Domestic abuse victim characteristics, England and Wales: year ending March 2020

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending March 2020:

• an estimated 7.3% of women (1.6 million) and 3.6% of men (757,000) experienced domestic abuse in the last year

• women aged 16 to 19 years were more likely to be victims of any domestic abuse in the last year than women aged 25 years and over

• adults who were separated or divorced were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse compared with those who were married or civil partnered, cohabiting, single or widowed

Of crimes recorded by the police:

• in the year ending March 2020, the victim was female in 74% of domestic abuse-related crimes

• between the year ending March 2017 and the year ending March 2019, 77% of victims of domestic homicide were female compared with 13% of victims of non-domestic homicide

Domestic abuse is often a hidden crime that is not reported to the police. Therefore, data held by the police can only provide a partial picture of the actual level of domestic abuse experienced. Many cases will not enter the criminal justice process as they are not reported to the police.

One of the strengths of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is that it covers many crimes that are not reported to the police. Domestic abuse measured by the CSEW combines non-sexual abuse, sexual assault and stalking. Information is collected on whether these types of abuse were carried out by a partner (including a former partner) and/or a family member other than a partner (father or mother, step-father or mother or other relative). This definition broadly matches the government definition of domestic violence and abuse which can be found in the Glossary.

The Home Office collects data on the number of domestic abuse-related incidents and the number of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police. Domestic abuse-related incidents include those reports where, after initial investigation, the police have concluded that no notifiable crime was committed¹. Incidents of domestic abuse that result in a crime being recorded by the police are included in the data on domestic abuse-related crimes.

For more information on how domestic abuse is measured within the CSEW and by the police, see Data sources and quality.

This publication is largely unaffected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as it mainly relates to the period prior to the lockdown. Further information on the impact of the pandemic on the CSEW and police recorded crime data can be found in Data sources and quality. Commentary discussing domestic abuse during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be found in Domestic abuse during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Other commentary discussing domestic abuse in England and Wales can be found in the Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview.

Notes for: Understanding domestic abuse

1. An example of a domestic abuse incident that does not amount to a crime would be two family members having a loud argument, a third party calls the police, the police attend and calm the situation down, but no crime has taken place.

For the year ending March 2020, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that 1.6 million women and 757,000 men aged 16 to 74¹ years experienced domestic abuse in the last year (Appendix Table 2). This is a prevalence rate of approximately 7 in 100 women and 4 in 100 men (Figure 1).

Women were significantly more likely than men to be victims of each type of abuse, with the exception of sexual assault by a family member where, although higher, the difference was not significant.

The prevalence of domestic abuse experienced by men and women aged 16 to 59 years and 16 to 74 years has not changed significantly in the year ending March 2020, compared with the previous year.

When looking at longer-term trends, the prevalence of domestic abuse experienced by men and women aged 16 to 59 years in the year ending March 2020 is significantly lower than reported in the year ending March 2005 (Figure 2). For example, 4.0% of men and 8.1% of women aged 16 to 59 years had experienced domestic abuse within the last year in the year ending March 2020, compared with 6.5% of men and 11.1% of women in the year ending March 2005.

Data supplied from 28 police forces^2,3 showed the victim was female in just under three-quarters (74%) of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police in the year ending March 2020. This proportion was similar for the majority of offence categories. For domestic abuse-related sexual offences, the proportion of victims that were female was even higher, at 94% (Figure 3).

Over half (53%) of violence against the person offences experienced by female victims were flagged as domestic abuse-related. In contrast, under a quarter (23%) experienced by males were flagged as domestic abuse-related⁴ (Appendix Table 12).

Notes for: Sex

1. The age range for respondents eligible for the self-completion module was expanded in April 2017, changing from adults aged 16 to 59 years to adults aged 16 to 74 years. This publication reports primarily on those aged 16 to 74 years, for which we currently have three years of data. Where analysis requires more than the last three years of data we have reported using the 16 to 59 years age range. Data for both 16 to 59 years and 16 to 74 years are provided separately within the Domestic abuse prevalence and victim characteristics – Appendix Tables.

2. Domestic abuse-related crimes have been analysed using data from the Home Office Data Hub. This is an improved record-level data collection system designed to streamline the process by which forces submit data. Migration of forces to the Data Hub is ongoing.

3. Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire, British Transport Police, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cleveland, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Durham, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police, Norfolk, North Wales, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, South Wales, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Thames Valley, West Yorkshire and Wiltshire.

4. The analysis may not be representative of all forces in England and Wales. The proportion of violence against the person offences that were flagged as domestic abuse-related was 41% for these 28 forces, slightly higher than all forces (35%).

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending March 2020 showed that women aged 16 to 19 years were significantly more likely to be victims of any domestic abuse in the last year than women aged 25 years and over (Figure 4). For men, there were few significant differences by age, however, those aged 55 to 74 years were less likely to be victims of domestic abuse in the last year than those in most other age groups.

Data supplied from 28 police forces^1,2 showed that the proportion of police recorded violence against the person offences flagged as domestic abuse tended to decline by age for females but increase by age for males (Figure 5).

Notes for: Age

1. This is an improved record-level data collection system designed to streamline the process by which forces submit data. Migration of forces to the Data Hub is ongoing.

2. Avon and Somerset, Bedfordshire, British Transport Police, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cleveland, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Durham, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police, Norfolk, North Wales, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, South Wales, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Thames Valley, West Yorkshire and Wiltshire.

For the year ending March 2020, the Crime Survey of England and Wales showed that those in the Mixed ethnic group were significantly more likely to experience domestic abuse within the last year than those in the Black or Asian ethnic groups (Figure 6).

In the White ethnic group, women were significantly more likely than men to have experienced domestic abuse in the last year (7.7% of women, compared with 3.6% of men; Appendix Table 6).

For partner abuse, those in the White and Mixed ethnic groups were significantly more likely to be victims than those in the Asian ethnic group. For family abuse, those in the White and Mixed ethnic groups were significantly more likely to be victims than those in the Black ethnic group.

Notes for: Ethnicity

1. Caution should be taken when using these data as some of the categories are based on a small number of responses.

For the year ending March 2020, the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that adults aged 16 to 74 years who were separated or divorced were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse than those who were married or civil partnered, cohabiting, single or widowed¹.

Notes for: Marital status

1. Marital status may have changed as a result of the abuse.

For the year ending March 2020, the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that men and women aged 16 to 74 years with a disability¹ were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse in the last year than those without (Figure 8).

Notes for: Disability

1. The definition of disability used is consistent with the core definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010. A person is considered to have a disability if they have a long-standing illness, disability or impairment which causes difficulty with day-to-day activities.

For the year ending March 2020, the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that, of adults aged 16 to 74 years, those who were unemployed were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse within the last year than those who were employed or economically inactive (Figure 9; Appendix Table 6)¹.

Figure 10 shows that of adults aged 16 to 74 years, for each occupation type except Never worked and long-term unemployed, women were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse than men. This difference was greatest for full-time students, where 10.5% of women had experienced domestic abuse in the last year, compared with 4.8% of men. It is likely that some of the differences seen by occupation type are also linked to age.

Notes for: Employment status and occupation

1. Employment status and occupation may have changed as a result of the abuse.

The year ending March 2020 Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that, of men and women aged 16 to 74 years, those who lived in a single-parent household were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse in the last year than those living in a no-children household or a household with other adults and children (Figure 11 and Appendix Table 7)¹.

Notes for: Household structure

1. Household structure may have changed as a result of the abuse.

The year ending March 2020 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) showed that, of adults aged 16 to 74 years, there were no significant differences in the likelihood of being a victim of domestic abuse between those who live in urban and rural areas (Appendix Table 7)¹. This differs from the year ending March 2019 which showed those who lived in urban areas were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse in the last year (6.0%) than those who lived in rural areas (4.2%).

Women were more likely to be victims of domestic abuse within the last year compared with men for all area types². This pattern was largest for Hard-pressed living, where 9.7% of women were victims of domestic abuse in the last year, compared with 4.7% of men (Figure 12).

Looking at offences recorded by the police, Figure 13 shows that, like the year ending March 2019, the highest rates of both domestic abuse-related crimes and violence against the person domestic abuse-related crimes were recorded in the North East region (with a rate of 19 per 1,000 population and 14 per 1,000 population; respectively). The lowest rates were recorded in London (with a rate of 10 per 1,000 population for all domestic abuse-related crimes and 8 per 1,000 population for violence against the person domestic-abuse related offences). Although this could reflect differences in the rates of domestic abuse across regions, it could also reflect regional differences in the reporting of domestic abuse to the police and how the police subsequently record these offences.

Notes for: Area

1. Area may have changed as a result of the abuse.

2. Information on the different area types can be found in the Output Area section of the 2011 residential-based area classifications.

Sex

Data from the Home Office Homicide Index for the year ending March 2017 to the year ending March 2019 show that over three-quarters of victims of domestic homicide were female (77% or 274 victims). This contrasts with non-domestic homicides where the majority of victims over the same time period were male (87% or 786 victims).

Table 1 shows that of the 274 female victims of domestic homicide, the suspect¹ was male in the majority of cases (263; 96%). Of the 83 male victims of domestic homicide, the suspect was female in 39 cases, and male in 44 cases.

Data on the number of domestic homicides by sex can be broken down by police force area but there is considerable volatility in these numbers over time because of the relatively low volumes involved. See Appendix Table 21 for more information.

Age

Analysis of data from the Homicide Index for the year ending March 2017 to the year ending March 2019 showed that the average age of a domestic homicide victim was 46 years. The average age of female domestic homicide victims was 45 years, and the average age of male domestic homicide victims was 48 years (Appendix Table 22).

Figure 14 shows that the highest proportion of domestic homicide victims fell within the 25- to 34-year age category (22%), whereas the highest proportion of non-domestic homicide victims fell within the 16- to 24-year age category (25%). A larger proportion of domestic homicide victims were aged 65 years and over (18%) compared with non-domestic homicide victims (7%). Similarly, a smaller proportion of domestic homicide victims were aged 16 to 24 years (9%) compared with non-domestic homicide victims (25%).

Relationship to suspect

Table 2 presents data from the Homicide Index between the year ending March 2017 and the year ending March 2019. It shows that, of the 274 female domestic homicide victims, the suspect was a partner or ex-partner in 222 (or 81%) of cases. Of the 83 male domestic homicide victims, the suspect was a partner or ex-partner in 38 (or 46%) of cases.

Notes for: Domestic homicide

1. A suspect in a homicide case is defined as either: a person who has been arrested in respect of an offence initially classified as homicide and charged with homicide, including those who were subsequently convicted or a person who is suspected by the police of having committed the offence but is known to have died or committed suicide prior to arrest or being charged.

2. Family members include parents, sons and / or daughters, siblings or other relatives.

Controlling or coercive behaviour

Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape, and regulating their everyday behaviour. Coercive behaviour is a continuing act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish or frighten their victim.

Domestic abuse

Domestic abuse is not limited to physical violence. It can include repeated patterns of abusive behaviour to maintain power and control in a relationship. It includes abuse carried out by a partner, ex-partner or family member. The government’s definition of domestic violence and abuse recognises this and defines domestic abuse as:

“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. It can encompass, but is not limited to, the following types of abuse:

• psychological
• physical
• sexual
• financial
• emotional”

Domestic abuse-related crimes

Incidents of domestic abuse that resulted in a crime being recorded by the police and are included in police recorded crime.

Domestic homicide

An offence of murder, manslaughter or infanticide where the relationship between a victim aged 16 years and over and the perpetrator falls into one of the following categories: spouse, common-law spouse, cohabiting partner, boyfriend or girlfriend, ex-spouse, ex-cohabiting partner or ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, adulterous relationship, son or daughter (including step and adopted relationships), parent (including step and adopted relationships), brother or sister, other relatives.

Non-sexual abuse

Abuse which includes physical force, emotional or financial abuse, or threats to hurt the individual or someone close to them.

Sexual assault

Within the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) sexual assault includes rape or assault by penetration (including attempts), or indecent exposure or unwanted touching.

Stalking

Defined in the CSEW as two or more incidents (causing distress, fear or alarm) of receiving obscene or threatening unwanted letters, emails, text messages or phone calls, having had obscene or threatening information about them placed on the internet, waiting or loitering around home or workplace, or following or watching.

Further quality and methodology information can be found in the Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview.

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW)

The CSEW covers the population living in households in England and Wales; it does not cover the population living in group residences (for example, care homes or student halls of residence) or other institutions. Estimates used within this publication are based on the CSEW self-completion module on domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

The upper age limit for respondents eligible for the self-completion module was increased from 59 years to 74 years in April 2017. This publication reports primarily on those aged 16 to 74 years, for which we currently have three years of data. Where analysis requires more than the last three years of data, we have reported using the 16 to 59 years age range. Data for both age groups are provided separately within the Domestic abuse prevalence and victim characteristics – Appendix Tables.

One of the strengths of the CSEW is that it covers many crimes that are not reported to the police. The CSEW provides reliable estimates of the prevalence of domestic abuse using a consistent methodology that is not affected by changes in recording practices and police activity, or by changes in the propensity of victims to report to the police. While the CSEW provides the best available estimate of trends in the prevalence of domestic abuse, it cannot be used to make any inferences about demands on the police.

All changes reported in this publication are statistically significant at the 5% level unless stated otherwise. Headline CSEW prevalence estimates for domestic abuse included within this publication have previously been published in July 2020 alongside the Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2020 bulletin.

More information about the CSEW can be found in How domestic abuse data are captured through the criminal justice system.

Measuring domestic abuse within the CSEW

Domestic abuse in the CSEW combines the following different types of abuse:

• non-sexual abuse: physical force, emotional or financial abuse, or threats to hurt the respondent or someone close to them

• sexual assault: rape or assault by penetration (including attempts), or indecent exposure or unwanted touching

• stalking¹: two or more incidents (causing distress, fear or alarm) of receiving obscene or threatening unwanted letters, emails, text messages or phone calls, having had obscene or threatening information about them placed on the internet, waiting or loitering around home or workplace, or following or watching²

The CSEW collects information on these types of abuse carried out by a partner (including a former partner) and carried out by a family member other than a partner (father or mother, step-father or mother or other relative).

For the self-completion section of the survey, respondents are handed a tablet computer to use to answer questions. This allows respondents to feel more at ease when answering these sensitive questions, because of increased confidence in the privacy and confidentiality of the survey.

The CSEW estimates do not completely capture the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship, which was introduced on 29 December 2015. New survey questions to better estimate experiences of this type of abuse are still under development. Details of the research carried out to date can be found in the article on Developing a measure of controlling or coercive behaviour.

Work to improve the data collected to measure domestic abuse from the CSEW is ongoing. Following the suspension of fieldwork due to the coronavirus pandemic there will be no CSEW domestic abuse data available for the year ending March 2021. Further research is underway to consider alternative approaches for future data collection. Inclusivity is an important part of this work and our aim is to capture data from as much of the population as possible.

How the police measure domestic abuse

With the exception of coercive or controlling behaviour, domestic abuse is not a specific criminal offence. Offences that are domestic abuse-related will be recorded under the respective offence that has been committed, for example, assault with injury. However, the police are required to flag when an offence is domestic abuse-related. The Home Office has been collecting information from the police on whether recorded offences are related to domestic abuse since April 2015³.

The Home Office collects data on the number of domestic abuse-related incidents and the number of domestic-abuse related crimes. Domestic abuse-related incidents cover reports of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults, aged 16 years and over, who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. They include those reports where, after initial investigation, the police have concluded that no notifiable crime was committed⁴.

Not all reported crimes are recorded as an incident first. If it is clear when the incident is reported that an offence has occurred, the police may record the matter as a domestic abuse-related crime immediately without first recording an incident. Incidents of domestic abuse that result in a crime being recorded by the police are included in the data on domestic abuse-related crimes. More information on domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes can be found in the publication How domestic abuse data are captured through the criminal justice system.

Home Office Homicide Index

The Home Office Homicide Index provides data on whether homicides are “domestic”. The Homicide Index contains detailed record-level information about each homicide recorded by police in England and Wales. It is continually updated with revised information from the police and the courts and, as such, is a richer source of data than the main recorded crime dataset⁵.

Homicide Index data are based on the year when the offence was recorded, not when the offence took place or when the case was heard in court. While in the vast majority of cases the offence will be recorded in the same year as it took place, this is not always the case. The data refer to the position as at 5 December 2019, when the Homicide Index database was “frozen” for the purpose of analysis⁶. The data may change as subsequent court hearings take place or as other information is received.

Analysis on data from the Homicide Index within this publication combines data for a three-year period (year ending March 2017 to year ending March 2019) to account for the year-to-year variability in the volume of homicides.

Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

This publication is largely unaffected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

CSEW data presented in this publication for the year ending March 2020 are based on interviews conducted between April 2019 and the first two weeks of March 2020. Fieldwork for the year ending March 2020 was suspended two weeks early on Wednesday 18 March 2020 just prior to the lockdown restrictions being announced by the government on 23 March 2020. All estimates from the CSEW for the year ending March 2020 were therefore unaffected by the lockdown restrictions as the data were collected, and relate to, the time prior to this period.

With fieldwork being suspended two weeks earlier than anticipated, the annual sample fell just short of its target of 34,500 adult interviews (the actual figure on which the year to March estimates are based was 33,735 adult interviews). Response rates also fell slightly from a target of 70% to 64%. Overall the impact on the survey estimates has therefore been minimal.

The latest police recorded crime figures presented in this publication relate to crimes recorded by the police during the period April 2019 to the end of March 2020. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, restrictions in England and Wales started from 12 March 2020, with a national lockdown implemented from 23 March 2020. The start of the restrictions and the first eight days of lockdown are therefore captured in police recorded data for the year ending March 2020. We do not expect there to have been a significant impact on crime statistics in February 2020 or earlier before restrictions were applied in the country.

The publication Domestic abuse during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic provides insight into the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on domestic abuse in England and Wales.

Notes for: Data sources and quality

1. As the CSEW questions include stalking by a current partner, it is not consistent with the legal definition of stalking and harassment.

2. From the year ending March 2013 survey onwards, the definition of stalking was changed to meet the criteria of two or more incidents specified in the legal definition.

3. In response to a recommendation in the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) 2014 report Everyone’s business: Improving the police response to domestic abuse (PDF, 736KB), police forces are asked to “flag” crimes as being domestic abuse-related if the offence meets the government definition of domestic violence and abuse.

4. An example of a domestic abuse incident that does not amount to a crime would be two family members having a loud argument, a third party calls the police, the police attend and calm the situation down, but no crime has taken place.

5. For example, when the police initially record an offence as a homicide it remains classified as such unless the police or courts decide that a lesser offence, or no offence, took place. The offence would be reclassified on the Homicide Index as “no longer recorded” but remain in the main police recorded crime collection as a homicide.

6. The Homicide Index is continually updated with revised information from the police as investigations continue and as cases are heard by the courts. The version used for analysis does not accept updates after it is “frozen” to ensure the data do not change during the analysis period. See Section 3.1 of the User guide to crime statistics for more information.