Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault and other details that readers may find disturbing.
A viral bar chart circulated on X (see screenshot below) paints a disturbing picture. At the top, a red bar labeled “United Kingdom” extends far beyond each other, with the caption in capital letters: “Rape in Europe.”
According to the graphic, the number of rapes per 100,000 people in Britain in 2022 will be sharply higher than in Spain, Greece, Germany and the rest of Europe. But the chart is a textbook case of using precise numbers to mislead and distort the facts.
DW Fact Check investigated in detail.
claim: “Britain is now the rape capital of Europe,” one user said. PostedOn X. The claim has been viewed more than one million times.
DW Fact Check: To mislead.
This data shows there are 109 reported rapes per 100,000 people in the UK world population reviewData are taken from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)they too warn“The challenges of international comparability are considerable.” The site itself cautions readers, take note “The apples-to-oranges nature of international rape statistics” Due to major differences in legal definitions, reporting practices and cultural factors.
“It’s taken from a source and used in a way that the source literally means, ‘Don’t do this because it’s not accurate,'” explained tanya serisierLecturer in criminology at Birkbeck University of London and author of “Speaking Out: Feminism, Rape and Narrative Politics”. In an interview with DW.
Why are the statistics misleading?
Figures are quoted accurately from World Population Review in this summerThey have since been updated to 117 rapes per 100,000 people – up from 25 per 100,000 in 2003. The rate hovered around 100 between 2018 and 2020 before climbing to its latest level. But comparing these figures across different countries is problematic. Grenada topped the list in 2022, followed by the United Kingdom, then Sweden, Panama and Iceland.
Lebanon, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong are at the bottom of the list.
The European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat, which collects similar data across Europe, told DW that “focusing only on the number of crime crimes could be misleading and Inadequate.” The UK’s seemingly high rate reflects more its reporting practices and legal definitions than actual prevalence.
Why do cross-country comparisons fail?
There are several reasons why it is so difficult to compare cross-border crime figures.
It starts with how countries define rape. Some have very narrow legal definitions, requiring proof of physical assault, threats, or coercion. Other countries use a broader definition. the UK repair In 2003 its sexual crimes legislation will be consent-based.
There are also differences in the way each country counts and reports crime. For example, gang rape may count as a single crime, or, as in the UK Multiple crimes by each criminal,
The UK uses what is called input dataWhere a case is counted with the filing of a police report. Some countries wait until a report is filed, and some wait until the investigation is closed.
Finally, there are cultural differences, such as trust in the criminal justice system, the persistence of rape myths, attitudes around consent, and, as Eurostat says, society’s “level of knowledge of and acceptance of sexual violence.”
All of these factors influence whether or not a victim will decide to report a crime to the police, which provides the statistics in the graphic.
A better way to measure
Criminologists recommend a different approach: victim surveys, where instead of relying on data from police reports, representative samples of people are asked about their experiences over a time period.
Serisier said, “Crime statistics are only showing us – and people often use the iceberg metaphor – the things above sea level. Those are the things that are reported, that are counted by official agencies.” “But for almost all crimes, there is another layer of things that never come to the attention of authorities.”
According to figures from the UK Office for National Statistics, police recorded more than 71,000 rapes overall in England and Wales in 2024, which is an increase of 479% since 2002. However, the crime survey for England and Wales tells a different story. It is estimated that approximately 1.9 million adults Experience of rape or attempted rape in 2022, the latest available year. Yet the share of adults filing rape complaints has remained relatively stable since 2005, fluctuating between 0.4% and 0.7% each year.
A Europe-wide survey with standardized questions would be “the only way to know what the real rate of rape is”, said the comparative criminologist at the University of Lausanne. marcelo abbey,
The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention reached a similar conclusion. 2020 reportWriting: “A well-executed European victims of crime survey is a much better source of knowledge.”
role of migration
claim: “Driven Factors? Uncontrolled Mass Immigration,” Posted by British MP Rupert LoweLeader of the anti-immigration group Restore Britain, which created the graphic. His post has been viewed 10 lakh times.
DW Fact Check: False.
UK And Netherlands The share of foreign-born residents is almost the same – about 16% by 2022 – yet the chart shows that the Dutch rape rate per 100,000 is less than one-sixth that of Britain.
“The claim that’s often made essentially is, ‘We’re letting in more immigrants and especially more immigrants from certain areas and that’s increasing our rates of sexual assault,'” Serisier explained. “There is no evidence to suggest that is at all the case.”
UK does not publish data On the nationality or ethnicity of the criminals. National data shows this 85% of victims knew their perpetratorsAccording to a national survey conducted by the government between 2014 and 2017.
Other factors likely contributed to the increase in reported rapes. After a metropolitan police Whistleblower revealed in 2014 Sex crimes were being under-reported by police by almost a quarter Improvement How does it file a crime report? Cultural changes such as the #MeToo movement and high-profile cases have also likely motivated victims to come forward.
Lowe, a former member of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK Party, launched Restore Britain in the summer of 2025. He has emphasized an anti-immigration platform, Saying “The asylum system must be abolished”, calling for “mass deportations” and the “removal of millions of people”.
“I want to see the data, because the facts come first,” Marcelo Ebi said. “In these issues, there is a lot of advocacy, people know from the beginning what they want to say and how to explain it. Rhetoric is much easier.”
While rape statistics in Britain appear worryingly high, the reality is far more complex. Differences in legal definitions, reporting practices and cultural factors make international comparisons misleading – and claims linking immigration to sexual violence are not supported by evidence.
If you are suffering from emotional stress, seek professional help. You can find information about where to get help, no matter where you live in the world, on this website: www.befrienders.org.
Edited by: Astrid Prang de Oliveira, Rena Breuer and Rachel Begg