The Sexual Offences Act 2003 Explained: Key Offences, Consent and the Sex Offenders Register

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 is the main law on sexual offences in England and Wales. It created most of the offences people are charged with today, defines key ideas such as consent, and sets out the notification requirements known as the sex offenders register. This guide explains how the Act is organised and what its most important sections say.

Why the Act was passed

Before 2004, sexual offences were spread across older laws, mainly the Sexual Offences Act 1956, which used outdated language and treated men and women, and gay and straight people, differently. The 2003 Act replaced most of those offences with a modern, largely gender-neutral set of offences that came into force on 1 May 2004. Allegations about events before that date are still charged under the old law. See our guide to historical sexual offence allegations.

The Act has two main parts. Part 1 contains the offences. Part 2 deals with notification requirements and civil orders. You can read the full, up-to-date text on legislation.gov.uk.

Part 1: the main offences

Non-consensual offences (sections 1 to 4)

• Section 1: rape. Penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth with a penis without consent. Maximum life. See rape defence.
• Section 2: assault by penetration. Penetration of the vagina or anus with any part of the body or an object, without consent. Maximum life. See assault by penetration.
• Section 3: sexual assault. Sexual touching without consent. Maximum 10 years. See sexual assault.
• Section 4: causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

Offences against children (sections 5 to 15A)

• Sections 5 to 8: rape and other offences against children under 13, where consent is irrelevant.
• Sections 9 to 12: sexual activity with a child under 16, causing or inciting it, and involving a child as a witness to sexual activity.
• Section 13: lower maximum sentences where the offender is under 18.
• Sections 14 and 15: arranging a child sex offence, and meeting a child following sexual grooming.
• Section 15A: sexual communication with a child.

See our page on sexual offences involving children.

Positions of trust and family relationships (sections 16 to 29)

Sections 16 to 24 make it an offence for an adult in a position of trust, such as a teacher or carer, to engage in sexual activity with someone under 18 in their care, even if that person is over 16. The list of positions of trust was widened in 2022 to include sports coaches and religious leaders. Sections 25 to 29 cover sexual activity with a child family member.

People with a mental disorder (sections 30 to 44)

These sections protect people whose mental disorder impedes their ability to choose, people induced by threats or deception, and people in the care of care workers.

Exploitation and prostitution (sections 47 to 56)

These include paying for the sexual services of a child, sexual exploitation of children, and offences about controlling prostitution for gain. Trafficking for sexual exploitation, originally in sections 57 to 59A, is now prosecuted in England and Wales under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Preparatory offences (sections 61 to 63)

Administering a substance with intent to stupefy someone for sexual activity (the offence often used in "spiking" cases), committing any offence with intent to commit a sexual offence, and trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Exposure, images and voyeurism (sections 66 to 68)

• Section 66: exposure. See indecent exposure.
• Section 66A: cyberflashing, from January 2024. See our guide to the cyberflashing law.
• Sections 66B to 66D: sharing or threatening to share intimate images, from January 2024, replacing the old "revenge porn" offence.
• Sections 66E onwards: newer offences about creating, or requesting the creation of, purported intimate images of adults (such as sexually explicit deepfakes), and about tools that generate them. Check legislation.gov.uk for which provisions are in force.
• Sections 67 and 67A: voyeurism and upskirting. See voyeurism and intimate images.

Other offences (sections 64 to 71)

These include sex with an adult relative, sexual activity with an animal or a corpse, and sexual activity in a public lavatory.

The key definitions (sections 74 to 79)

Many cases turn on a handful of definitions near the end of Part 1:

• Section 74: consent. A person consents if they agree by choice and have the freedom and capacity to make that choice.
• Section 75: evidential presumptions. In listed situations, such as where the complainant was asleep or unconscious, or violence was used or feared, it is presumed there was no consent and no reasonable belief in consent, unless there is sufficient evidence to the contrary.
• Section 76: conclusive presumptions. Where the complainant was deceived about the nature or purpose of the act, or by impersonation of someone they knew, it is conclusively presumed there was no consent.
• Section 78: "sexual". An act is sexual if a reasonable person would consider it sexual by its nature, or it may be sexual by its nature and is sexual because of its circumstances or purpose.
• Section 79: general interpretation, including that touching includes touching through clothing, and that penetration is a continuing act from entry to withdrawal.

Our guide to consent in UK sexual offence law explains these in more detail.

Part 2: notification requirements and orders

Part 2 sets out the notification requirements, commonly called the sex offenders register. People convicted of, or cautioned for, offences listed in Schedule 3 must give the police their personal details, including their address, within three days, and must report changes and travel. Failing to comply is an offence under section 91.

• Section 82 sets the notification periods, from two years for a caution to indefinite for a prison sentence of 30 months or more. See our guide to the sex offenders register.
• Sections 91A to 91F allow people on indefinite notification to apply for a review. See removal from the sex offenders register.
• Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders are civil orders that restrict a person's behaviour. See SHPOs and SROs.

Related laws

• Indecent images of children are mainly covered by the Protection of Children Act 1978 and section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. See indecent images.
• Anonymity for complainants comes from the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992.
• Sentencing is governed by the Sentencing Act 2020 and Sentencing Council guidelines. See our guides to rape, sexual assault and indecent images sentencing.

Frequently asked questions

This article is general information about the law in England and Wales, not legal advice.