Coercive control offences have almost doubled in the past year

Statistics released by the Office of National Statistics on 25 November 2019 show that recorded coercive control offences have nearly doubled within the past year. The legislation, which came into force in December 2015, had 9,053 offences recorded in the year ending March 2018, and by March this year, this had risen to 17,616 offences.

The Domestic Abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2019 report provides an overview of domestic abuse in England and Wales, using data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, police recorded crime and a number of different organisations.

The report also shows that:

• In the year ending March 2019, an estimated 1.6 million women aged 16 to 74 years experienced domestic abuse
• The police recorded 746,219 domestic abuse-related crimes in the year ending March 2019, an increase of 24 per cent from the previous year
• The police made 32 arrests per 100 domestic abuse-related crimes in the year ending March 2019, equating to 214,965 arrests (in the 39 police forces that supplied data).
• Over three-quarters of domestic abuse-related CPS prosecutions were successful in securing a conviction in the year ending March 2019 (77 per cent), a similar level to the previous year.
• There was a significant decrease in the proportion of female victims reporting to the police between the year ending March 2015 and the year ending March 2018.
• 84 per cent of all victims killed by a partner or ex-partner are female. The suspect was male in all but two cases (one was a female suspect, the other no data recorded).
• Three women a fortnight are killed by a male partner or ex-partner.

Adina Claire, Acting Co-Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said: “It is encouraging that the coercive control legislation is being used more and that recorded incidents have almost doubled. However, domestic abuse remains at epidemic levels, with an estimated 1.6 million women experiencing domestic abuse last year alone. Despite this, police are making fewer referrals to the CPS and there has been a decrease in the proportion of female victims reporting domestic abuse to the police.

"What these statistics show is that, while domestic abuse can happen to anyone, women experience the most severe and repeated forms of abuse. 84 per cent of homicide victims killed by a current or former partner are female, which shows why specialist refuge services for women, including expert services for BME women, have to exist.”

* Download Domestic Abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2019 here

* Women's Aid https://www.womensaid.org.uk/

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