14-year-old girls report rape more than any other age group - the system is failing them
Warning: This article discusses rape and sexual assault
Fourteen-year-old girls are reporting rape to police in greater numbers than any other age group in England and Wales. Yet despite the scale of the crisis, many never see justice.
The stark reality exposed by disclosed police data comes amid renewed concerns about the treatment of teenage girls and the influence of violent online pornography on young people's attitudes towards sex.
This startling finding has been linked to violent pornography ‘fundamentally changing’ the views young boys have about sex, according to the current Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, speaking to The Times in 2014, when she served as home secretary.
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Data on females reporting rape disclosed by 31 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales showed that 1,458 girls aged 14 reported rape to the police in 2023-24, more than any other age group.
Cooper said this was ‘the most disturbing figure’.
She said: “I think it shows teenage girls being badly let down and I think the lack of strong prevention work but also the pressures that we’re seeing online on young men and the urgency really of this.”
The figures also suggested that the age of those reporting was getting younger, as the previous year, the largest age group was 15.
The disturbing figures have attracted renewed attention after three teenage boys left a UK court without serving a single day in custody last month.
Two girls were raped in separate attacks in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025 by two 15-year-old boys who were both given non-custodial sentences.
Southampton Crown Court heard that the boys recorded the rapes and later shared some of the footage online.
The sentencing judge stated he wanted to ‘avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily’ and ordered rehabilitation orders instead of custodial sentences.
In the sentencing hearing, one of the 15-year-old boys was handed a three-year Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) with 180 days of intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS) for the rape of each of the two girls and two indecent images charges.
The second 15-year-old was given the same sentence for three charges of rape against each of the two victims and four counts of taking indecent images in relation to filming of the incidents.
A third boy, 14, was also given a YRO for 18 months for two charges of rape in the January incident, by encouraging the second defendant and an offence of indecent images.
The verdict sparked outrage and shock across the country.
One survivor said she feels too scared to leave her house in case she sees them. Another said the outcome made it seem the crimes were acceptable because the perpetrators were children.
One of the victims, now 16, who was raped aged 15 in an underpass by the River Avon, spoke out and said the decision ‘hit like a rock,’ in a new interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
Speaking anonymously alongside her family, she said: “The words hit like a rock, straight in my face. He almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not okay, but it was okay in the eyes of the law, because they were still children.”
When asked what it meant to her, the victim added: “It meant that, why did I sit and put myself through the pain of going to court, going through a trial, reliving everything because of evidence, and watching it all happen again?
“It sort of gave me a sense of, what’s the point? Like, what was the point in putting me through that?”
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has since spoken out about the case, calling it ‘appalling’ and insisting it is ‘right that law officers are urgently reviewing the sentences’.
As the data shows, the Fordingbridge case is not a one-off, despite receiving widespread attention and public outrage. Almost a third of all rapes reported to police by women and girls between 2023-24 involved girls aged 18 and under.
The figures paint a troubling picture - teenage girls are coming forward to report serious sexual violence, but the system is failing them.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 500 222, available 24/7. If you are currently in danger or need urgent medical attention, you should call 999.
Topics: UK News
Greg Harris