About one in 10 people victims of domestic abuse, stalking or sexual assault

About one in 10 people aged 16 and over in England and Wales were victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking in the year to March, estimates suggest.

The figure is closer to one in eight for women, while for men it is slightly lower at about one in 12.

It is the first time an estimate has been made of the combined prevalence of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

The figures have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using data collected as part of the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Women’s Aid head of research and evaluation Sarah Davidge said this is a “poignant year” for data relating to violence against women and girls and publishing the figures is a step towards a better overview of such crimes.

The survey measures experiences of crime, with domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking referred to as “crime types” because in some cases a criminal offence may not have occurred.

Some 10.6% of all people aged 16 and over are likely to have experienced one or more of these crime types in the year to March 2025, with 12.8% for women and 8.4% for men.

The figures equate to an estimated 5.1 million people aged 16 and over in England and Wales, of which 3.2 million are women and nearly 2.0 million are men, the ONS said.

A slightly higher estimate of 5.4 million people or 11.3% has been made for the previous 12 months – the year to March 2024 – which equates to 3.4 million women (14.0%) and 2.0 million men (8.6%).

The ONS said that because these estimates are still in development and are subject to change, caution should be taken when making comparisons between the two years and is it not possible to say whether the difference is statistically significant.

The new estimate of the prevalence of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking will be used as the main way for the Government to track its efforts on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Ministers have promised to halve levels in a decade – to 2034 – and will set out more details on how the data will be used in its VAWG strategy which will be published in September.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “As part of our mission to tackle the national emergency of violence against women and girls, we have made sure that for the first time the figures are being recorded in a combined way.

“We have already started to put domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and invested in major new perpetrator programmes.”

Ms Davidge said the move “reflects the Government’s commitment to ending VAWG”, but added such prevalence measures do not consider the number of times each person was victimised.

“We know that women encounter higher rates of repeat victimisation, are more likely to be subject to coercive and controlling behaviour and be seriously harmed or killed than male victims,” she said.

“Therefore, prevalence measures can underestimate the gender asymmetry of these crimes.”

End Violence Against Women and Girls Coalition’s Rebecca Hitchen warned that the data fails to capture the full spectrum of incidents such as online and honour-based abuse, and that questions must be asked how much the new measure will impact funding decisions.

Refuge chief executive Gemma Sherrington said the Government must act urgently to meet its target, including for ring-fenced multi-year funding for specialist organisations to support survivors.

“We welcome improvements to data collection, but these figures are likely to represent the tip of the iceberg as VAWG remains severely under-reported,” the charity boss said.

Elsewhere, data published on Thursday shows the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has climbed to another record high.

Some 530,643 offences were logged in 2024-25, up 20% from 444,022 in 2023-24 and the highest total since current police recording practices began in 2002-03.

Retail bosses have warned that shop theft is spiralling out of control and that business owners need to see immediate results as ministers have pledged thousands more officers for neighbourhood policing by next spring.

The Home Secretary said: “This summer our new neighbourhood policing guarantee means over 500 town centres are getting extra neighbourhood patrols and action on town centre crime.”

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said the recorded figures show more crimes are being reported, but this is still “far too low”.

He added: “Retailers tell us that they won’t report crime if they have no faith in it being investigated. There are pockets of good practice around the country…but these examples are still too rare.”

Theft from the person offences also remain at record levels, with 151,220 recorded by forces in the year to March, up 15% from 131,584 in the previous 12 months.

However, the number of knife crime offences recorded by forces slightly dropped.

The figure stood at 53,047 in 2024-25, down 1% from 53,685 in 2023,24 and 4% below the pre-pandemic level of 55,170 in 2019,20.

Commenting on published figures on Thursday, Billy Gazard of the ONS, said: “Police recorded crime paints a mixed picture. While homicide, and offences involving knives and guns, declined nationally, there were variations across police forces.

“Meanwhile, the number of recorded shoplifting offences continues to rise.”

In total, police forces recorded 6.6 million crimes in England and Wales in 2024-25, down slightly by 1% from 6.7 million in 2023-24.

This is up from 6.1 million in the pre-pandemic year of 2019-20, and from 4.2 million a decade earlier in 2014-15.

This is likely to reflect “changes in police activity and recording practices” as well as genuine changes in trends in crimes reported to and recorded by forces, meaning the figures do “not tend to be a good indicator of general trends in crime”, the ONS said.

Separate figures published by the Home Office show of all police-recorded offences in 2024-25, 7.3% led to a charge or summons, up from 6.4% in the previous year.

For knife-related crimes, 11.5% resulted in a charge or summons in the year to March, which is higher than similar offences without a knife at 6.7%.

Published: 24/07/2025 by Radio NewsHub