Research about Domestic Abuse

What is the definition of domestic violence?

The UK government’s definition of domestic violence is “any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. The abuse can encompass, but is not limited to psychological, physical, sexual, financial, emotional.”

Facts and stats about domestic violence

Official statistics show the amount of domestic violence recorded by the authorities every year. But the problem is much bigger than shown in official statistics, as many victims and children don’t tell anyone about the abuse, and they are not recorded as crimes. That’s why SafeLives also uses data from our Insights database – the largest national database of domestic violence cases in the UK, with more than 35,000 records from 2009 to date.

Top ten facts about domestic abuse in England and Wales  

• Each year around 2.1m people suffer some form of domestic abuse -  1.4 million women (8.5% of the population) and 700,000 men (4.5% of the population)
• Each year more than 100,000 people in the UK are at high and imminent risk of being murdered or seriously injured as a result of domestic abuse
• Women are much more likely than men to be the victims of high risk or severe domestic abuse: 95% of those going to Marac or accessing an Idva service are women
• In 2013-14 the police recorded 887,000 domestic abuse incidents in England and Wales
• Seven women a month are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales 
• 130,000 children live in homes where there is high-risk domestic abuse
• 62% of children living with domestic abuse are directly harmed by the perpetrator of the abuse, in addition to the harm caused by witnessing the abuse of others
• On average victims experience 50 incidents of domestic abuse before getting effective help
• On average high-risk victims live with domestic abuse for 2.6 years before getting help
• Most victims – 85% - see on average 5 professionals in the year before they finally get effective support