main findings from this round of testing were:

• participants found the introduction clear and felt that it prepared them for the questions that were about to follow

• participants found most of the questions very clear

• some participants found it difficult to recall experiences since the age of 16 years, with some including experiences that happened before that age, and others missing that the timeframe was specified in the question

• participants were averse to the wording "alarm, distress or humiliation" when describing the impact of indecent exposure offences (both in person and online)

• some participants found the wording of the question on rape explicit, but were able to interpret it correctly

Following analysis of the information collected during testing, several revisions were made to the questions in preparation for the final round of cognitive testing. The questions concerning indecent exposure were reworded to improve the distinction between in-person offences and online (technology based) offences. The phrase "alarm, distress and humiliation" was simplified to "alarm or discomfort" to reflect participants' feedback. Questions about unwanted sexual touching were amended to explicitly exclude penetrative offences. Additionally, the question intended to capture all incidents of "causing sexual activity without consent" was removed and replaced with one focusing specifically on the "forced to penetrate" aspect of the offence because of challenges in clearly defining the full offence and its interpretation during testing. Minor adjustments were also made to the response options for questions regarding the perpetrator's relationship to the victim and who the victim disclosed the offence to.

For the final round of testing, we held 10 online interviews in March and April 2025 with a mix of male and female victims. The aim of this round of testing was to check the acceptability and comprehension of the final changes.

The main findings from this round of testing were:

• in-person exposure was generally understood, though terms such as "flashing" and "genitals" received mixed feedback because of concerns around language and literacy

• indecent exposure that took place online was widely understood, but some participants were unsure whether the online material had to be sent directly or if they should include accidental encounters

• intimate image-sharing was understood, but some participants suggested including non-consensual filming or photographing

• unwanted sexual touching was well understood, with "groped" being a commonly used term

• rape and assault by penetration were clearly understood, though some participants recommended highlighting (for example, by making the text bold) parts of the question for improved clarity

• "forced to penetrate" was frequently misunderstood by female participants, with confusion around victim-perpetrator roles and inconsistent language; the sex of the perpetrator follow-up question for males was considered important

• relationship to perpetrator categories caused confusion, particularly between "dating" and "partner," and some overlap with "stranger"; participants tended to focus on the most memorable incident rather than providing information for all incidents

• for the "who did you tell" question, participants felt that grouping different offences together limited accurate disclosure, raising concerns about unclear timeframes and missing response options

Taking into consideration the feedback from all rounds of testing, the research we had conducted, and the legislation review, we made several improvements to finalise the new questions.

• For questions asking about experiences of indecent exposure, we added clarification that the perpetrator had to have "intentionally" committed these acts to avoid confusion over accidental incidents; we also removed conditional wording around how the incident made the participant feel ("caused you alarm or discomfort"), instead choosing the term "which you did not want to see", this broader term was felt to better capture victims' experiences.

• Participants found the additional clarification around "not including penetration" for unwanted sexual touching offences useful, therefore it was kept.

• The new question around "forced to penetrate" was further refined to focus on incidents in which it was the perpetrator who they were made to penetrate, as interpretation became difficult when trying to capture incidents including other unwilling third parties.

• The decision was made to ask the question about who victims told about the incident after each main offence to allow for easier recall.

• The response options for the relationship to perpetrator question were updated, for example, combining "acquaintance" and "someone you were dating" to "someone you knew casually (for example an acquaintance or date)".

• To improve accuracy, minor changes around presentation were made, such as boldening some of the text for the rape and attempted rape questions.

See Section 5: New questions for further information on the final version of the questions.

Our research and testing involved a wide variety of participants with different characteristics and experiences of sexual offences. Table 1 shows a summary of the participants involved in all the research that took place between July 2024 and April 2025. The research included victims of sexual offences as well as members of the public who may or may not have experienced a sexual offence.

We recruited victims of sexual offences to participate in this research through victim support services and their communities. This ensured anyone who volunteered to take part had previously sought support and knew how to seek further support if required. Through the testing, it became apparent that some of the participants had experience of working for a victim support service. We limited the recruitment of further participants who had experience of this to ensure a diverse range of views.

We would like to thank the following organisations for their support in the recruitment of participants:

• Halo project

• Life Centre

• Male Survivors Partnership

• Rape Crisis

• Safeline

• The Survivors Trust

• We Are Survivors

• Women's Aid

Participants who took part in the testing run by our survey contractor Verian were members of the public and were recruited through a research agency.

Following the research undertaken, a new set of sexual victimisation questions (PDF, 222KB) (from page 12) was added to the self-completion part of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) in October 2025, fully replacing the existing questions.

The new survey questions follow a similar order to those previously used and ask about experiences since the age of 16 years and within the last 12 months, aiming to capture both lifetime and recent experiences of victims.

The new questions cover:

• indecent exposure (in-person)
• being sent an intimate photo or video
• intimate image-sharing
• unwanted sexual touching
• rape (including attempts)
• assault by penetration (including attempts)
• being forced to penetrate

For each offence type, follow-up questions have been introduced to gather more detailed information. If a respondent has experienced an offence since the age of 16 years, they are asked who they disclosed the incident(s) to. Based on findings from our testing (see Section 3: Developing and testing new questions), this question is now asked after each offence rather than grouping some offences together.

If respondents indicate they have experienced any offences since the age of 16 years, they are asked if they have experienced them in the last 12 months. For incidents occurring in the last 12 months, respondents are asked about their relationship to the perpetrator. To further understand non-recent incidents, once every four years, we will ask these questions about relationship to the perpetrator for all experiences since the age of 16 years.

Our new sexual victimisation questions were introduced into the Crime Survey for England and Wales in October 2025, fully replacing the existing questions. We plan to publish headline estimates from the new questions based on the first six months of data alongside our Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2026 bulletin in July 2026.

The changes to the new questions (for example, in wording and format) mean a comparable time series for some offences may no longer be possible. We will provide guidance on how the statistics should be used alongside their publication. 

We are extremely grateful to everyone involved in the redevelopment of the questions.

We aim to continue the redevelopment of questions on sexual victimisation in the future by updating the additional follow-up questions asked to survey respondents who had experienced rape or assault by penetration since the age of 16 years.

If you have any feedback on this work or future developments, please contact the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Centre for Crime and Justice at crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk.