June 12, 2025 | Incident and Crime Statistics , Sexual Offences
Request Number: FOI/14710
Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Sexual Offences
Subject: Image-based sexual abuse.
Request and Answer:
Request 1
The number of reports made to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the most recent 12-month period relating to image-based sexual abuse.
Clarification Requested
PSNIs Statistics Branch does not have a definition or categorisation of ‘image-based sexual abuse". However there are a number of Home Office classifications you may find relevant.
The latest published police recorded crime figures (financial year 2024/25 covering the 12 months to 31st March 2025) include a table in the accompanying spreadsheet (Table 15) providing a financial year time series by detailed crime classifications, available through https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications-and-reports/official-statistics/police-recorded-crime-statistics.
The crime classifications include financial year figures for the following: Sharing intimate images, ‘Cyber-flashing", Voyeurism, further split into ‘up-skirting/down-blousing", Obscene publications etc, further split into indecent images relating to children and non-child related indecent images.
Would you be able to confirm which offence classifications you are interested in?
Clarification Received
My request relates to "sharing intimate images". Does this help with narrowing the scope of the request?
Answer 1
The total number of ‘sharing intimate images’ offences recorded by the police in the latest published 12 months (April 2024 to March 2025) is 91, as provided in Table 15 of the spreadsheet accompanying the police recorded crime monthly update to 31st March 2025 (https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications-and-reports/official-statistics/police-recorded-crime-statistics.)
Request 2
If possible, please provide a breakdown of this data by month and indicate how the PSNI defines or categorises "image-based sexual abuse” (e.g. non-consensual sharing of intimate images, voyeurism, upskirting, etc.).
Answer 2
The number recorded each month April 2024 to March 2025 is provided below:
| Apr' 24 | May' 24 | Jun' 24 | Jul' 24 | Aug' 24 | Sep' 24 | Oct' 24 | Nov' 24 | Dec' 24 | Jan' 25 | Feb' 25 | Mar' 25 | Total 2024/25 | |
| Sharing intimate images | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 91 |
Offences classified to ‘sharing intimate images’ cover disclosing/threatening to disclose private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress (Section 51 of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 and as amended by the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022)