Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reports of sexual assault within the Armed Forces have been made to the Defence Serious Crime Command since 2022; how many have resulted in charges; and how many have resulted in convictions.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes annual Official Statistics into Murder, Manslaughter and Sexual Offending in the Service Justice System. Based on the latest Official Statistic data (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/murder-manslaughter-sexual-offences-and-domestic-abuse-in-the-service-justice-system-2024), between 2022 and 2024 the Defence Serious Crime Command (DSCC) conducted 429 investigations into sexual assaults (s2 and s3, Sexual Offences Act 2003). Additionally, 65 sexual assault investigations were transferred to Civilian Police Forces for investigation or formed part of their enquiries, or were re-categorised following investigation and no longer fell under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Data for 2025 is not included as this will be published on 26 March 2026.

Similar to the position in the published statistics from the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, there is no central data set that tracks each investigation from initial report of an offence through to outcome. Therefore, it is not possible to calculate from our centrally held data how many initial reports of a sexual assault led to charges or a trial.

From 2022 to 2024 there were 201 cases directed with charges for sexual assault by the Service Prosecuting Authority. This data is different to the Official Statistics data as it includes all cases with charges made each year, whereas the Official Statistics only report the outcomes from the referrals received each year.

From Official Statistics data, since 2022 there have been 68 defendants convicted of sexual assault offences. Where a defendant has been tried for charges across multiple offence categories, it will result in the defendant being recorded more than once. Some cases that have been directed for Court Martial may still be ongoing.

We are confident that a greater proportion of incidents got to trial in the Service Justice System for a number of reasons, including the rate that victims withdraw from investigations and prosecutions. Noting that there are procedural differences between the two systems, administrative data suggests 59% of victims of adult rape-flagged offences withdrew from investigations in 2024 in the Criminal Justice System compared to 24% of rape offences in the Service Justice System. During prosecutions, 19% withdrew in the Criminal Justice System compared to almost none in the Service Justice System.