New figures have revealed 5% of of the female population in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the past year.
The Office for National Statistics revealed 1,600,000 women and 712,000 men were victims as of March 2024, meaning 2,300,000 people above the age of 16 in England and Wales experienced the abuse.
Police recorded 851,062 domestic abuse crimes and 499,366 ‘incidents’ – with domestic abuse-related crimes representing 15.8% of all offences recorded by the police in the last year.
Of these recorded crimes, 72.5% of the victims were female in the last year – a staggering percentage.
There was a 6.6% decrease of recorded domestic-abuse related crimes compared with 2023.
There was also a slight drop in prosecutions for domestic abuse, falling to 51,183, compared with 51,288 in 2023.
Today, it was announced domestic abusers will face tougher restrictions with the launch of new court orders to keep them away from their victims.
The new domestic abuse protection notices and orders (DAPNs and DAPOs), legislated for by the previous government in 2021, are set to be trialled in parts of England and Wales before being rolled out across the country.
The new orders can be imposed by any court and bring together powers in other protective orders to provide ‘flexible and long-term protection’ for victims of domestic abuse, Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs said.
They are intended to cover all forms of domestic abuse and, unlike some orders that only last for 28 days, will have no time restrictions.
Last year, over one million crimes against women and girls – including domestic abuse, rape, stalking and revenge porn – were recorded in England and Wales, accounting for 20% of all crimes.
If you feel that it’s safe, approaching them gently and considerately may be enough to encourage someone to speak out. Otherwise, reminding them of charities like Women’s Aid and Refuge might help them seek advice.
Ultimately, there are a multitude of ways you can help.
Remember: Support is out there, however you are involved, and you are not alone.
Read more here
And around the world, every 11 minutes a woman or girl is killed in her own home.
The shocking statistics come days after a report from UN Women found the most dangerous place for a woman to be is in her own home.
85,000 women and girls were killed by men in 2023 – 60% of these murders were committed by someone close to the victim.
The numbers are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, UN Women’s deputy executive director, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda said.
‘What the data is telling us is that it is the private and domestic sphere’s of women’s lives, where they should be safest, that so many of them are being exposed to deadly violence,’ she said.
Of the 249 female domestic homicide victims between March 2020 and March 2022, the suspect was male in a staggering 241 cases.
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