Victims of intimate image abuse are being denied justice as the number of cases surges while offenders evade punishment, according to new data from the charity Refuge.
Recorded instances of the abuse rose by 26.9% between July 2021 and June 2025, increasing from 4,058 offences to 5,151. This means nearly 15 offences were reported each day last year alone.
However, the proportion of cases resulting in a charge or summons fell from 5.8% in 2021/22 to 4.5% in 2024/25. Despite police knowing the suspect's identity, only 4.8% (1,047) of the 21,905 offences reported over the five-year period ended in a charge or summons.
Furthermore, 56% (12,265) of cases resulted in no charges at all, and 25% (5,417) of all offences did not progress due to evidential issues.
Survivors speak out
Refuge ambassador and former Love Island contestant Sharon Gaffka, 30, said: "As a survivor of intimate image abuse myself, I know firsthand the devastating impact this has on women and girls. While it is facilitated in online spaces, its impact is profoundly real, putting survivors' safety and wellbeing at serious risk. It is deeply concerning that, despite rising reports, perpetrators are not being held accountable by the justice system. Refuge's data must be a wake-up call for police forces to strengthen their responses to this horrific crime. Survivors deserve better."
Emma Pickering, Head of Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment at Refuge, said: "Five years on from the Domestic Abuse Act, survivors of intimate image abuse are failed far too often. These troubling police figures lay bare the stark disparity between the sheer number of reports compared to the shockingly low charge rates, and without a serious improvement in police response, survivors will continue to miss out on justice while perpetrators evade accountability."
High-profile cases
High-profile cases have propelled the crime into the headlines. In 2020, reality TV star Georgia Harrison, 31, fell victim to her ex-boyfriend Stephen Bear. Bear, 36, was sentenced to 21 months for uploading a sex tape with Georgia to OnlyFans without her permission. He was released from jail in January 2024, 10 months into his sentence. At a confiscation hearing he was ordered to pay £22,305 – the profits he made from posting the tape.
Georgia successfully lobbied to remove the requirement to intent to cause distress, meaning non-consensual sharing of intimate images is now a crime regardless of motive.
Government response
A government spokesperson said: "We are taking immediate action to tackle this growing issue. Soon tech companies will be legally required to remove intimate images shared without consent within 48 hours of being flagged and we have also established the Policing AI Threat Hub to tackle the criminal misuse of AI."
The Domestic Abuse Act was signed into law on April 29, 2021, after Refuge won its campaign – The Naked Threat – which called on the government to make threats to share intimate images a crime.
