FOI REF: FOI-2024-1773

You asked

I was wondering if you could provide an answer to the question of what the ethnic background of perpetrators of sexual offences in the UK since 2000?

We said

Thank you for your request.  

Unfortunately, we do not hold data on the ethnicity of perpetrators of sexual assault.  

Our publications and data concern crime as it is experienced by victims, or as it is recorded by the police. We do not generally produce statistics or details on the offender.

However, we have published some data on ethnicity of defendants and offenders of sexual offences for year ending December 2017 as part of the 2018 'Sexual offending: victimisation and the path through the criminal justice system' release within the Ministry of Justice appendix tables.  

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are primarily responsible for data on offenders. They publish Statistics each quarter which may be of help to you.  You may also want to have a look at the MoJ’s outcomes by offence data tool: June 2023. It allows you to filter it by offence and ethnicity to find the convictions and sentenced numbers. 

If you have any questions, the Ministry of Justice may be able to help you further and can be contacted at ESD@justice.gov.uk