Incidents of domestic abuse, mostly involving violent attacks on women, make up one in 10 crimes recorded by the police and account for one-third of all reported violent crimes, according to the latest Office for National Statistics research.

In the year to March, 1.2 million women and 651,000 men were victims of domestic abuse, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The overwhelming majority of incidents (78%) involved violent attacks.

The ONS figures confirm that domestic murders are overwhelmingly perpetrated by men against women – labelled by some women’s campaigners as femicide.

The ONS said there were 432 domestic homicides recorded by police between April 2012 and March 2015, of which 315 victims (73%) were women and 117 were men.

Domestic homicides represent a third of all murders in England and Wales. Overall, two-thirds of all murder victims are male.

Among women murdered by a partner or ex-partner, 97% were killed by a man, while among male domestic homicide victims only a third were killed by a woman.

The ONS figures also reveal that domestic abuse is most common in the West Midlands, at a rate of 7.33 cases per 100 adults, and Wales, at 7.07, and lowest in London, at 4.57. The highest rates by police force area are in Suffolk and Cleveland, and the lowest in Surrey and London.

“An estimated 1.8 million adults aged 16 to 59 experienced domestic abuse in the last year, equating to a prevalence rate of six in 100 adults,” the ONS said.

“Women were more likely to say they have experienced domestic abuse than men. However, the difference between the number of male and female victims is at its lowest compared with previous years.

“The trend in the prevalence of domestic abuse has remained fairly stable since the year ending March 2009, but is at its lowest since the year ending March 2005.”

It said a large proportion of domestic abuse-related incidents were reported to and recorded by the police – 1.03m of the 1.8m – and after investigations the police concluded in 41% of these cases (421,000) that a domestic abuse-related criminal offence had been committed.

A decision to charge was made in 70% of domestic abuse-related cases referred by police to the Crown Prosecution Service. Convictions were secured in three-quarters of domestic abuse-related prosecutions.

In 68% of the domestic abuse cases referred to the CPS, the defendant pleaded guilty, so most of the cases recorded as successful outcomes were due to guilty pleas (91%).



“It is harrowing to learn that last year, nearly 2 million adults experienced domestic abuse, including one in eight women aged 16 to 19,” said Lucy Hastings, of the charity Victim Support. “That the prevalence is so high among this age group demonstrates the importance of high-quality sex and relationships education being available to equip young people with the tools they need to understand healthy relationships, make safe choices and know how to seek advice and support.”

Louisa Rolfe, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on domestic abuse, said: “The better our data, the better we understand domestic abuse as a crime and the more we can do to support victims and prevent harm, which is what really matters.

“However, this is only the first phase of a wider project and caution must be taken when interpreting the data or trying to make direct comparisons across different organisations, methodologies and points in time. For now, it should be used to stimulate thought rather than draw conclusions.”

She said the statistics “do not currently represent the extent of our commitment to tackling domestic abuse and the scale of the challenge we face”, adding: “It is still far too acceptable in society.

“Reports to the police are continuing to rise, and the gap between experienced crime and recorded crime is narrowing. It is good to see more victims having the confidence to come forward and start to take back control from those who seek to control and intimidate them. Domestic abuse is a serious crime and never the fault of the victim. We are here to help.”