‘A national travesty’: Domestic abuse rises 24% as number of cases passed for charge falls 11%

‘Domestic abuse is such a devastating crime, the women who experience it lose everything: their home, their freedom, their dignity and ultimately their lives’

Frontline services providers said the probability a woman experiences domestic abuse in her lifetime was rising and branded the statistics a 'national travesty' (iStock)

Domestic abuse has risen by 24 per cent in a year while referrals of cases from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service fell by 11 per cent.

New figures show police recorded an average of one incident of domestic abuse per minute in the year ending March 2019.

Some 746,219 domestic abuse-related crimes were recorded in total – a rise of almost a quarter on the previous year.

A charity working with victims of domestic abuse described the rising trends as a “national travesty”.

The data, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed referrals of suspects from domestic abuse-flagged cases to the CPS for a charging decision fell 11 per cent from 110,653 to 98,470 from the previous year.

An estimated 1.6 million women aged 16 to 74 years experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2019, according to the new figures.

The number of recorded coercive control offences were found to have nearly doubled within the past year.

The law changed in 2015 to recognise psychological manipulation, or coercive control, as a form of domestic abuse. Some 9,053 offences were recorded in the year ending March 2018, but had climbed to 17,616 by March this year.

Sarika Seshadri, of lead domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid, said: “The data shows domestic abuse is persistently high. The fall in cases being referred to the CPS is very troubling – especially when we know how difficult it is to come forward. Women need to know when they come forward that these cases are dealt with effectively.

“Domestic abuse is such a devastating crime, the women who experience it lose everything: their home, their freedom, their dignity and ultimately their lives. We do have a word of caution because the stats do not capture the gendered nature of domestic abuse. The gender breakdown doesn’t capture the context in which incidents took place or the impact it had on someone. It also doesn’t show whether incidents happen more than once or their severity.

“The breakdown doesn’t adequately capture the fact that women disproportionately experience domestic violence ot the fact women experience higher rates of repeated victimisation and are far more likely to be seriously hurt or killed than men who experience domestic abuse.”

Ms Seshadri argued the new data does not capture the scale of the problem, because victims do not always come forward.

The head of research at the charity said domestic abuse was a “critical issue” for wider society – saying it causes “suffering, fear and long-term damage” to relationships, families and communities, as well as costing the economy a “staggering” £66bn a year.

Adina Claire, acting co-chief executive of Women’s Aid, said it had reached “epidemic levels”.

The latest figures, which use data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, found 84 per cent of all victims killed by a partner or former partner are female. The suspect was male in all but two cases.

Sandra Horley, of Refuge, the largest provider of specialist domestic violence services in the UK, said: “These statistics should serve as a serious wake-up call to the future government that domestic abuse is a major crime in this country and must be top of the political agenda.

“It is clear that the likelihood of women and girls experiencing domestic abuse at some point in their lives is increasing. This is devastating news given this time last year we knew one in four women would experience domestic abuse – this figure is edging towards one in three. Alarmingly, incidents of domestic sexual assault are also increasing. This rise is set against a backdrop of lower conviction rates. These statistics are a national travesty.”

The latest figures show the police made 32 arrests for every 100 domestic abuse-related crimes in the year ending March 2019 – amounting to 214,965 arrests in total.

A spokesperson for the ONS said: “Although the number of crimes recorded by the police has increased by nearly a quarter in the past year, this may reflect improvements in police recording and an increase in victims’ willingness to come forward.”

Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for domestic abuse, said police have worked hard to improve their response to domestic abuse over recent years and this is indicated in statistics that reveal increased reporting and better recording.

She said: “In the past, many verbal arguments were recorded as an incident and not a crime, yet technically these can be a common assault, a harassment or threat of violence. These may have little prospect of a prosecution but recording them allows dedicated domestic abuse officers to safeguard victims, build evidence and recognise patterns.

“Part of the increase is also down to better identification and reporting of domestic abuse, particularly coercive and controlling behaviour. We are continuing to improve our response to this to bring more offenders to justice.

“The fall in the proportion of domestic abuse crimes being referred for a charging decision is concerning and we are working with the CPS to understand the complex reasons for this. The large increases in reporting come alongside more complex and demanding investigations and the pressure on police resources.”

Ms Rolfe argued the way police react to domestic abuse only forms one element of the answer – adding that arrests and prosecutions may deliver a “temporary respite” for survivors, but a public health response is imperative to ensure people remain safe and a long-term solution is delivered.

Anyone who requires help or support can contact the National Domestic Violence Helpline which is open 24/7 365 days per year on 0808 2000 247 or via their website www.nationaldomesticviolencehelpline.org.uk