The top 3 VAWG Offences in Bexley for 2023 and 2024 have remained the same, with Violence Against the Person being the top offence, Public Order Offences* as second, and Sexual Offences** as third.

*Public Order Offences encompass a range of behaviours intended to disrupt public peace, including Riot, Affray, Violent Disorder, and Threatening or Abusive Language, among others.

**Sexual offences include Rape, Sexual Assault, Assault by Penetration, Disclosing Private Sexual Images without Consent and others.

This data represents Domestic Abuse offences MPS data recorded in 2024. The data sources used are from the Metropolitan Police Service Crime Data Dashboard & Crime data provided to Local Authorities via ‘BOX.’ The data therefore looks different to the VAWG offence information collected by MPS Connect.

Source: Metropolitan Police Service Crime Data Dashboard & Crime data

Please note that the data cannot be compared for 2023 and 2024 due to the changes to recording of Domestic Abuse flags in the MPS new computer system CONNECT (implemented in February 2024).

For 2024, the total number of Domestic Abuse Offences recorded by the MPS was 2321. The highest number of offences came under Violence Against the Person, followed by Arson and Criminal Damage and Public Order Offences third.

Source: Metropolitan Police Service Crime Data Dashboard & Crime data

Where “London” figures are presented as benchmark data, this refers to crimes recorded by the Metropolitan Police Service that fall within the 32 London Boroughs (City of London not included).

Police-recorded crime gives a picture of the crime occurring in an area. However, it is reliant on (a) persons reporting the crime in the first instance and (b) the recording practices of the local Police Force. As such, Police-recorded crime provides a measure of the crime-related demand on Police, but not necessarily a full picture of crime.

In 2024, there was a total of 2,321 Domestic Abuse Offences in Bexley, ranking us 17th place with a rate of 91.62 compared to other London Boroughs.

This data represents Sexual Offences MPS data recorded in 2024 and 2023.

Source: Metropolitan Police Service Crime Data Dashboard & Crime data

Sexual Offences are split into two sub-categories: 1) Rape, and 2) Other Sexual Offences. Other Sexual Offences include everything else from Exposure and Voyeurism to Touching, including over clothes, and offences that Cause or Incite Sexual Activity, those linked to prostitution, spiking, incest, etc.

An increase in Sexual Offences in Bexley of 5.51%, from 490 in 2023 to 517 in 2024. This is a smaller increase compared to an increase of 9.75% for London overall. Bexley saw a rise of 13.73% for Other Sexual Offences (from 306 in 2023 to 348 in 2024) and a reduction of 8.15% in Rape Offences (from 184 in 2023 to 169 in 2024).

Source: Metropolitan Police Service Crime Data Dashboard & Crime data

Bexley has moved from 6th in 2023 (rate of 1.94) to 8th in 2024 (rate of 2.04) compared to other London Boroughs.

Violence Against the Person can include violence targeted because of gender. Sub-categories of this depend on the outcome; 1) Without Injury, 2) With Injury, and 3) Homicide.

Violence with Injury includes any kind of assault where physical injury occurs. Violence without Injury includes Common Assault, Threats to Kill, Stalking and Harassment, Malicious Communications, etc.

NB: Street Level Harassment, such as calling out and beeping etc will likely be recorded as Public Order offences rather than Assault without Injury and are therefore not reflected in this data.

Source: Metropolitan Police Service Crime Data Dashboard & Crime data

The overall number Violence Against the Person offences in Bexley had decreased by 11.7% from 5,859 offences in 2023 to 5,173 offences in 2024. This decrease was in line with the fall in Violence Against the Person offences across London over the past two years 2023 / 2024 (4.41% decrease).

Murder and Manslaughter are in the Homicide category. In Bexley, there had been a decrease in Homicide in 2024 compared to 2023, though numbers are low in both years. Additionally, there was a decrease in Violence without Injury and Violence with Injury in 2024 in comparison to 2023.

Source: Metropolitan Police Service Crime Data Dashboard & Crime data

Bexley’s position in London for safety in relation to Violence Against the Person has moved from 10 place in 2023 to 7 in 2024. This shift in position reflects the 11.7% decrease of Violence Against the Person offences in Bexley from 2023 to 2024.

Source: Metropolitan Police Data (CONNECT)

In 2023, VAWG offences were highest in the following three wards – Belvedere, Slade Green & Northend and Bexleyheath.

However, 2024 saw an emergence of Thamesmead East as second highest ward for VAWG offences, with Slade Green & Northend and Bexleyheath remaining in the top three wards. The wards that have the least number of VAWG offences has remained similar over 2024 and 2023 – with Longlands remaining at the bottom of the list, followed by Blendon & Penhill, St Mary’s & St James and Blackfen & Lamorbey. In Bexley, Belvedere has the largest population of residents and Longlands has the lowest.

Source: Metropolitan Police Data (CONNECT)

In 2024, the proportion of VAWG offences resulting in a positive outcome decreased slightly to 5.7% (167 offences). A "positive outcome" refers to a successful resolution of a crime where the police have been able to carry out the following actions: conviction, charge, arrest or remand. These outcomes can also include actions such as charges, cautions, community resolutions, summons, and postal requisitions. In 2023, 7% of the total recorded offences resulted in a positive outcome.

However, the majority of VAWG offences for both 2024 and 2023 did not lead to a positive result, primarily due to victims withdrawing their statements or choosing not to support further police action. Evidential difficulties were the second most common barrier to achieving a positive outcome, followed by cases where no suspect was identified.

Source: Metropolitan Police Data (CONNECT)

In 2024, individuals aged 18 to 24 accounted for 14.4% of recorded VAWG offences in Bexley, making this the most affected age group. The subsequent age brackets 25 to 29, 30 to 34, and 35 to 39 also represented significant proportions of VAWG victims. This marks a shift from 2023, where the 30 to 34 age group had the highest number of victims, followed by those aged 35 to 39 and 18 to 24.

This local trend aligns with broader patterns observed across England and Wales, where younger women are disproportionately affected by VAWG offences.

Source: Metropolitan Police Data (CONNECT)

Data from 2023 and 2024, showed that White residents made up the majority of victims of VAWG offences in Bexley.

This is reflective of the borough’s population, where 71.9% of residents identified as White. 28.1% of residents are from an Ethnic Minority background (excluding White Minorities). Including White Minorities, 35.6% of residents are from an Ethnic Minority background. It should be noted that the north of the borough, which as we saw has the highest rate of VAWG offences, has a larger ethnic minority population - Thamesmead East, Belvedere and Slade Green and North End wards have the highest population of residents from ethnic minority backgrounds.

NB: Further demographic data for victims of VAWG including religion, sexuality and disability was not able to be analysed due to the number of unknown responses.

In January 2025, we conducted a VAWG survey with residents to understand the community and their concerns better. Below are the main outcomes.

NB: This survey does not capture the views of every Bexley resident but a sample therein who opted to respond. It therefore cannot be considered a completely accurate picture of local needs but is rather an indicator of such.

Respondents

This analysis demonstrates the breakdown of respondents to the survey. In 2024, there were 184 respondents, whereas 2025 had 92 respondents. 88 of these were female and 4 were non-female identifying. The typical respondent profile was a White British, heterosexual, 41 TO 50 year old cis-woman, with no disability and of no religion. There were very few male, non-binary, LGBT+, ethnic minority, religious and disabled respondents, however numbers were low.

Feelings of safety

This demonstrates that the average feelings of safety from violence against women and girls in Bexley, is 5.51, with 10 being a feeling of complete safety. The map and ward list demonstrate how this ranges between areas, with the north and outskirts of the borough reporting lower feelings of safety from VAWG than the south and central of the borough. 2025 VAWG safety score showed a slight decrease from 2024, which was 5.89.

Experiences of VAWG – Direct Experiences

55.4% of respondents said they had experienced VAWG, in one form or multiple.

The majority of respondents said that they experienced the VAWG incident in a public space, at home, on public transport or in a public social venue.

59.8% of respondents also answered that the perpetrator was known to them in some way, either a partner or ex-partner, family member, work colleague, friend or other associate.

Direct Experiences of VAWG – Reporting to Police

Out of the 55.4% of respondents that had directly experienced VAWG, only 27.5% of them had reported this to the Police. The main reasons for not reporting to the Police, was that they didn’t know how the Police could help, followed by a lack of trust / confidence in the Police and that they were not aware that they had experienced a crime.

Experiences of VAWG – Witnesses

52.2% of respondents said they had witnessed VAWG, in one form or multiple.

Most of the respondents said that they witnessed the VAWG incident in a public space, in a public social venue, in a nightlife venue and on public transport.

Evening time was the highest time of day when respondents witnessed the VAWG incident, followed by afternoon.

Witnesses of VAWG – Reporting to the Police

Out of the 52.2% of respondents that had witnessed VAWG, only 20.8% of them had reported this to the Police. The main reasons for not reporting to the Police, was the lack of trust/confidence in the criminal justice system and the Police, followed by not knowing how the police could help.

Primary concerns

This outlines the priority concerns our residents have, both those who have experienced and witness VAWG. Many of the concerns were around domestic abuse, sexual and street-based offences, and less so around exploitation and honour-based offences.

Response needs

For residents, the most important mechanisms for tackling VAWG were similar for both 2024 and 2025.

This also demonstrates that residents consider education of perpetrators and increased public safety tools the most important response to tackle VAWG, more so than accessibility of reporting, training for support services and educating vulnerable or at risk people.

There has been a small increase in the number of Domestic Abuse incidents in Bexley during the year 2023 in comparison to 2022. This is expected and an ongoing result of coming out of lockdown and increased awareness.

Domestic Abuse Offences is a subcategory of Domestic Abuse Incidents and Domestic Abuse Violence with Injury is a further subcategory of Domestic Abuse Offences.

The overall rate of Domestic Abuse has increased in Bexley from 161.19 per 10,000 population in 2022 to 166.06 in 2023. As a result of this increase, Bexley’s position in London for Domestic Abuse has changed from 13 to 16. 

The overall number of sexual offences in Bexley has decreased slightly from 511 offences in 2022 to 509 offences in 2023.

Sexual Offences are split into two sub-categories: 1) Rape, and 2) Other Sexual Offences. Other Sexual Offences include everything else from exposure and voyeurism to touching, including over clothes, and offences that cause or incite sexual activity, those linked to prostitution, spiking, incest, etc.

In Bexley we saw an increase in ‘Rape Offences’ and a decrease in ‘Other Sexual Offences’ in the year 2023 compared to 2022.

The crime rate for sexual offences has slightly decreased over the last year in comparison to 2022.

Comparatively with other London Boroughs, Bexley has moved up one place from seventh safest borough for sexual offences in London to sixth. 

Violence Against the Person can include violence targeted because of gender. Sub-categories of this depend on the outcome; 1) without injury, 2) with injury, and 3) homicide.

Violence with Injury includes any kind of assault where physical injury occurs. Violence without Injury includes Common Assault, Threats to Kill, Stalking and Harassment, Malicious Communications, etc.

NB: Street Level Harassment, such as calling out and beeping etc will likely be recorded and Public Order offences rather than assault without injury and are therefore not reflected in this data.

The overall number Violence Against the Person offences in Bexley has increased by 4.3% from 5,756 offences in 2022 to 6,005 offences in 2023. This increase is in line with the rise in Violence Against the Person offences across London over the past two years (4.5% increase).

Murder and Manslaughter are in the Homicide category. In Bexley, there has been an increase in Homicide in 2023 compared to 2022, though numbers are low in both years. There was an increase in Violence without Injury and Violence with Injury remained relatively stable.

Bexley’s position in London for safety in relation to Violence Against the Person has changed by one place from 9th in 2022 to 10th in 2023. As a result of the increase in crimes overall, as seen above, the crime rate too has increased overall. This seems to be in line with other London boroughs, with most seeing an increase in violent crime rate overall in 2023.

NB: Violence Against the Person may include non-VAWG related crimes within it.

This analysis demonstrates the breakdown of respondents to the survey. 184 people responded, 153 were female and 22 were non-female identifying. The typical respondent profile was a White British, heterosexual, 14-18 year old cis-woman, with no disability and of no religion. There were some male, non-binary, LGB+, ethnic minority, religious and disabled respondents, however numbers were low.

This demonstrates the average feelings of safety from violence against women and girls in Bexley is 5.89, with 10 being a feeling of complete safety. The map and ward list demonstrate how this ranges between areas, with the north and outskirts of the borough reporting lower safety from VAWG than the south and central of the borough.

47.8% of respondents said they had experienced VAWG, in one form or multiple, and 56.5% said they had witnessed VAWG, sometimes in addition to their own experiences of VAWG.

The majority of respondents said that they experienced or witnessed the VAWG incident in a public space, on public transport or in a public social venue. 56.2% of respondents also answered that the perpetrator was known to them in some way, either a partner or ex-partner, family member, work colleague, friend or other associate.  

This outlines the priority concerns our residents have – the majority being around domestic abuse, sexual and street-based offences, and less so around exploitation and honour-based offences. This also demonstrates that residents consider education of perpetrators and increased public safety tools the most important response to tackle VAWG, more so than accessibility of reporting and training for support services.