The number of rapes in England and Wales peaked in 2021, reaching 61,158 cases by June, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
"Rape accounted for 37 percent of all sexual offences recorded by the police. The number of rape offences in the year ending June 2021 was the highest recorded annual figure to date (61,158 offences)," a report published on Thursday said.
According to the ONS, there was a large increase between April and June, when 17,300 rape offences were registered.
At the same time. the number of domestic abuse-related crimes rose 6 percent, to almost 850,000 offences.
“The rise could be because of an increase in victim reporting as lockdowns eased, an increase in the number of victims, or to an increase in victims’ willingness to report incidents, potentially as a result of high-profile cases and campaigns in recent times," Nick Stripe, the head of crime statistics at the ONS, wrote on Twitter.
The data has been published to coincide with the national debate Britain is holding over women’s safety in the wake of the Sarah Everard case.