Banning conversion practices: Analysis of experiences of conversion practices from individual responses to the government’s consultation
Updated 25 June 2026
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Disclaimer
This report was commissioned and completed under the previous administration but not published. Owing to delays in publication, the content and language of the report does not reflect current government policy or the latest available evidence. While the Office for Equality and Opportunity has made every effort to ensure the information in this document is accurate, they do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of that information.
Banning conversion therapy consultation 2021 to 2022
Analysis of experiences of conversion practices from individual respondents
June 2026
Office for Equality and Opportunity
Executive summary
Introduction
The previous government consulted on how to ban conversion practices from 29 October 2021 to 4 February 2022. The consultation gathered people’s views on aspects of the proposed policy at that time that would apply to England and Wales, along with their demographic data, and information about any experience of these practices they may have had. In total, 820 individuals reported on their personal experiences of conversion practices as part of the consultation. Analysis of this data complements existing knowledge and evidence about who feel they have experienced conversion practices and what their experiences are.
Main findings
This analysis only reflects the experiences of those who chose to respond to the consultation and is not representative of any wider population.
7% of consultation respondents said they were offered conversion practices, with 3% saying they had undergone them. These proportions are similar to those from the National LGBT Survey 2017, where 5% of respondents said they were offered conversion practices and 2% said they had undergone them.
Demographic profile of respondents experiencing conversion practices
Just over a half (51%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were gay or lesbian (of these 67% were male and 28% were female, the remainder did not specify their sex).
Just under three-quarters (73%) were non-transgender, 24% were transgender.
Just over half (54%) were male, just over one-third (35%) were female.
Nearly half (47%) were Christian, and just over one-third (36%) had ‘no religion’.
Respondents’ most recent experience of conversion practices
Just over two-thirds (68%) of respondents who stated they had experienced conversion practices said that a person from a faith organisation or group had been involved in carrying it out.
Similarly, purported spiritual, religious, or faith-based activities were the most common form of conversion practices reported in the consultation (by 65% of respondents), followed by purported ‘psychoanalytic therapies’ (33%) and purported ‘cognitive-behavioural therapy’ (30%). References to psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioural therapies are used in this context simply to illustrate how the practice may have been described by the person who carried it out, or understood by the victim.[footnote 1]
The majority (83%) of respondents said their most recent experience was carried out when they were aged 11 to 34 years (13% said they were older than this when it happened, and 4% younger).
Around 2 in 5 respondents (39%) experienced conversion practices between 2000 and February 2022.[footnote 2] A similar proportion (40%) had their most recent experience between 1980 and 1999, 17% between 1960 and 1979, and the remaining 3% between 1940 and 1959.
Just under three-quarters (74%) of respondents said their most recent experience of conversion practices was carried out in England, followed by ‘outside the UK’ (17%), Scotland (6%), Northern Ireland (4%), and Wales (3%).
Over two-thirds (68%) said that they felt that their experience of conversion practices was aimed at changing their sexual orientation alone. 13% said they felt it was aimed at changing whether they were transgender or not, and 12% said they felt it was aimed at changing both.
Conclusion
Respondents who had experienced conversion practices were more likely than not to be:
- gay or lesbian (as opposed to any other sexual orientation)
- non-transgender
- male
- living in England (as opposed to another part of or outside the UK)
- part of a white ethnic group
- Christian (as opposed to another faith or ‘no religion’)
The ‘most recent experience’ of these respondents was more likely than not to have:
- been carried out by a faith organisation or group, and involved spiritual, religious or faith-based activities
- happened in England
- happened when they were aged 11 to 34 years (with one-fifth being 15 years or younger)
- happened after 1980
- been aimed at changing their sexual orientation
1. Introduction
A consultation on the previous government’s proposals to ban conversion practices was launched on 29 October 2021 and was open for 14 weeks. It sought to gather views on aspects of the proposed policy including:
- targeting existing physical criminal acts conducted for conversion practice purposes with potential for sentence uplifts
- introducing a new criminal offence
- a package of further civil measures, such as Conversion Practice Protection Orders, new support for victims, restricting promotion, removing profit streams, and strengthening the case for disqualification from holding a senior role in a charity
As part of the consultation, which was open to everyone over the age of 16, all individuals were also asked a range of demographic questions and questions about any personal experiences they may have had of conversion practices. The consultation asked for experiences based on both sexual orientation and/or transgender status.
This report complements the main consultation analysis, but focuses specifically on data from the sub-sample of individual respondents who reported that they had experienced conversion practices.[footnote 3] It builds on our existing knowledge and evidence about who experiences conversion practices and what their experiences are.
In the original consultation document, the previous government described ‘conversion therapy’ as:
an attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or to change them to or from being transgender.
Since the publication of the consultation, terminology has changed from ‘conversion therapy’ to ‘conversion practices’ to avoid conflation with legitimate therapies and to better reflect the fact that conversion acts take a range of different forms. This report reflects this change in language, unless there is a need to refer specifically to ‘conversion therapy’, for example, relating to the exact wording of questions in the consultation.
2. Method / interpreting the findings
2.1 Approach
The consultation asked a range of demographic questions of all individual respondents. It also asked whether they had ever been offered or experienced conversion practices. Those who said ‘yes’ were then asked some closed questions about their most recent experience. These follow-up questions on experiences provided respondents with a set list of specific response options, which were agreed at the time of the consultation, and were informed by available insights and evidence (see Annex A for more details). The questions included:
- ‘Who carried out this conversion therapy?’
- ‘Can you tell us roughly how old you were when this conversion therapy was carried out?’
- ‘Where was this conversion therapy carried out?’
- ‘Was this conversion therapy aimed at changing your sexual orientation or whether you were transgender or not, or both?’
- ‘What form did this conversion therapy take?’
In total, 820 individual respondents to the consultation reported that they had experienced conversion practices. There were 10 respondents who answered ‘No’, ‘Maybe/don’t know’, or ‘Prefer not to say’ when asked if they ever experienced conversion practices, but provided answers to one or more questions about their experience of conversion practices. These respondents have been excluded from this analysis, given there appears to be some degree of uncertainty about their experiences of conversion practices.
Descriptive analysis of the sample of individual respondents who reported that they had experienced conversion practices is presented in this report. A cross-tabulation approach to analysis was taken, except for the analysis which explores which decade respondents’ most recent experience occurred in. The approach for this is described in more detail in Section 3.3.
All relevant data tables are presented in Annexes. Annex B contains results from the consultation. Annex C contains results from the National LGBT Survey 2017. Some totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
2.2 Key definitions
The consultation asked about any personal experiences of conversion ‘therapy’ based on sexual orientation and/ or transgender status. The approach to developing the analytical categories is described below:
Sexual orientation
As part of the consultation, respondents were asked about their sexual orientation, using the same approach as in the 2021 Census for England and Wales. This provided respondents with closed options (straight/ heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual, other sexual orientation, prefer not to say) or the opportunity to enter how they refer to their sexual orientation into a free-text field. For the quantitative analysis, all free-text responses for this question were re-coded as ‘Other sexual orientation’.
Gender identity
Respondents were asked about their gender identity using the latest version of the harmonised data standard for gender identity, which is currently ‘under development’ by the Government Statistical Service (GSS). This question asked respondents whether the gender they identified with was the same as the sex registered at birth. If they selected ‘No’, they could then enter their gender identity into a free text field. These free-text responses were re-coded into 2 categories: ‘Transgender’ and ‘Gender identity different from sex registered at birth but no specific identity given’.
The Transgender category includes respondents who reported that their gender identity was, for example, Trans man, Trans woman, or Non-binary (including other reported identities such as ‘Gender fluid’).
A small number of respondents who answered ‘No’ when asked whether the gender they identified with was the same as the sex registered at birth, did not provide a specific gender identity. Owing to there being a higher degree of uncertainty about how to categorise these respondents’ gender identity, and for the purposes of this analysis, these responses were re-coded as ‘Gender identity different from sex registered at birth but no specific identity given’ and excluded from the quantitative analysis on gender identity. It is important to note that these analytical categories for gender identity were developed prior to the release and analysis of self-identified gender identity data from the 2021 Census for England and Wales in January 2023, and are similar to those used in the Census. A review of census gender identity data by the Office for Statistics Regulation, published in September 2024, found that there were quality issues with the question and data. The GSS are currently developing new harmonised data standards for gender identity.
2.3 Limitations
There are a number of limitations associated with the data from the consultation and the National LGBT Survey 2017. Some of these are the same for both datasets (for example, they are self-selecting samples), others are specific to each. The key limitations associated with the datasets include the following:
Consultation
While the consultation was open to everyone over the age of 16, the dataset only reflects the experiences of those who chose to respond. It is therefore a self-selected sample, collected in different time periods, which is not representative of any wider population.
The consultation is based on respondents’ self-reported experiences of conversion therapy. The consultation defined ‘conversion therapy’ as “an attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or to change them to or from being transgender” which may have led to a much broader interpretation by respondents of the definition of conversion practices than has subsequently been defined in the previous government’s draft Conversion Practices Bill. Asking respondents about their experiences of conversion practice is personal and sensitive. Because this was a one-off consultation exercise it was not practicable to verify the nature of respondents’ reported experiences.
People responded to consultation questions on the basis of having experienced ‘conversion therapy’ rather than ‘conversion practice’. The change in language could have affected how people responded to questions about their experiences.
Analysis by age of respondents or by age at which respondents experienced conversion practice is limited, as only data on age-range was collected via the consultation. This affects the type of age-related analysis which can be done.
The consultation asked respondents who had experienced conversion practices to provide details of their most recent experience, rather than any other, or all experiences. Due to this, the time-periods analysis which estimates when respondents’ most recent experiences conversion practices took place reflects the most recent time-periods. It therefore does not fully capture the entire scale of conversion practices experienced by the population.
National LGBT Survey 2017
The National LGBT Survey 2017, is based on a self-selecting sample of 108,000 respondents aged 16 or more, which may not be representative of the wider population.
The survey is based on respondents’ self-reported experiences of conversion therapy. Similar to the consultation, the survey did not contain a clear definition of conversion therapy, which means it is possible that action such as disagreement and discussion could have been considered by respondents to be conversion therapy.
The survey did not differentiate between respondents who reported having experienced conversion therapy directed at changing sexual orientation, those for whom it was directed at changing transgender identity, and those for whom it was directed at changing both. Nor did it collect any data from respondents on when or where the conversion therapy they experienced took place.
3. Results
The results from the questions on respondents’ experiences of conversion practices are presented below. Some of the questions asked in the consultation had previously been asked in the National LGBT Survey 2017, which gathered information about the experiences of LGBT people in the UK, including conversion practices. Over 108,000 LGBT people responded, and although the survey is a self-selecting sample, it provides the best evidence about the prevalence of conversion practices in the UK (GEO, 2021). The findings from this survey, including data which has not been published before and which feature in this report, are subsequently referred to as the ‘survey’. Where it is possible, the findings from both sources – the previous government’s consultation and the survey – are presented for comparison. In some cases they are not directly comparable because of the way that the results from the survey were analysed, differences in question wording, and the data that were available at the time of writing.
3.1 Overall proportion of respondents who were offered, and received, conversion practices
Similar proportions of consultation and survey respondents were offered and received conversion practices.
Consultation: 7% of the consultation respondents said they were offered conversion practices with 3% saying they had it (Annex B, Tables B.1 and B.2).
Survey: 5% of respondents said they were offered conversion practices and 2% said they had it (Annex C, Table C.1).
3.2 Demographic analysis of respondents who experienced conversion practices
The following analysis describes the characteristics and experiences of the 820 respondents to the consultation and approximately 2,500 respondents to the survey who said they had experienced conversion practices.
What was the sexual orientation of the respondents?
More consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were gay or lesbian compared to other sexual orientation groups.
Consultation: Just over a half (51%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were gay or lesbian (of these, 67% were male and 28% were female, the remainder did not specify their sex), 19% were heterosexual, 15% were bisexual, and 10% had an ‘other sexual orientation’ (Annex B, Table B.3).
Survey: Around 3 in 5 (62%) survey respondents who had experienced conversion practices were gay or lesbian, 21% were bisexual, 10% were ‘other sexual orientation, and 3% were heterosexual (Annex C, Table C.2).
What was the sex of the respondents?
More consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were male compared to female.
Consultation: Just over half (54%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were male, 35% were female with the remaining 11% responding ‘prefer not to say’ (Annex B, Table B.5).
Survey: No comparable data is available from the survey on the sex of all respondents who had experienced conversion practices due to the questions that were asked.[footnote 4] For non-transgender respondents, 60% reported that they were men, whilst 40% reported that they were women (Annex C, Table C.3).[footnote 5] No data is available on the sex registered at birth of transgender respondents.
What was the gender identity of the respondents?
Similar proportions of consultation and survey respondents who had experienced conversion practices were non-transgender. However, the data from the consultation and survey are not directly comparable as they ask about respondents’ gender identity in different ways. The different questions may have affected how people chose to respond for each survey. At the time of the National LGBT Survey, no Government Statistical Service harmonised data standard for gender identity was available.
Consultation: Just under three-quarters (73%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were non-transgender, and 24% were transgender (Annex B, Table B.4). Just over half (54%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were male, and 35% were female (Annex B, Table B.5).
Survey: Over 2 in 5 (44%) survey respondents who had experienced conversion practices reported they were a man, whilst 29% of respondents reported that they were a woman. Another 7% reported that they were a ‘trans woman’, with 5% reported that they were a ‘trans man’ and 11% reported that they were non-binary. Another 4% were responses from people who could not be classified as either non-transgender or transgender (for example, those who did not provide details of their gender identity or selected ‘prefer not to say’). (Annex C, Table C.4).
Where did the respondents live?
The geographical distribution, by country, of respondents who had experienced conversion practices was similar for the consultation and the survey. These responses also reflect the national profile of the UK population.
Consultation: The majority (83%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices lived in England, 7% lived in Scotland, 4% lived in Wales and 3% lived in Northern Ireland. The remaining 4% lived ‘Outside the UK’ (Annex B, Table B.6).
Survey: Survey results were similar to the consultation with the majority (84%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices living in England, 7% living in Scotland, 5% living in Wales and 2% living in Northern Ireland. (Annex C, Table C.5).
How old were the respondents?
Most consultation respondents who experienced conversion practices were aged between 25 and 64 years at the time of taking the survey. For the consultation, we asked about more specific age-range categories.
Consultation: Around three-fifths of respondents who had experienced conversion practices were from each of the following age-ranges: 25 to 34 years (22%), 35 to 44 years (23%), and 45 to 54 years (20%). Smaller proportions were from older age groups: 55 to 64 years (15%), 65 to 74 years (8%), and 75 years or older (2%). 9% of respondents were younger than 25 years: 18 to 24 years (7%), and 16 to 17 years (2%) (Annex B, Table B.7).
Survey: Around 2 in 5 respondents who had experienced conversion practices were younger than 25 years: 18 to 24 years (30%), and 16 to 17 years (9%). Around half of all respondents were from the following age-groups: 25 to 34 years (21%), 35 to 44 years (15%), and 45 to 54 years (14%). Smaller proportions were from older age-groups: 55 to 64 years (7%), 65 or older years (4%). (Annex C, Table C.6). Younger people are over-represented in the National LGBT Survey 2017 dataset compared to the national population statistics at the time (GEO, 2021).
What ethnic group did the respondents belong to?
The majority of consultation and survey respondents who experienced conversion practices were white.
Consultation: The majority (85%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices belonged to the white ethnic group, followed by mixed or multiple ethnic groups and the Asian or Asian British group (both 3%), the Black, Black British, Caribbean or African group, and other ethnic group (both 2%) (Annex B, Table B.8).
Survey: Similar to the consultation, the majority (82%) of survey respondents who had experienced conversion practices belonged to the white ethnic group, followed by mixed or multiple ethnic groups (6%), the Asian or Asian British group (5%), the black, black British, Caribbean or African group (4%), and other ethnic group (3%) (Annex C, Table C.7).
What faith / religious group did the respondents belong to?
Higher proportions of respondents to the consultation and survey who experienced conversion practices reported that they were Christian or that they had ‘no religion’.
Consultation: Nearly half (47%) of consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices were Christian, and just over one-third (36%) had ‘no religion’. The next most common single faith/ religious group was Muslim (3%) (Annex B, Table B.9).
Survey: Nearly half (47%) of survey respondents who had experienced conversion practices had ‘no religion’, and just under one-third (30%) were Christian. The next most common single faith/ religious group was Muslim (5%). Respondents were also Buddhist, Jewish, and Pagan (all 2%), and Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic, and Spiritualist (all 1%). A small number of respondents were Humanist, Sikh, and Wiccan (under 1%) (Annex C, Table C.8).[footnote 6]
3.3 Respondents’ most recent experience of conversion practices
This section describes the most recent experience of conversion practices reported by individual respondents to the consultation and the survey.
Who carried out the conversion practices?
Respondents were able to select more than one response to a closed question on who had carried out the conversion practices. Faith organisations were found to be the largest group to have conducted conversion practices in both the consultation and the survey.
Consultation: Just over two-thirds (68%) of consultation respondents said their most recent experience of conversion practices had been carried out by a person from a faith organisation or group. This was followed by a ‘counsellor’ (18%), a parent, guardian or other family member (16%), and ‘a person from my community’ (11%). None of the other response options were over 10% (Annex B, Table B.10).
Survey: Just over half (51%) of survey respondents said that they had conversion practices conducted by faith organisations. This was followed by healthcare providers or medical professionals (19%), a parent, guardian, or other family member (16%), any other individual or organisation not listed (14%), or a ‘person from my community’ (9%). 13% reported any other individual/ organisation, and 11% preferred not to say (Annex C, Table C.9).
While the consultation asked the same question as the survey, it provided a greater range of medical professionals as response options. As a result, the above percentages are not directly comparable.
How old were respondents when they experienced conversion practices?
The majority of consultation respondents were aged 11 to 34 years when they had their most recent experience of conversion practices (83%).
Consultation: Just over one-third (34%) of consultation respondents said they had their most recent experience aged 18 to 24 years, followed by 25 to 34 years (18%), 11 to 15 years (16%), and then 16 to 17 years (15%). 4% of respondents said they had their most recent experience when they were under 10 years old (Annex B, Table B.11).
Survey: No data is available from the survey on the age at which respondents had experienced conversion practices.
When did the conversion practices take place?
Respondents were not asked the year in which they experienced conversion practice – instead they were asked about how old they were when they had their most recent experience of conversion practice, using age-ranges. To estimate when conversion practices took place, we estimated the year that the respondent reported the most recent conversion practice may have taken place before categorising them into 20-year age bands.[footnote 7] This provides a consistent indication that respondents report that conversion practices are taking place currently, as well as in the past.
Consultation: Around 2 in 5 respondents (39%) experienced conversion practices from 2000 to February 2022. A higher proportion (40%) had their most recent experience between 1980 and 1999, 17% between 1960 and 1979, and the remaining 3% between 1940 and 1959 (Annex B, Table B.12).
Survey: No data is available from the survey about when respondents’ had experienced conversion practices.
Where were the conversion practices carried out?
Respondents were able to select more than one response to a closed question on where the conversion practices were carried out. The majority of consultation and survey respondents who said they had experienced conversion practices said that it had happened in England.
Consultation: Just under three-quarters (74%) of consultation respondents said their most recent experience of conversion practices was carried out in England, followed by ‘outside the UK’ (17%), Scotland (6%), Northern Ireland (4%), and Wales (3%) (Annex B, Table B.13).
These figures largely correspond with where the respondents lived: England (83%), Scotland (7%), Wales (4%) and Northern Ireland (3%). The exceptions were the higher proportion of respondents who lived in England than had conversion practices there, and the lower proportion of respondents who lived outside the UK (4%) than had conversion practices there.
Of those respondents who had conversion practices outside the UK, 70% were from England, with the remainder from the rest of the UK, or outside the UK.
Survey: No data is available from the survey on where respondents had experienced conversion practices.
What was the conversion practice aimed at changing?
Most consultation respondents who had experienced conversion practices said the experience was aimed at changing their sexual orientation alone.
Consultation: Over two-thirds (68%) of consultation respondents said that they felt the conversion practices were aimed at changing their sexual orientation alone. 13% said they felt it was aimed at changing whether they were transgender or not, and 12% said they felt it was aimed at changing both (Annex B, Table B.14).
Survey: No data is available from the survey on whether the conversion practices experienced by respondents were aimed at changing sexual orientation, gender identity or both.
What form did the conversion practices take?
When consultation respondents were asked about what form their experience of conversion practice took, they had the option to select at least one set category from a list. These categories were agreed at the time of the consultation, and were informed by the then available insights and evidence. The most common forms reported involved ‘purported spiritual, religious, or faith-based activities’, followed by purported ‘psychoanalytic therapies’ and purported ‘cognitive-behavioural therapy’.
Consultation: Just under two-thirds (65%) of consultation respondents said the conversion practices had included ‘spiritual, religious or faith-based activities’. Nearly twice as many as the next 2 most frequently selected options: ‘psychoanalytic therapy’ (33%) and ‘cognitive-behavioural therapy’ (30%) (Annex B, Table B.15).
Conversion practices took the form of ‘mentoring’ for just under a quarter of respondents (24%), ‘group-based activity (such as support groups)’ for 20% and ‘physical approaches (such as medical intervention or physical assault)’ for 14%.
21% said that the conversion practices had used another approach or activity. However we have no further details on what form this was.
Survey: No data is available from the survey on the specific form which the conversion practices took for respondents.
4. Conclusion
This report has described the characteristics and experiences of those respondents to the previous government’s consultation in 2021 to 2022 who said they had had personal experience of conversion practices, and compared this with the survey
It found that these respondents were more likely than not to be:
- gay or lesbian (as opposed to any other sexual orientation)
- non-transgender
- male
- living in England (as opposed to another part of the UK)
- part of a white ethnic group
- Christian (as opposed to another religion, or ‘no religion’)
These respondents’ most recent experience was more likely than not to have:
- been carried out by a faith organisation or group, and involved spiritual, religious or faith-based activities
- happened in England
- happened when they were aged 11 to 34 years (with 1 in 5 being aged 15 years or younger)
- happened after 1980
- been aimed at changing their sexual orientation
References
Alma Economics (2025) Conversion practices consultation 2021-22: Analysis of responses. Office for Equality and Opportunity. Cabinet Office.
Government Equalities Office (2018) ‘National LGBT Survey: Research report’. Government Equalities Office.
Government Equalities Office (2021) The prevalence of conversion therapy in the UK. Government Equalities Office.
Annex A. Consultation questions and responses about respondents’ experiences of conversion practice
Note: The consultation document originally described ‘conversion therapy’ as “an attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or to change them to or from being transgender”. Since the publication of the consultation in 2021 to 2022, the government has changed its terminology from ‘conversion therapy’ to ‘conversion practices’ to avoid conflation with legitimate therapies and to better reflect the fact that conversion acts take a range of different forms.
The text in this annex replicates the exact wording of questions in the consultation, rather than changes to terminology.
Questions about respondents’ experiences of conversion therapy
The following sections are on respondents’ experiences of conversion therapy. They will be used to identify those responses from people with specific experience of conversion therapy, and whether that informs their responses. These questions will be asked to individuals only.
Question 1. A wide range of acts can be committed in the name of conversion therapy. This includes anything from acts of physical violence – for example, assault and rape – to talking interventions and therapies. Have you ever been offered conversion therapy?
- Yes
- No
- Maybe/ Don’t know
- Prefer not to say
Question 2. Have you ever had conversion therapy?
- Yes
- No
- Maybe/ Don’t know
- Prefer not to say
If you have had more than one experience of conversion therapy please focus on your most recent.
Question 3. Who carried out this conversion therapy?
- Person from a faith organisation or group
- Parent, guardian or other family member
- Counsellor
- Psychiatrist
- Psychologist
- Psychotherapist
- Person from my community
- Other medical professional
- Other individual excluding medical professional
- Prefer not to say
Question 4. Can you tell us roughly how old you were when this conversion therapy was carried out?
- Under 10 years
- 11 to 15 years
- 16 to 17 years
- 18 to 24 years
- 25 to 34 years
- 35 to 44 years
- 45 to 54 years
- 55 to 64 years
- 65 to 74 years
- 75 years or older
Question 5. Where was this conversion therapy carried out?
- England
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
- Outside the UK
- Prefer not to say
Question 6. Was this conversion therapy aimed at changing your sexual orientation or whether you were transgender or not, or both?
- Sexual orientation
- Transgender
- Both sexual orientation and transgender
- Prefer not to say
Question 7. What form did this conversion therapy take?
- Cognitive-behavioural therapy (such as identifying behavioural triggers)
- Psychoanalytic therapies (such as exploring family trauma)
- Group based activity (such as support groups)
- Mentoring (such as buddying)
- Family therapy (involving one or more family members)
- Spiritual, religious or faith based activities (such as prayer healing)
- Aversion therapy (such as electric shock therapy)
- Physical approaches (such as medical intervention or physical assault)
- Other approach or activity
- Prefer not to say
Annex B. Consultation data tables
Table B.1: Have you ever been offered conversion therapy?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| No | 81% |
| Yes | 7% |
| Maybe/ don’t know | 4% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% |
| Not answered | 4% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 27,930 |
Respondents: All individual responses.
Table B.2: Have you ever had conversion therapy?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| No | 87% |
| Yes | 3% |
| Maybe/ don’t know | 2% |
| Prefer not to say | 4% |
| Not answered | 4% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 27,930 |
Respondents: All individual responses
Table B.3: Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Straight/ heterosexual | 19% |
| Gay or lesbian | 51% |
| Bisexual | 15% |
| Other sexual orientation | 10% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.4: Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth? If no, enter your gender identity
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Non-transgender | 73% |
| Transgender | 24% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.5: What is your sex?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Female | 35% |
| Male | 54% |
| Prefer not to say | 11% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.6: Where do you live?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| England | 83% |
| Northern Ireland | 3% |
| Scotland | 7% |
| Wales | 4% |
| Outside the UK | 4% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.7: How old are you?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 16 to 17 years | 2% |
| 18 to 24 years | 7% |
| 25 to 34 years | 22% |
| 35 to 44 years | 23% |
| 45 to 54 years | 20% |
| 55 to 64 years | 15% |
| 65 to 74 years | 8% |
| 75 years or older | 2% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.8: What is your ethnic group? (Choose one option that best describes your ethnic group or background)
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| White | 85% |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 3% |
| Asian or Asian British | 3% |
| Black, black British, Caribbean or African | 2% |
| Other ethnic group | 2% |
| Prefer not to say | 4% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.9: What is your religion?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| No religion | 36% |
| Christian (including church of england, catholic, protestant and all other christian denominations) | 47% |
| Buddhist | <1% |
| Hindu | <1% |
| Jewish | 1% |
| Muslim | 3% |
| Sikh | <1% |
| Any other religion | 5% |
| Prefer not to say | 6% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.10: Who carried out this conversion therapy? (Please tick all that apply)
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Person from a faith organisation or group | 68% |
| Parent, guardian or other family member | 16% |
| Person from my community | 11% |
| Counsellor | 18% |
| Psychiatrist | 9% |
| Psychologist | 8% |
| Psychotherapist | 7% |
| Other medical professional | 5% |
| Other individual excluding medical professional | 6% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Respondents were allowed to choose more than one response.
Table B.11: Can you tell us roughly how old you were when this conversion therapy was carried out?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Under 10 years | 4% |
| 11 to 15 years | 16% |
| 16 to 17 years | 15% |
| 18 to 24 years | 34% |
| 25 to 34 years | 18% |
| 35 to 44 years | 9% |
| 45 to 54 years | 3% |
| 55 to 64 years | 1% |
| 65 to 74 years | Less than 1% |
| 75 years or older | Less than 1% |
| Missing | Less than 1% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.12: When were respondents’ most recent experience of conversion therapy?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2000 to 2021/22* | 39% |
| 1980 to 1999 | 40% |
| 1960 to 1979 | 17% |
| Up to 1959 | 3% |
| Missing | <1% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy. *Data was collected on experiences of conversion practices until the consultation closed in February 2022.
Table B.13: Where was this conversion therapy carried out? (Please tick all that apply)
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| England | 74% |
| Northern Ireland | 4% |
| Scotland | 6% |
| Wales | 3% |
| Outside the UK | 17% |
| Prefer not to say | 1% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.14: Was this conversion therapy aimed at changing your sexual orientation, or whether you were transgender or not, or both?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Sexual orientation | 68% |
| Transgender | 13% |
| Both sexual orientation and transgender | 12% |
| Prefer not to say | 8% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Table B.15: What form did this conversion therapy take? (Please tick all that apply)
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Cognitive-behavioural therapy (such as identifying behavioural triggers) | 30% |
| Psychoanalytic therapies (such as exploring family trauma) | 33% |
| Group based activity (such as support groups) | 20% |
| Mentoring (such as buddying) | 24% |
| Family therapy (involving one or more family members) | 12% |
| Spiritual, religious or faith based activities (such as prayer healing) | 65% |
| Aversion therapy (such as electric shock therapy) | 7% |
| Physical approaches (such as medical intervention or physical assault) | 14% |
| Other approach or activity | 21% |
| Prefer not to say | 2% |
| All respondents | 820 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion therapy
Annex C. National LGBT Survey 2017 data tables
Table C.1: Have you ever had or been offered conversion therapy?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Had it | 2% |
| Offered it | 5% |
| Neither had it or offered it | 91% |
| Don’t know if had or offered | 1% |
| Prefer not to say/ Don’t know | <1% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 108,100 |
Respondents: All individual responses
Table C.2: Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Heterosexual | 3% |
| Gay or lesbian | 62% |
| Bisexual | 21% |
| Other sexual orientation | 10% |
| Prefer not to say/ Don’t know | 3% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 2,640 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices. Please note, that non-transgender heterosexual respondents were removed.
Table C.3: What was your sex assigned at birth?
| Response | Percentage |
| Woman | 40% |
| Man | 60% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 1,930 |
Respondents: All non-transgender individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices. Note: ‘Woman’ has been used to refer to all self-identified women and girls, where they indicated that they were assigned female at birth. ‘Man’ has been used to refer to all self-identified men and boys, where they indicated that they were assigned male at birth.
Table C.4: Gender identity
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Woman | 29% |
| Man | 44% |
| Trans woman | 7% |
| Trans man | 5% |
| Non-binary | 11% |
| Other | 2% |
| Prefer not to say/ Don’t know | 2% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 2,640 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices. Note: Data on gender identity was derived from 2 questions including: Q2. This question is about your gender identity. Do you identify as woman/girl, man/boy, Transwoman/Transgirl, Transman/Transboy, Non-binary/ Genderqueer/ Agender/ Gender fluid? Q3 and Q4. What was your assigned sex at birth? ‘Woman’ has been used to refer to all self-identified women and girls, where they indicated that they were assigned female at birth. ‘Man’ has been used to refer to all self-identified men and boys, where they indicated that they were assigned male at birth. Both ‘woman’ and ‘man’ are non-transgender categories.
Table C.5: Where do you live?
| Region | Percentage |
|---|---|
| England | 84% |
| Northern Ireland | 2% |
| Scotland | 7% |
| Wales | 5% |
| Prefer not to say | 2% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 2,640 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices
Table C.6: How old are you?
| Age range | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 16 to 17 years | 9% |
| 18 to 24 years | 30% |
| 25 to 34 years | 21% |
| 35 to 44 years | 15% |
| 45 to 54 years | 14% |
| 55 to 64 years | 7% |
| 65 or older | 4% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 2,640 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices
Table C.7: What is your ethnic group? (Choose one option that best describes your ethnic group or background)
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| White | 82% |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 6% |
| Asian or Asian British | 5% |
| Black, black British, Caribbean or African | 4% |
| Other ethnic group | 3% |
| Prefer not to say | 1% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 2,640 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices
Table C.8: What is your religion?
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| No religion | 47% |
| Christian (including Church of England, Catholic, Protestant and all other Christian denominations) | 30% |
| Muslim | 5% |
| Buddhist | 2% |
| Jewish | 2% |
| Pagan | 2% |
| Hindu | 1% |
| Atheist | 1% |
| Agnostic | 1% |
| Spiritualist | 1% |
| Humanist | Less than 1% |
| Sikh | Less than 1% |
| Wiccan | Less than 1% |
| Other | 4% |
| Prefer not to say | 4% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 2,640 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices. x = Cell suppressed due to containing 5 or fewer respondents. For questions requiring a single response, the next lowest value is also suppressed to prevent disclosure.
Table C.9: Who carried out this conversion therapy? (Please tick all that apply)
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Faith organisation or group | 51% |
| Healthcare provider or medical professional | 19% |
| Parent, guardian or other family member | 16% |
| Person from my community | 9% |
| Any other individual or organisation not listed above | 14% |
| Prefer not to say | 11% |
| All respondents (rounded) | 2,640 |
Respondents: All individual responses who said they had experienced conversion practices. Source: published in the National LGBT Survey: research report: Annex 5 - Safety. Q145,
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To avoid conflating legitimate psychoanalytic or cognitive behavioural therapies with conversion practices, or discrediting legitimate practitioners of these important mental health services, the word ‘purported’ is used here and in equivalent contexts throughout this document. ↩
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The consultation closed in February 2022. This represents the latest date at which respondents could have reported having experienced conversion practices. ↩
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An independent report which analyses the responses to the consultation is also available: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-conversion-therapy#download-the-full-outcome ↩
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Survey respondents were asked their gender identity. For those who answered ‘man’ or ‘women’ only, a subsequent question was asked on their assigned sex at birth. ↩
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‘Woman’ has been used to refer to all self-identified women and girls, where they indicated that they were registered female at birth. ‘Man’ has been used to refer to all self-identified men and boys, where they indicated that they were registered male at birth. ↩
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Some religion/belief categories in the National LGBT Survey 2017 have been created from responses to a free-text ‘other’ option when respondents’ religion was not listed. ↩
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To estimate when conversion practices took place, the youngest age that respondents could have had their most recent experience was subtracted from the oldest age they are now. So, for example, if a respondent said they were aged 45 to 54, and they’d had their most recent experience between 35 to 44 years, 35 was subtracted from 54. This provided the maximum number of years since they could have had their most recent experience, which was then subtracted from 2021 (the first year of the consultation), giving the earliest date that respondents could have had their most recent experience. ↩