Classification of Offence Types: Another Legacy of Penal Reformer Elizabeth Fry

Classification of offenders by “offence types” is another legacy of penal reformer the Quaker Elizabeth Fry. For Rape & Sexual Offending – the biological sex of perpetrator & “sexually offended against” and indeed the sexual orientation are fundamental to the commissioning of the crime and the manner of the trial and the social mores against which judges and juries make their decisions. Most people would accept that male sexual offenders outnumber female sexual offenders but for rape and other sexual offences, this difference between female and male offending is even more stark.

“more than 99% of all sexual offenders are MALE” [UK MOJ]

Many, like me and my Covid jab nurse last month, were horrified to learn that more than 99% of all sexual offenders are MALE. In the nurses reaction, which she repeated soberly “I had no idea it was so high.” As that nurse realised, that has immediate practical implications for the female population in terms of practical risk-assessments both for themselves and any children they care for.

The MOJ statistics 2001-20 confirm that the advice to children to find a woman and ask to use her mobile phone, is correct what is the advice when “transwomen are women”?

“88-90% of all those "sexually offended against" are FEMALE” [UK ONS]

That the majority of those sexually offended against are FEMALE is no surprise, however quantifying these "facts of life" is essential for i) addressing them & ii) Health & Safety Risk Assessments, especially if you are going to place male prisoners or patients or pupils or customers into female sex-segregated spaces... prisons, hospitals, schools, local council provision and especially for Rape Crisis support and Refuges from Domestic Violence where those seeking assistance/refuge are very likely to be suffering from female specific rape trauma. Rape and sexual violence is, of course, the primary cause of Post Traumatic Stress in female people, although with 'male-norm-referenced' medical training most doctors will struggle to tell you that if you ask them!

"Male Rape"? ALL Rape is male Rape The term "male rape" is problematic because by UK legal definition, Rape is a crime of male sexual function inflicted on another person of either sex, without their consent of specific penetration by specific piece of anatomy of one of three bodily orifices. [Delicacy for the sake of rape survivors or victims, who might find their way to this site.] Although the overwhelming majority of those sexually offended against are female, some 10-12% of all those sexually offended against are male, boys as well as adults. The same British Crime Survey 2017 as the triennial ONS report, is expressed by Rape Crisis (England & Wales) as 1 in 5 of all females have been subjected to rape since their 16th birthday, the comparative figure for the male population of England & Wales in 1 in 25 of the male population.

Rape Statistics Vital for protection of Women & Girls Inaccessible in Deepest Recesses of the MOJ OMS-Q Database

Shockingly, the construction of the MOJ OMS-Q Statistics database is constructed in such a way as to conceal Rape statistics, VITAL for the protection of women & girls. That seems at variance with the "sorry" and "shame" expressed by Minister of Justice Robert Buckland QC MP & the Home Secretary Priti Patel with the publication of the MoJ End-to-End Rape Review (18 June 2021) . They also ignored one of the central and simplest lessons of the IICSA (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) for the use of sensitive language in relation to those "sexually offended against", as discussed by Theresa May MP (Home Secretary) and Caroline Lucas MP as recorded in Hansard, Volume 592 (Wed 4 Feb 2015) IICSA debate.

"Sorry" didn't seem to apply to those who either prefer to call themselves "sur-vivor" (lived beyond but not defined) nor those who failed to be a "v-i-c-t-i-m" even while being raped, nor does it pay much respect to those killed resisting rape and their families.

Australia Bureau for Statistics is recording prisoners with "no sex", is that no Sex (sic) Characteristics or no chromosomes perhaps? It is a medical fact that there are literally no human beings with "no sex". Looking forward to seeing that Australian FOI!

Sources: UK Office for National Statistics - ONS Sexual Offending in England & Wales (8 Feb 2018)

Eurostats: Sexual Offences in the European Union (23 Nov 2017)

UK MOJ Offender Management Statistics - Quarterly (OMS-Q) 2001-20 (Release 29 Jan 2021)