Domestic abuse 'epidemic' as one in four adults have been victims
The UK is suffering a domestic abuse 'epidemic' it has been claimed after new figures reveal one in four adults have been victims.
One in four adults in England and Wales are likely to have experienced domestic abuse, according to new research released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figure is greater for women, at nearly one in three, while for men it is closer to one in five. The estimates taken from the age of 16 are the first to use an improved method for measuring how much domestic abuse there is among the population. A new set of questions has been added to the ONS's Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Questions about health abuse and forced marriage are now included. And they reflect recent changes in the law regarding coercive and controlling behaviour.
Reacting to the new figures, the UK's leading charity for victims of domestic abuse, Refuge, said it is now an 'epidemic' and warns they are just the 'tip of the iceberg'.
Gemma Sherrington, CEO of Refuge, a charity which opened the world's first safe house for women and children in 1971, said: 'We are in an epidemic of violence against women and girls, so sadly, the latest ONS estimates around the prevalence of domestic abuse come as no surprise.
'We welcome improvements to data collection, but these figures are likely to represent the tip of the iceberg as violence against women and girls remains severely under-reported.'
The charity said the Government must take urgent action if it is to achieve its pledge to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade. The new ONS research also includes details on economic abuse, when someone deliberately gets a person into debt or prevents them from getting a job.
The ONS now estimates that in the year to March 2024, 26.1% of adults - around one in four - had experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16, the equivalent of 12.6 million people. Under the old research this was one in five.
The new estimates suggest 30.3% of women and 21.7% of men surveyed in this period had experienced domestic abuse at some point since the age of 16, equivalent to 7.4 million and 5.1 million people respectively.
Meghan Elkin, ONS head of crime statistics, said: 'The way domestic abuse manifests is constantly changing and is difficult to measure. In developing these questions, we have listened to victims and survivors of domestic abuse alongside a range of users from charities to academics and other government departments.
'...The new approach has resulted in a higher prevalence rate as we have introduced questions to ask about types of abuse not previously covered by the crime survey, such as health abuse and forced marriage.'
Health abuse includes anything from depriving a person of food and sleep, to forcing someone to terminate pregnancy. Responding to the findings, Dame Nicole Jacobs, domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said: 'Developing new ways to further our understanding of this terrible crime so we can put in place measures to tackle it and ensure survivors receive the support they need is absolutely vital.
'I welcome the ongoing focus on domestic abuse by the ONS, as only through knowing the full picture will we be able to rid society of it for good.'
Women's Aid said they were 'pleased' with the new questions which they helped develop which they point out does not rely on police reports.
'Women's Aid has for many years been concerned that the questions in the survey have failed to adequately capture the lived experience of victim-survivors of domestic abuse.'
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