More than a quarter of adults in the UK have experienced domestic abuse, latest figures reveal
16 May 2025, 10:11
A quarter of adults are likely to have experienced domestic abuse, the latest figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggest.
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The statistics show a higher proportion of adults than previously thought have experienced abuse, which come from an improved version of the ONS's Crime Survey for England and Wales.
According to the numbers, around 12.6 million people have been victims of domestic abuse after the age of 16.
The figure is higher for women than men. The estimates suggest nearly one in three women and one in five men surveyed in the 12 months leading up to March 2024 had experienced domestic abuse.
These figures equate to 7.4 million women and 5.4 million men in England and Wales.
A new set of questions, added to the survey, encompass a wider range of behaviours that count as domestic abuse.
The improved survey reveals that more people than previously thought have been victims of domestic abuse.
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The old survey method, which is not directly comparable to the new survey, estimated that 20.5%, or one in five, of those surveyed in the 12 months to March 2024 had experienced domestic abuse.
The ONS now estimates the figure to be 26.1%, or one in four.
A new set of questions, added to the survey, encompass a wider range of behaviours that count as domestic abuse.
The updated survey now includes questions about health abuse and forced marriage, forms of domestic abuse that were not previously included.
Health abuse covers a wide range of behaviours that can include depriving someone of their basic needs, like food, sleep, or medical assistance, and pressuring someone to have an abortion.
The new survey also asks more detailed questions about economic abuse, which can manifest as an abuser preventing a victim from getting a job, or deliberately causing them to fall into debt.
To develop the new questions, the ONS worked with a consortium led by the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol, that also involved the College of Policing and the charities Women’s Aid Federation of England, Men’s Advice Line, Imkaan and Welsh Women’s Aid.
Meghan Elkin, Head of Crime Statistics at the ONS, said of the decision to change the way the survey is conducted: “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."
“These new questions are a positive step in better understanding domestic abuse and providing vital information to all those working to improve outcomes and support for victims."
On the higher domestic abuse figures revealed by the new version of the survey, she said: “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.”
Dame Nicole Jacobs, domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said of the new findings: “Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on the millions of lives it touches but for too long the scale of the problem – and its pervasiveness – has remained hidden.“
"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.”
Sarika Seshadri, head of research and evaluation at Women’s Aid, said: “The new questions will provide insight into victim-survivors’ experiences of domestic abuse since the age of 16, including detailed profiles of which victim-survivors are experiencing the highest impact and highest harm forms of abuse."
"By understanding not only prevalence but impact, and how this is affecting different groups of the population, we will be able to identify to what extent policies and practice are either reducing or exacerbating experiences of domestic abuse, and in particular for whom, so that we can develop targeted and meaningful interventions.”
The ONS will publish more detailed findings from the new survey later in the year.
