FOI 7499-25 Attacks on Sex Workers Apr 22 to Mar 25

Request to Northamptonshire Police

Question 1. The number of incidents of sex attacks (including rape, sex assault) on sex workers
* And the number of incidents that led to a prosecution
* And the number of incidents that ended in a conviction

Question 2. The number of incidents of other violent attacks (e.g. common assault, beating, knife/gun attack) on sex workers
* And the number of incidents that led to a prosecution
* And the number of incidents that ended in a conviction

Could I get this data for the last 3 financial years:
* April 2022 to March 2023
* April 2023 to March 2024
* April 2024 to March 2025

Response

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held.

The second duty at Section1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.

When refusing to provide such information, because the information is exempt, Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Northamptonshire Police to provide the applicant with a notice which:

(a) states that fact,
(b) specifies the exemption in question and
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. I can advise that the requested information is held; however, the information is not suitable for disclosure in the requested format.

The exemption applicable in this case is Section 40(2) Personal Information.

Section 40 is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require evidence of the harm disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a public interest test. That being said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption absolute there needs to be evidence that a Data Protection Principle would be breached by disclosure.

This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with any other information from within the Police Service or public domain. In this case, due to extremely low numbers, providing the requested breakdown by date and category of attack is likely to lead to the identification of an individual. Such a disclosure would breach individuals’ rights under the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR which states that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. This letter serves as a refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act for the requested breakdown.

However, I can confirm that Northamptonshire Police has conducted reasonable searches within its crime recording system and identified five records of alleged offences against sex workers across the requested period. Two of these incidents would be classified as sexually motivated attacks under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

We do not hold information on prosecutions or convictions – please redirect this part of your enquiry to His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service.