Police forces say no detentions or arrests for conversion therapy in a decade

Freedom of information responses from police forces across the UK - seen by Let Us Pray - show not even a single detention or arrest has been made for ‘electroshock’ treatments or ‘corrective rape’ between 2010 and 2020.

These horrifying practices are offered as examples of ‘conversion therapy’ by LGBT activists. Controversial campaign groups including Stonewall and Mermaids have lined up to say the UK Government must introduce a new law on conversion therapy to protect LGBT people from abuse. They cite stories of truly abhorrent practices – such as ‘corrective rape’ – as evidence of conversion therapy remaining a problem in the UK today.

Many people have been persuaded to back the calls as a result of hearing these stories.

But ‘electroshock’ treatments and ‘corrective rape’ are already illegal. Anyone who carried them out could be charged under existing law. Thankfully, as these freedom of information releases show, this is not a problem that exists today.

Instead, those calling for a Bill appear to be using exaggerated claims to advance their campaign for a law which could criminalise loving parents and ordinary religious people for failing to bow to LGBT ideology.

This is precisely what we see in Victoria, Australia. Guidance on the conversion therapy law there says a parent who refuses to support their child receiving puberty blockers is breaking the law. Churches are told to avoid praying about repentance with LGBT people, and instead told to say everyone is “perfect as they are”.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, every police force in the UK was asked to provide the “number of people a) detained by your force and b) arrested in each of the calendar years from 2010 up to and including 2020 for using 1) electroshocks or 2) corrective rape on a victim because they were/are gay.”

Over half of the UK’s police forces provided figures (two of these omitted several of the years requested), revealing not a single case of detention or arrest.

The responding police forces were: Bedfordshire Police; British Transport Police; Cheshire Constabulary; City of London Police; Civil Nuclear Constabulary; Cleveland Police; Derbyshire Constabulary; Devon and Cornwall Constabulary; Dorset Police; Gwent Police; Hertfordshire Constabulary; Humberside Police; Leicestershire Constabulary; Merseyside Police; Metropolitan Police Service; Ministry of Defence Police; Norfolk Constabulary; North Wales Police; North Yorkshire Police; Northamptonshire Police; Northumbria Police; Port of Dover Police; South Yorkshire Police; Staffordshire Police; Suffolk Constabulary; and Warwickshire Police.