Domestic abuse

Published

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1. Main facts and figures

  • in the year ending March 2020, 5.5% of people aged 16 to 74 in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the 12 months before being surveyed
  • White women (7.7%) were more likely than White men (3.6%) to have experienced domestic abuse

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data shows the percentage of people aged 16 to 74 who reported being victims of domestic abuse in the 12 months before being surveyed.

Domestic abuse includes non-sexual abuse, sexual assault and stalking. You can read more about the definition of domestic abuse used in the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Percentages in the charts and tables are rounded to 1 decimal place.

Not included in the data

Estimates based on fewer than 50 respondents are not shown because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.

Figures based on sample sizes smaller than three respondents have been suppressed. Where figures for an ethnic group are suppressed, figures for another group within the same aggregated category (for example, Asian) have also been suppressed as part of secondary disclosure control. This is to prevent totals being used to calculate the suppressed sample sizes.

The data does not include:

  • the number of times someone reported being a victim, or the seriousness of any crime
  • people living in communal establishments (such as care homes, university accommodation and prisons)
  • crimes against commercial or public sector bodies

The ethnic categories used in this data

Data is shown for the 18 ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for the data on this page.

For previous years (up to the year ending March 2017), the data only included 16 to 59 year olds. This is because 60 to 74 year olds were not asked the domestic abuse questions. This means data before April 2017 is not directly comparable, and is not included in this update.

The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:

3. By ethnicity

Percentage of 16 to 74 year olds who reported being victims of domestic abuse in the previous 12 months, and number of people surveyed, by ethnicity
Ethnicity % Sample size
All 5.5 24,511
Asian 3.6 1,532
Bangladeshi 1.4 130
Chinese 2.0 145
Indian 4.9 609
Pakistani 3.5 351
Asian other 3.1 297
Black 3.7 725
Black African 4.1 453
Black Caribbean 3.2 214
Black other 2.5 58
Mixed 7.6 339
Mixed White/Asian 8.8 94
Mixed White/Black African withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 43
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 10.6 106
Mixed other 4.8 96
White 5.7 21,679
White British 5.9 20,015
White Irish 6.4 171
White Gypsy/Traveller withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 6
White other 3.6 1,487
Other 5.6 208
Arab 5.8 87
Any other 5.5 121

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)

Summary of Domestic abuse By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that, in the year ending March 2020:

  • 5.5% of 16 to 74 year olds in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the 12 months before being surveyed
  • White people (5.7%) were more likely to experience domestic abuse than Black (3.7%) or Asian people (3.6%)
  • although the chart and table show differences between other figures, these are not reliable because of the small number of people surveyed

4. By ethnicity over time

Percentage of 16 to 74 year olds who reported being victims of domestic abuse in the previous 12 months, and number of people surveyed, by ethnicity over time
2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
Ethnicity 2017/18 % 2017/18 Sample size 2018/19 % 2018/19 Sample size 2019/20 % 2019/20 Sample size
All 5.3 13,551 5.7 13,188 5.5 24,511
Asian 4.6 812 3.8 784 3.6 1,532
Bangladeshi withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality 1.1 80 1.4 130
Chinese withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality 2.1 67 2.0 145
Indian 4.2 337 4.0 317 4.9 609
Pakistani 4.3 201 4.5 177 3.5 351
Asian other 3.7 139 5.2 143 3.1 297
Black 5.7 364 7.1 353 3.7 725
Black African 4.5 207 5.3 230 4.1 453
Black Caribbean withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality 13.2 104 3.2 214
Black other withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 19 2.5 58
Mixed 5.8 161 12.9 175 7.6 339
Mixed White/Asian withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 45 8.8 94
Mixed White/Black African withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 27 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 43
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 6.8 56 17.3 59 10.6 106
Mixed other withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 40 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 44 4.8 96
White 5.4 12,086 5.6 11,741 5.7 21,679
White British 5.6 11,209 5.9 10,797 5.9 20,015
White Irish withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality 6.4 171
White Gypsy/Traveller withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 6
White other 3.3 781 2.9 858 3.6 1,487
Other 2.4 120 6.7 113 5.6 208
Arab withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 35 5.8 87
Any other withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality 7.1 78 5.5 121

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)

Summary of Domestic abuse By ethnicity over time Summary

The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2020:

  • the percentage of people who experienced domestic abuse remained broadly the same in every ethnic group
  • although the chart and table show changes in some figures, these are not reliable because of the small number of people surveyed

5. By ethnicity and sex

Percentage of 16 to 74 year olds who reported being victims of domestic abuse in the previous 12 months, and number of people surveyed, by ethnicity and sex
Male Female
Ethnicity Male % Male Sample size Female % Female Sample size
All 3.6 11,313 7.3 13,198
Asian 3.0 794 4.4 738
Bangladeshi 0.4 74 3.0 56
Chinese 0.8 57 2.8 88
Indian 5.2 333 4.6 276
Pakistani 2.0 181 5.3 170
Asian other 2.0 149 4.4 148
Black 2.7 300 4.6 425
Black African 3.2 194 4.9 259
Black Caribbean 1.9 82 4.1 132
Black other withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 24 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 34
Mixed 5.9 162 9.4 177
Mixed White/Asian 6.4 54 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 40
Mixed White/Black African withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 24 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 19
Mixed White/Black Caribbean withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 43 11.7 63
Mixed other withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 41 4.5 55
White 3.6 9,947 7.7 11,732
White British 3.7 9,222 8.0 10,793
White Irish withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality
White Gypsy/Traveller withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality withheld to protect confidentiality
White other 2.4 650 4.7 837
Other 6.1 97 5.1 111
Arab withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 42 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 45
Any other 4.2 55 6.7 66

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and sex’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and sex’ (CSV)

Summary of Domestic abuse By ethnicity and sex Summary

The data shows that, in the year ending March 2020:

  • women were more likely than men to experience domestic abuse in the previous 12 months
  • White women (7.7%) were more than twice as likely as White men (3.6%) to experience domestic abuse – they were also more likely than Asian women (4.4%) or Black women (4.6%) to experience domestic abuse
  • although the chart and table show differences in some of the other figures, these are not reliable because of the small number of people surveyed

6. Data sources

Source

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

Crime survey data is used alongside police data on crime to give the government information about the extent and nature of crime in England and Wales.

The survey records all types of crimes experienced by people, including those crimes that may not have been reported to the police.

7. Download the data

Domestic abuse data - Spreadsheet (csv) 15 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, value, value_type, CI lower, CI upper and sample size