Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2025

This bulletin brings together data on domestic abuse from a range of different organisations. We have split our commentary into several separate publications:

• Domestic abuse prevalence and trends, England and Wales: year ending March 2025

• Domestic abuse victim characteristics, England and Wales: year ending March 2025

• Domestic abuse and the criminal justice system, England and Wales: November 2025

• Domestic abuse victim services, England and Wales: 2025

• How domestic abuse data are captured through the criminal justice system: November 2025

• Redevelopment of domestic abuse statistics: November 2025

• The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that approximately 3.8 million people (7.8%) aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the survey year ending (YE) March 2025.

• An estimated 2.2 million females (9.1%) and 1.5 million males (6.5%) experienced domestic abuse in the last year.

• There was no statistically significant change in the prevalence of domestic abuse experienced in the last year, compared with the previous year; comparisons cannot be made before YE March 2024 because of the introduction of new survey questions to measure domestic abuse.

• The police recorded 816,493 domestic abuse-related crimes in England and Wales in YE March 2025; a decrease compared with the previous year (851,062), which reflects recent changes in police recording practices.

• There were 54,987 domestic abuse-related prosecutions in England and Wales in YE March 2025 compared with 51,183 in YE March 2024.

Specific cases cannot be followed through the criminal justice system, so we cannot make direct comparisons between data from different stages. However, we can build up a picture of what has happened at each stage of the criminal justice system, from incident to conviction, by looking at all data available.

Data in this bulletin refer to victims, offences, suspects and offenders, depending on the data source. One person may be a victim of multiple offences.

Figure 1: Domestic abuse data from incident to conviction

England and Wales, year ending (YE) March 2025

Notes:

1. For more information about the data included in this chart, see Section 11: Data sources and quality.

Figure 2: Approximately 3.8 million people aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the last year

Prevalence of domestic abuse in the last year, for people aged 16 years and over, England and Wales, year ending (YE) March 2025

Notes:

1. For more information about the data included in this chart, see Section 11: Data sources and quality.

Data from year ending (YE) March 2024 onwards are derived using new survey questions on the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) to measure domestic abuse. Comparisons with previous years have not been made as it is not possible to compare the estimates from the new and previous question sets.

Approximately one in four (25.8%) people aged 16 years and over (12.5 million) had experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 years.

An estimated 7.8% of people aged 16 years and over (9.1% of females and 6.5% of males) experienced domestic abuse in the last year. This equates to an estimated 3.8 million people aged 16 years and over (2.2 million females and 1.5 million males).

A higher percentage of people aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse by a partner or ex-partner (6.1%) than a family member (2.7%) in the last year.

There was no statistically significant change in the prevalence of any domestic abuse, partner abuse or family abuse experienced by people aged 16 years and over in the last year, compared with YE March 2024.

More information can be found in our Domestic abuse prevalence and trends, England and Wales article and our Domestic abuse victim characteristics, England and Wales article.

Figure 3: The police recorded approximately 1.4 million domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes in year ending March 2025

Number of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes recorded by the police, England and Wales, year ending (YE) March 2025

Notes:

1. For more information about the data included in this chart, see Section 11: Data sources and quality.

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

The police recorded 816,493 domestic abuse-related crimes in England and Wales in year ending (YE) March 2025. This was a decrease compared with the previous year (851,062). This is likely to reflect recent changes in police recording practices. More information on the changes can be found in our Domestic abuse prevalence and trends, England and Wales: year ending March 2025 article.

Domestic abuse-related crimes represented 15.4% of all offences recorded by the police in the last year.

Females were disproportionately represented among victims of domestic abuse-related crimes, as in previous years, with 72.1% of all victims being female in the last year.

Figure 4: The number of referrals of suspects of domestic abuse-related cases from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service increased to 76,393 in year ending March 2025

Domestic abuse crime suspects referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, England and Wales, year ending (YE) March 2025

Notes:

1. For more information about the data included in this chart, see Section 11: Data sources and quality.

The number of referrals of suspects of domestic abuse-related cases from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision increased from 72,641 in year ending (YE) March 2024 to 76,393 in YE March 2025. This follows an increase from YE March 2023 (69,314). Direct comparisons between police recorded crime data and CPS data cannot be made.

Other possible outcomes following police investigation are that:

• no further action is taken, for example, evidential difficulties or the offender has died

• the case is transferred to another police force area

• the suspect receives out of court resolution, such as a conditional caution

• the crime report is cancelled

• no suspect is identified

Figure 5: The Crown Prosecution Service charged 53,919 suspects in domestic abuse-related cases in year ending March 2025

Number of suspects of domestic abuse-related crimes charged, England and Wales, year ending (YE) March 2025

Notes:

1. For more information about the data included in this chart, see Section 11: Data sources and quality.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) charged 53,919 suspects in domestic abuse-related cases in year ending (YE) March 2025.

The CPS domestic abuse-related charging rate increased to 79.9% compared with 79.0% in YE March 2024. This was the fourth consecutive year-on-year increase. This, in part, may reflect improvements in police and CPS performance, for example, as a result of the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan.

Cases where the decision was not to charge might be because:

• there is not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction

• it is not in the public interest

• the victim is not willing, or may feel unable to support a prosecution

Figure 6: The Crown Prosecution Service recorded 54,987 domestic abuse-related prosecutions in the last year

Completed outcomes of domestic abuse-related crimes, England and Wales, year ending (YE) March 2025

Notes:

1. For more information about the data included in this chart, see Section 11: Data sources and quality.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recorded 54,987 domestic abuse-related prosecutions in the last year, a 7.4% increase compared with the year ending (YE) March 2024. Of these, 41,070 resulted in convictions and 13,917 resulted in non-convictions.

The percentage of prosecutions leading to a conviction decreased from 75.8% in YE March 2024 to 74.7% in YE March 2025.

Of the cases that did not result in a conviction:

• 6,624 were a result of victim-related issues (including victim retractions, victim non-attendance at trial or where the evidence of the complainant does not support the case)

• 2,167 were because of acquittals

• 935 were because of administrative finalisations

• 4,191 were because of other reasons such as conflict of evidence or an essential legal element missing

Charging rate

The charging rate is the number of suspects of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) domestic abuse-flagged cases that were charged, as a proportion of all those that resulted in a legal decision to charge, take no further action, or recommend an out-of-court disposal.

Convictions

Cases where the defendant was convicted following a prosecution, comprising of either:

• a conviction after trial: cases in which the defendant pleaded not guilty, but was convicted after the evidence was heard
• a guilty plea: where the defendant pleaded guilty
• a proof in absence: cases comprising of lesser offences, which were heard by the court in the absence of the defendant

Domestic abuse

Domestic abuse is not limited to physical violence and can include a range of abusive behaviours. It can also be experienced as repeated patterns of abusive behaviour to maintain power and control in a relationship.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines domestic abuse as any incident or pattern of incidents between those aged 16 years and over who:

• are a partner
• are an ex-partner
• are a relative
• have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 outlines the following behaviours as abuse:

• physical or sexual abuse
• violent or threatening behaviour
• controlling or coercive behaviour
• economic abuse
• psychological, emotional, or other abuse

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognises children under the age of 18 years who see, or hear, or experience the effects of the abuse, as a victim of domestic abuse if they are related or have a parental relationship to the adult victim or perpetrator of the abuse.

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 abuse-related incidents

Incidents of domestic abuse that were reported to the police, but following investigation, do not amount to a crime or offence according to the National Crime Recording Standards. These can be added to domestic abuse-related crimes to create a total picture of the demand that domestic abuse puts on the police.

Police recorded crime

Police recorded crime data are supplied by the Home Office, who are responsible for the collation of recorded crime data supplied by the 43 territorial police forces of England and Wales, plus the British Transport Police. The data are an important indicator of police workload but, unlike the Crime Survey for England and Wales, do not include crimes that have not been reported to the police or incidents that the police decide not to record as crimes.

Pre-charge decisions

Of all the suspects referred by the police, pre-charge decisions are those where the Crown Prosecution Service has completed making a decision on whether to charge, take no further action, recommend an out-of-court resolution, record an outcome of pending response – further investigation or "other".

Prosecutions

All cases where the defendant (or defendants) were charged, summonsed in court, or charged by way of a postal requisition during the period. This includes those proceeding to a trial or guilty plea, those discontinued and those which could not proceed.

Our User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales provides detailed information about the data published in this release.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our:

• Domestic abuse quality and methodology information (QMI)
• Crime in England and Wales quality and methodology information (QMI)
• How domestic abuse data are captured through the criminal justice system: November 2025 article

Data sources

How data on domestic abuse are collected differs between sources. Data are not directly comparable. This is because they are collected on different bases (for example, victims, crimes, suspects, or defendants). They also may not cover the same cohort because of variation in the time taken for cases to progress through the criminal justice system. It is necessary to look at the data presented in their entirety, as each individual stage of the system is, in part, influenced by activity at a prior stage.

Crime Survey for England and Wales

Crime statistics on domestic abuse are based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). They are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in October 2025. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Following a thorough programme of research, testing and evaluation, we moved to using new survey questions on the CSEW to measure domestic abuse from year ending (YE) March 2024 onwards. It is not possible to compare the estimates derived from the new and previous sets of questions or to adjust the new estimates to enable direct comparisons to be made. More information can be found in our Redevelopment of domestic abuse statistics: research update May 2025 article.

CSEW data for YE March 2024 and YE March 2025 are based on a split sample. Caution should be taken because of the impact of the reduced sample size on the quality of the data. For more information, see our Domestic abuse quality and methodology information (QMI).

Official statistics

Police recorded crime and outcomes data from the Home Office are classified as official statistics. All other data included in this release are sourced from administrative datasets and do not fall within the scope of official statistics.

Police recorded crime

Police recorded crime data, in isolation, do not provide a measure of prevalence to understand the true extent of domestic abuse. Caution should be taken when comparing domestic abuse-related police recorded crime data with previous years because of changes in police recording practices. More information can be found in our Domestic abuse prevalence and trends, England and Wales: year ending March 2025 article.

Crown Prosecution Service data

In Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) data, a suspect or defendant represents one person (or on occasion "one company") in a single set of proceedings, which may involve one or more charges.

A set of proceedings usually relates to an incident or series of related incidents that are the subject of a police file. If a set of proceedings relates to more than one person, then each is counted as a defendant. Sometimes one person is involved in several sets of proceedings during the same year. If so, he or she is counted as a suspect or defendant on each occasion.

CPS data on the number of domestic abuse-related crimes referred by the police to the CPS rely on the police identifying and flagging the cases, by suspect, before being referred to the CPS. It also relies on the CPS administrators identifying and flagging those cases on the CPS case management system when they are first registered.

Total pre-charge decisions data are based on the date the charging advice was completed and provided to the police. Data on pre-charge decisions are also not directly comparable with data on the number of prosecutions. CPS data on prosecutions cover domestic abuse-related cases, by suspect or defendant, finalised during that year. They are not directly comparable with data on pre-charge decisions.

Strengths and limitations

Domestic abuse statistics are produced separately by several different organisations in England and Wales. When taken in isolation, these statistics may not provide the context required to understand the national and local picture of domestic abuse.