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Domestic abuse figures to spike as new law causes reversal of downward trend

1.2m of the victims were female, while 713,000 were male. (pic posed by model) - PA
1.2m of the victims were female, while 713,000 were male. (pic posed by model) - PA

Domestic abuse figures could spike next year, experts have said, as new laws reverse a decade-long downward trend. 

Figures released on Thursday from the Office for National Statistics showed that the number of domestic abuse victims has reached a 10-year low, at 1.9m. 

According to the estimates, from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, 1.2m of the victims were female, while 713,000 were male. 

The gap between male and female victims was also the smallest in recent years, at 522,000. 

Numbers peaked in 2005/06, when 2.8m victims were recorded, including 1.8m women and 986,000 men. 

They do not take into account the new offence of coercive and controlling behaviour, which came into effect in 2015, the ONS said.  

 "New survey questions to better estimate experiences of this type of abuse have been introduced into the survey from April 2017 and estimates from these questions will be available in 2018," it said in its report. 

Professor Nicole Westmarland, director of the Durham University Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse, said the change could lead to the downward trend being reversed. 

She said: "The ways in which domestic abuse is perpetrated may be changing, with physical abuse becoming more and more socially unacceptable, and new opportunities for abuse opening up with the development of new technologies and forms of social media. 

"Excluding sexual violence by partners and ex-partners and not properly measuring coercive and controlling behaviours means that a large proportion of domestic abuse is being hidden. 

"If these were included we would see an increase, particularly in terms of the abuse of women."

The ONS suggested that the inclusion of the coercive control figures could also widen the gap between men and women. 

Its report said: "When coercive and controlling behaviour is taken into account the differences between the experiences of male and female victims become more apparent."

Charity Women's Aid said the current figures "do not accurately capture survivors’ experiences of domestic abuse, especially when it comes to coercive control". 

About | Domestic violence
About | Domestic violence

Katie Ghose, its chief executive, said the change would "better reflect survivors’ experience of domestic abuse, especially the gendered nature of abuse that is that women are overwhelmingly the victim and men overwhelmingly perpetrate domestic abuse."

It said its own figures showed that domestic abuse was not declining as women continued to be referred to refuge services.

The ONS figures showed that teenagers were most likely to report being victims of abuse, with 10.5 per cent of women aged 16 to 19 and 6.9 per cent of males reporting instances within the past 12 months. 

The statistics also showed that women accounted for 70 per cent of the 454 domestic homicides recorded last year.

Women were most likely to be killed less than a month after leaving their partner, with 33 murders between March 2014 and March 206 taking place in this period. 

The data also included figures from the Crown Prosecution Service which showed that 75 per cent of domestic abuse-related prosecutions ended in conviction, the highest proportion since 2010. 

The majority of these followed a guilty plea, with just 7 per cent going to a full trial.