How do Crime Survey for England and Wales victimisation rates vary by ethnicity and age for sexual assault?
Executive summary
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) shows that sexual assault victimisation varies by ethnicity in some measures and by age in survey design, but publicly available summaries stress nuance: in the combined year ending March 2018 to March 2020 data adults in the Black/Black British and Mixed ethnic groups were more likely to report sexual assault in the last year than people in White, Asian or Other groups, while for rape/penetration there were no significant differences by ethnicity [1]. The CSEW’s coverage (different published tables use 16–74 and 16–59 age bands) and recent redevelopment of questions means comparisons over time and across fine age-by-ethnic subgroups are constrained in the official releases [2] [3] [4].
1. What the CSEW measures and why that matters
The CSEW is a household face‑to‑face victimisation survey that estimates the proportion of people experiencing crimes, including sexual assault, whether or not incidents were reported to police — a strength that gives a broader picture than police recordings alone [5] [6]. Different tables and publications present CSEW statistics for differing age ranges: some outputs report adults aged 16 to 74, while others focus on 16 to 59, so any interpretation must attend to which table and age cut is being used [2] [3].
2. Ethnic differences reported by ONS: headline findings
ONS reporting for the combined years ending March 2018–2020 found that adults in the Black/Black British and Mixed ethnic groups were significantly more likely than those in White, Asian or Other groups to report sexual assault in the last year; however, for rape or sexual assault by penetration there were no statistically significant differences between ethnic groups [1]. The same release notes that for particular subtypes — for example indecent exposure or unwanted sexual touching — people in the Mixed ethnic group had higher victimisation rates than White, Asian and Other groups [1].
3. Age: what is shown (and what is not)
ONS outputs repeatedly emphasise prevalence for broad adult age bands (16+), and key tables are published for adults aged 16–59 or 16–74 depending on the dataset, but the snippets provided do not include a clear, published breakdown of sexual assault victimisation by finer age bands cross-tabulated with ethnicity [2] [3] [7]. Where ONS has published age‑related patterns elsewhere, younger adults and single people are typically identified as higher‑risk groups — for example single adults aged 16–74 were shown more likely to experience sexual assault — but the supplied material does not provide a detailed age × ethnicity matrix to quantify interactions [1].
4. How reliable are ethnic and age comparisons in CSEW data?
ONS cautions that different survey questions, sample sizes and the need to combine years to get robust estimates mean some subgroup comparisons are statistically fragile; this is why combined-year tables (for example YE Mar 2018–2020) are used to increase reliability [2] [3]. The CSEW’s strengths — capturing non‑reported offences — coexist with limits: small sample sizes for some ethnic/age subgroups, changes in question wording and the ongoing redevelopment of sexual victimisation questions can affect comparability across releases [6] [4].
5. What the reporting omits and where to look next
ONS signposts specific tables that contain ethnicity and age detail — notably Table 4 (prevalence by characteristics for adults 16+) and Table 5 (percentage of adults 16–74 who were victims, year ending Mar 2018–2020 combined) — and indicates where more granular CSEW outputs are published, but the excerpts provided here do not contain the numeric rates for every ethnicity × age cell [8] [7] [2]. For researchers seeking precise rates and confidence intervals by ethnicity and age, the ONS Sexual offences: prevalence and victim characteristics tables and the CSEW annual supplementary tables are the direct sources to query; ONS also notes plans to publish updated ethnicity breakdowns for year ending March 2025 in its dataset pipeline [8] [6].