The Office for National Statistics [‘ONS’] has published its latest report following The Crime Survey for England and Wales for year ending March 2024 [‘CSEW’], which estimated that 13.6 million people aged 18 years+ (29.0%) had experienced “any abuse”, i.e. emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect, prior to the age of 18. The report emphasises several core findings: emotional abuse is the most common form, followed by physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect, the prevalence of which differs by sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and household structure. Most childhood sexual abuse involves someone known to the victim. Furthermore, childhood abuse is linked to poorer well-being and greater risk of adversity in adulthood.
This article considers the report’s findings as to all categories of abuse before summarising the key findings relating to childhood sexual abuse.
For the year ending March 2024, approximately 13.6 million adults aged 18+ (29% of the adult population) reported experiencing at least one form of abuse before age 18. Of these, emotional abuse affected the largest share (22.7%), followed by physical abuse (16.5%), sexual abuse (9.1%), and neglect (7.6%). Of people aged 18+ who experienced neglect before the age of 18, 83.5% also experienced emotional abuse, 65.5% also experienced physical abuse, and 33.8% also experienced sexual abuse. These figures reflect a broad spectrum of experiences and, importantly, show that multiple forms of abuse often co-occur.
Approximately 7.5 million (31.5%) women and 6.1 million (26.4%) men experienced any abuse before age 18. Across all abuse types, women reported higher prevalence than men, particularly in the emotional, sexual, and neglect categories. There was no statistically significant difference between women and men for physical abuse, suggesting that physical harm by a parent or guardian may occur at comparable rates to males and females in childhood.
Fathers and mothers were most frequently cited as perpetrators of emotional abuse (29.4% and 25.6%, respectively) and physical abuse (45.6% and 37.2%, respectively).
The CSEW estimated that 4.3 million (9.1%) people aged 18+ have experienced sexual abuse as a child, with 13.9% of women and 4.1% of men affected. The sexual abuse landscape is complex, with non-contact abuse (i.e. online exposure) notably contributing to the higher end of prevalence for women and younger perpetrators in certain subcategories. The majority of victims of child sexual abuse knew the perpetrator, however 33.2% said the perpetrator was a stranger (especially in non-contact categories). Perpetrators of child sexual abuse were overwhelmingly male (91.3%) and most often aged 18+ (69.8%).
The prevalence of abuse during childhood varied across personal and household characteristics.
Respondents from a Mixed ethnic background had a higher prevalence of experiencing any abuse (40.2%) before age 18 compared with all other ethnic groups. People in the White ethnic group (31.0%) also had higher prevalence of experiencing any abuse than those in the Asian or Asian British (14.7%) and Black or Black British (18.2%) ethnic groups. It is possible that cultural factors influenced disclosures and reporting patterns across groups.
Non-heterosexual respondents reported markedly higher abuse prevalence than heterosexuals (27.7%), with bisexual (62.5%), gay and lesbian (48.1%), and other sexual orientations (56.5%) showing substantially higher rates. This pattern was consistent across all abuse types. Individuals with gender identities different from their registered sex at birth also reported substantially higher abuse prevalence (53.4%) than those identifying with their sex registered at birth (28.9%) across all abuse types.
Disabled respondents had a higher overall abuse prevalence of 42% than non-disabled respondents (26.4%). The difference was consistent across all abuse types.
Respondents living in lone-parent households had a higher prevalence of any abuse (35%) than those who lived in other households. This pattern was seen across all individual abuse types.
The most common perpetrators of emotional abuse were fathers (29.4%), mothers (25.6%), and a friend aged 18+ (16.1%).
As to physical abuse, fathers and mothers were again the most frequent perpetrators: 45.6% and 37.2%, respectively. Next were people in a position of trust or authority and strangers – both at 10.8%.
In relation to sexual abuse, victims commonly knew their perpetrator. However, a substantial proportion reported a stranger as perpetrator in non-contact cases, where strangers were cited by 44.2% of responders. This compared with 22.6% of cases for contact abuse and 12.2% for rape or assault by penetration.
Neglect is not included in this analysis as the CSEW did not ask about perpetrator relationships for experiences of neglect.
Sexual abuse is made up of three subcategories: (i) non-contact sexual abuse, (ii) contact sexual abuse, and (iii) rape or assault by penetration (including attempts). The prevalence of each type of sexual abuse was higher for women than men.
Among all sexual abuse cases, perpetrators were overwhelmingly male-only (91.3%) compared with female-only (4.8%). As to those victims who experienced abuse from both males and females, this came to just 3.9%.
Sexual abuse most commonly began when victims were aged between 13 and 15 years (33.4%), followed by those aged between 10 and 12 years (22.9%). Victims aged between 4 and 6 years comprised 7.8%, and those aged between 0 and 3 years totalled 1.0%. Onset age distributions differed by sex. More men reported onset at ages 10 to 12 (31.2% versus, 20.3% for women) with more women reporting onset at ages 16 and 17 years (21.4%, versus 11.5% for men).
In respect of the age of the perpetrators, 40.1% of respondents said that the perpetrator was under the age of 18 years, while 69.8% said that the perpetrator was aged 18+.
As to the location of the abuse, it was most frequently stated to have happened in a home: either (i) in someone else’s home in 33.8% of cases or (ii) in the victim’s own home, in 30.5% of cases. Public spaces also featured frequently, at 30.8%. Women more commonly experienced sexual abuse in someone else’s home than men (35.3% and 28.9%, respectively). This was also the case for abuse that occurred in public space (32.6% and 24.3%, respectively). However, men were more likely to experience abuse by authority figures in educational settings with them experiencing abuse in a school or college more frequently than women (17.1% and 10.1%, respectively).
Among those who experienced child sexual abuse, 43.1% disclosed such at the time of the abuse. Women (47%) disclosed at the time more often than men (29%). Among those who did not immediately disclose the abuse, the most common reasons provided were embarrassment, humiliation, or shame (49.1%), not thinking they would be believed (27.1%), and blaming themselves (25.9%). Men more commonly believed the abuse to be too trivial than women (20.6% and 12%, respectively). Furthermore, women (22.6%) feared the disclosures would cause problems for their family, compared with 16.1% of men. Later disclosure was common, with 67.0% of victims telling someone later, with women (69.8%) again disclosing more than men (57.6%). Friends and family were common initial confidants (62.9%), followed by professionals (13.3%), and someone in an official position (9.1%).
Of those who experienced any abuse before 18, 26.4% had experienced at least one or more adverse childhood experiences, compared with 6.0% among those who did not experience abuse. The presence of adverse childhood experiences was particularly high when living with a household member who had a long-term health condition(s) or disability(/ies), mental health issues, or with substance misuse problems.
Adults with a history of childhood abuse reported lower well-being measures than those without such histories. Those who experienced any abuse reported low life satisfaction more frequently (8.4%) than those who did not (4%), lower sense of worthwhileness (6.2% compared with 2.9%), lower happiness (9.4% compared with 4.3%), and higher anxiety (32.1% compared with 21.0%).
Those who experienced childhood abuse were more likely to have reported domestic abuse in the last year than those who had not (19.7% to 6.1%). Likewise, those who experienced childhood abuse were more likely to have experienced sexual assault by rape or penetration in the last year than those who had not (2.4% to 0.1%).
Of those aged 18+ who had experienced any abuse prior to age 18, 74.9% of respondents rated their health as “good” or “very good”, compared with 81.6% of those who had not experienced any abuse.
Childhood sexual abuse remains a significant issue. Some 9% of adults aged 18+ report experiencing sexual abuse before age 18, with higher rates among women than men. Most sexual abuse is perpetrated by males, with a large majority being aged 18+. Most perpetrators are known to their victims with abuse occurring in domestic settings or public spaces, with males more likely to experience abuse by authority figures in educational settings. Sexual abuse tends to begin in early adolescence, from ages 13 to 15, with a sizeable minority beginning younger, ages 10 to 12, or older, ages 16 to 17. Many victims experience multiple types of abuse, with sexual abuse often occurring in tandem with emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect, indicating complex trauma profiles.
Disclosure at the time of abuse is relatively common for women, but much lower for men. Reasons for non-disclosure include gender and identity factors, embarrassment, shame, fear of disbelief, and concern for causing family problems. Many disclosures occur later, often to someone victims know personally.
As to the impact of childhood sexual abuse and long-term well-being, victims report higher levels of adverse outcomes in childhood, including lower well-being, higher anxiety, and lower life satisfaction, compared with those who did not experience abuse. There is also a notable co-occurrence with other adverse childhood experiences, e.g. household health conditions and caregiver substance misuse, which can compound risk and impact. Domestic abuse in adulthood and other negative health or social outcomes are more prevalent among those who experienced childhood abuse.
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