If you’re a man and you can’t quite believe the statistics about sexual violence, then go back to the women in your life and ask them. Is it because it hasn’t happened, or they just haven’t told you, says Lucrezia Spagnolo, founder of VESTA, a platform to help survivors of sexual assault. “Don’t take my word for it – speak to them.”

This, say activists, is the nub of the problem. Most victim-survivors don’t report to the police. Stigma, fear and shame hold them back – would they be believed in a ‘she said, he said’ situation? Across the world, rape and sexual violence are notoriously under-reported and the rate of conviction is dismal – in England and Wales more than 99 per cent of rapes reported to the police don’t end in a conviction. By 2024, the government aims to double the number of rape cases that reach court and latest figures have shown a slight increase in the number of convictions.

In the UK, nearly a quarter of women (22.9 per cent) have experienced...