Home Office figures show three rapes reported by Derbyshire women each day

In Derbyshire 569 rapes were reported by females and 63 were reported by males - an average of 3.5 per day for males and females combined.

During the same period 528 sexual assaults were recorded against females and 96 were recorded against males - an average of 2.9 assaults against women per day.

Of the 576 Derbyshire Police rape case outcomes available in the data only 37 cases saw a charge or court summons - a charge rate of 6.4 per cent which gives the force the 12th highest charge rate in England and Wales.

Figures show that 379 rape cases were closed without charge or summons by Derbyshire Constabulary.

DCI Steve Bruce, of Derbyshire Police, said: “Work is being undertaken across the whole criminal justice system at a local, regional and national level to improve outcomes for survivors of rape.

“As a force we take reports of rape extremely seriously and conduct thorough investigations. At the end of those investigations, wherever possible, officers will seek charges from the Crown Prosecution Service.

“While there are hundreds of people reporting rapes to the force each year we also know that the offence is one that is substantially under-reported and I would urge anyone who has suffered this most awful of crimes to come forward.

“All survivors, whether reporting to the police or not, can access support from independent partner organisations such as SV2 24 hours a day.”

Data for England and Wales shows that between April and September 2021, 34,608 rape offences and 36,265 sexual assaults were recorded by police forces across the two nations.

Of these cases 31,194 (90 per cent) and 30,631 (84 per cent) respectively involved female victims, both adults and children.

That equates to 338 reports from female victims every day on average - 170 rapes and 167 sexual assaults - and 49 from males.

Scottish police recorded 3,778 rapes and sexual assaults in the same six-month period - 21 per day - and Northern Ireland recorded 1,457 - eight per day - according to figures from Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Rape Crisis chief executive officer Jayne Butler said “the vast majority of rapes and sexual assaults never get reported”.

The latest annual crime survey of England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows 0.8 per cent of women aged 16 to 74 said they had experienced rape or assault by penetration or attempts to do so in the last year as of the year ending March 2020.

That would mean around 180,000 women had experienced such an assault in just one year based on mid-2020 population estimates – the equivalent of 493 per day.

The same survey showed 0.1 per cent of men had experienced a rape over the same year – this would equate to 15,000 men.

Ms Butler said there “have been few real steps taken to tackle the misogyny that is widespread throughout British society and our state institutions”.

“Violence against women and girls feels pervasive, inescapable and unavoidable,” she added.

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