Invisible in the Numbers: The Data Gap on Torture Survivors in the UK
By Malak Khalil, Advocacy and Survivor Participation Fellow
Despite estimates that the United Kingdom is home to tens of thousands of torture survivors, there is still no coherent dataset — or even an authoritative estimate — of how many people in the UK have experienced torture. This gap persists even though international evidence suggests that torture is common among forcibly displaced populations. A major systematic review found that between 27% and 44% of refugees and asylum seekers in high-income countries such as the UK are likely to have survived torture. Yet in the UK, no system reliably captures this reality.
What we do have is fragmented information scattered across government departments, health services, NGOs, and academic studies, each using different definitions and collection methods. Home Office data, for instance, show that 110,051 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending September 2025..Of those, 58,148 people were granted refugee protection or other leave at initial decision. But none of these figures identify how many applicants are survivors of torture. Without reliable data, it is impossible to effectively plan services or shape policy that will uphold survivors’ rights.
Crucially, the individuals most in need of protection are often the least likely to appear in official records, and it appears that large groups of survivors fall entirely between the cracks. For example, undocumented migrants may fear detention or removal and therefore avoid contact with authorities or even healthcare providers.
Meanwhile, UK-based survivors of cruel practices, including honour-based violence, coercive control, or gang-related abuse, often meet international criteria for torture or ill-treatment, yet the UK rarely classifies them as such. Refugees resettled through government schemes such as the Syrian Resettlement Programme may include torture survivors who are never assessed through the asylum system, leaving them invisible in national statistics. And as research shows, people fleeing countries with endemic police or military abuse may distrust any authority and avoid asylum processes entirely.
Numbers will never tell the whole story. Qualitative evidence, such as testimonies, case studies, and survivor voices, remains essential. Organisations such as Freedom from Torture, Medical Justice, and the Helen Bamber Foundation offer vital insights into lived experience, while research such as REDRESS’s Whose Justice? report demonstrates the systemic barriers survivors face in seeking redress. But qualitative narratives are most powerful when paired with meaningful quantitative evidence that can influence government planning and political will.
Other countries offer possible models. In the United States, a large study by the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs collected multi-year data from 9,025 survivors, recording demographics, torture methods, mental health diagnoses, and long-term outcomes. In Denmark, a study of newly arrived refugees in Aarhus (2017–2019) found that 13.9% reported experiencing torture, where previous national estimates ranged between 5% and 35%. Although these studies remain limited, they do help to estimate the numbers of survivors of torture in those countries.
As the UK approaches UN scrutinityaround its human rights commitments, including the upcoming review under the UN Convention against Torture, its bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, and renewed political debates about how the European Convention on Human Rights should apply in the UK, the absence of reliable data prevents a full assessment of how survivors in the UK might be impacted.
How can the UK address a problem it cannot measure? Ensuring consistent, harmonised data collection across government and civil society should be a matter of urgent political priority. Only then can we begin to see the true scale of survivors’ needs and build a system capable of responding to them with the dignity and protection they deserve.